Publication
“The Torah, which St John Paul II defined ‘the lively lesson of the living God’, shows God’s fatherly, deep-rooted love, a love made of words and effective gestures, a love that turns into an alliance”. This is how today Pope Francis welcomed a delegation of Jewish members of a publishing group, led by Argentine rabbi Abraham Skorka, a friend of the Pontiff since the times of Buenos Aires, who presented him with a new edition of the Torah, “the Lord’s gift”. And, the Holy Father added, “it is precisely this word, alliance, that is full of echoes that we share. God is the greatest, the most loyal ally. He called Abraham to make a people out of him that would be a blessing for all the peoples on Earth, and He dreams of a world in which men and women are His allies so they can live in harmony with each other and with the world”. Amidst “so many human words that unfortunately drive to division and competition”, “these holy words of alliance open to all of us roads of goodness that we must walk together”. The new edition of the Torah too is the “result of an ‘alliance’ between people from different nationalities, ages and religious confessions, who managed to work together”. “The fraternal and institutional dialogue between Jews and Christians is by now well established and effective through constant, cooperative dialogue – the Pope added -. This gift you have taken me today perfectly fits in with such dialogue that is not expressed only with words but with gestures too. The wide introduction added to the text and the publisher’s note emphasise this attitude of dialogue, giving voice to an open cultural view, in mutual respect and in peace, in tune with the spiritual message of the Torah”. Francis also mentioned the “great care taken of the literary dimension of the text as well as the precious colour plates that add value to the publication”. But, he concluded, “any edition of the Holy Writings contains a spiritual value that infinitely surpasses the material value”.
