John Paul II’s biographer says late pope is a model for Catholics in fighting antisemitism

St. John Paul II at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 21, 1981. / Credit: L’Osservatore Romano

Washington D.C., Mar 13, 2025 / 08:55 am (CNA).

According to St. John Paul II’s official biographer, George Weigel, living in Nazi-occupied Poland was “the most formative experience of Karol Wojtyla’s life,” shaping the future pope’s lifelong commitment to defending human dignity. 

Speaking at a conference, “Catholics and Antisemitism — Facing the Past, Shaping the Future,” on Monday, Weigel reflected on John Paul II’s “distinctly personal” relationship with the Jewish people. 

Sponsored by Philos Catholic, the event took place at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. Philos Catholic is a branch of the Philos Project, an ecumenical Christian nonprofit organization that advocates for pluralism and Israel’s peaceful existence in the Middle East. 

Weigel’s keynote address followed panel discussions on the Catholic approach to antisemitism throughout history and since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Panelists included Catholic Answers founder Trent Horn, Catholic author Mary Eberstadt, Tikvah Fund CEO Jonathan Silver, and Benedictine College history professor Richard Crane. 

Growing up in a small town outside Kraków, Karol Wojtyla had many Jewish friends and lived in an apartment owned by a Jewish family. He remained friends with some of them for the rest of his life, Weigel recounted. Many died in the Shoah. John Paul II’s father, Karol, imparted his belief in a free Poland that welcomed minority communities while retaining its cultural identity and integrity. 

“That cauldron of hatred and violence was, I believe, the most formative experience of Karol Wojtyla’s life,” Weigel said, referring to Poland during the war years. “Because of that experience, he came to dedicate himself to the defense of human dignity and freedom through the priesthood of the Catholic Church.”

“The years between 1939 and 1945 made Karol Wojtyła into a human diamond, whose cutting edge could break through the seemingly impenetrable, like the Berlin Wall,” he added.

Indeed, throughout his pontificate, Weigel described John Paul II as being “determined” to formalize diplomatic relations between Israel and the Holy See and to encourage Israel’s neighbors to recognize the “permanent reality” of the Jewish state. The pontiff visited the Western Wall and the Holocaust Remembrance Center, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem in March 2000.

“As a determined foe of antisemitism,” he stated, “John Paul would be appalled, sad, heartbroken, and very angry at the recrudescence of that ancient plague we have discussed today in the form of an exterminationist anti-Zionism the world has witnessed since Oct. 7, 2023. And he would want to name that evil for what it is.”

Ultimately, Weigel noted, John Paul II’s “wish” was that “Jews and Christians would be a blessing to one another,” focusing not only on the “pain of the past” but also “the possibilities of the future.”

“If we would honor his memory, let us commit our minds, hearts, and souls to advancing that collaboration,” he concluded.