Editing Pope John XXIII (section)

===Relations with Jews===
{{Main| Pope John XXIII and Judaism}}
Pope John XXIII made several gestures to demonstrate his sympathetic feelings for the Jewish community. He sent a message to the [[Chief Rabbi of Israel]] announcing his election, even though the Holy See did not recognize the State of Israel. On 17 October 1960, he met with a delegation of 130 American Jews associated with the [[United Jewish Appeal]]. He greeted them with words from the Bible, "I am Joseph your brother," to establish that he and they were starting a new relationship despite what may have passed between Catholics and Jews before, as [[Joseph (Genesis)#Family reunited|Joseph reconciled with his brothers]] in [[Book of Genesis]]. On 17 March 1962, he stopped his car when he saw people exiting the synagogue in Rome and blessed them in the morning. A rabbi described the scene: "After a moment of understandable bewilderment, the Jews surrounded him and applauded him enthusiastically. It was in fact the first time in history that a pope had blessed Jews and it was perhaps the first real gesture of reconciliation."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Madges| editor-first1=William| title=Vatican II: Forty Years Later|date=2005|publisher=Wipf & Stock|location=Eugene, Oregon|page=309|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9D9NAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA309|accessdate=17 January 2018 | first= Elena | last= Procario-Foley | chapter= Heir or Orphan? Theological Evolution and Devolution before and after ''Nostra Aetate''| isbn=9781610977395}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Jews Throughout World Pray for Pope John; Send Messages to Vatican|url=https://www.jta.org/1963/06/03/archive/jews-throughout-world-pray-for-pope-john-send-messages-to-vatican|accessdate=17 January 2018|work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=3 June 1963}}</ref>

One of the notable acts of Pope John XXIII, in 1960, was to eliminate the description of Jews as ''perfidius'' (Latin for "perfidious" or "faithless") in the prayer for the [[Conversion of the Jews (future event)|conversion of the Jews]] in the [[Good Friday prayer for the Jews|Good Friday liturgy]]. He interrupted the first Good Friday liturgy in his pontificate to address this issue when he first heard a celebrant refer to the Jews with that word. He also made a confession for the Church for [[antisemitism]] through the centuries.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schulweis |first=Harold |author-link=Harold M. Schulweis |title=Catholic-Jewish Relations: Post-Holocaust Yom Kippur, 1999 |url=http://www.vbs.org/page.cfm?p=497 |publisher=VBS |access-date=23 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185117/http://www.vbs.org/page.cfm?p=497 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Also, in 1960, John XXIII modified the language used in the baptism of adults, removing the warning against returning to one's earlier religious faith, with texts available for a pagan, Muslim, Jew, and heretical Christian. In the case of a Jewish convert the text was: "You should abhor Hebrew perfidy and reject Hebrew superstition." The modification was made because Pope John wanted "to emphasize everything that unites and to remove anything that unduly divides believers in God".<ref>{{cite news|title=Vatican Changes Converts' Rites|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/08/02/99770073.pdf|accessdate=18 January 2018|work=New York Times|date=2 August 1960}}</ref>

While Vatican II was being held, John XXIII tasked Cardinal [[Augustin Bea]] with creating several important documents that pertained to reconciliation with Jewish people. The declaration [[Nostra aetate]] is generally thought to have been influenced by Pope John's teachings.

These words and actions endeared him to the Jewish people. The Chief Rabbi of Israel, [[Yitzhak Nissim]], later mourned his death as "A loss that saddens all those who seek peace and human love."<ref>Laclal V'elaprat, part 1, p. 439</ref>