The Saga of Herzl and the Pope

History has a unique way of both intruding on and inspiring current events. The recent trip to Israel by Pope Francis and his visit to the gravesite of Theodore Herzl is but one recent example of this phenomenon.

In “Theodore Herzl: A New Reading” (Gefen Publishing House, 2013), Dr. Georges Weisz details the historic meeting in 1904 between then Pope Pius X and Herzl. That meeting reflected, in its time, the negative attitudes that the Church and its leadership had toward the Jewish faith’s relationship to the Land of Israel, an attitude that was not fully explicated by the media during the recent visit. Below, you will find a summary of what Dr. Weisz relates to us of that encounter of 110 years ago, a visit that surely inspired and prompted this year’s actions by Pope Francis.

Just prior to Herzl’s meeting with the pope, Cardinal Merry del Val, the Vatican secretary of state, the Church’s senior diplomat, is quoted to have said the following to Herzl:

“I do not quite see how we can take any initiative in this matter. As long as the Jews deny the divinity of Christ, we certainly cannot make a declaration in their favor. Not that we have any ill will toward them. On the contrary, the Church has always protected them. To us they are the indispensable witnesses to the phenomenon of God’s term on earth. But they deny the divine nature of Christ. How then can we, without abandoning our own highest principles, agree to their being given possession of the Holy Land again?”

Dr. Weisz continues:

“Later, when Herzl had his audience with the pope, the latter expressed his vehement disapproval of the Zionist program, particularly the idea that Jerusalem might fall into the hands of the Jews.”

The following is a direct quote by Pope Pius X: “We cannot give approval to this movement. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem — but we could never sanction it. The soil of Jerusalem, if it was not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot tell you anything different. The Jews have not recognized our lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people.”