In front of Slovak Jews, the Pope expresses his “shame” of the past – franceinfo

Pope Francis on Monday, September 13, expressed his “shame” for the slaughter of over 100,000 Slovak Jews, lamenting that God’s name was often used “in the madness of hatred” during World War II.

The Pope had just listened with seriousness to the testimony of a survivor born in 1942 and who does not remember his missing parents, during a meeting in Rybne Square in Bratislava, where an imposing demolished synagogue once stood. in 1969 by the Communist government to make way for a road bridge.

“The name of God has been dishonored: in the madness of hatred, during World War II, more than one hundred thousand Slovak Jews were killed.”

Pope Francis

in Bratislava

Three days before the pope’s arrival, Bratislava issued an official apology for the dark legacy of President Jozef Tiso, a Catholic priest who agreed to send tens of thousands of Jews to German death camps. .