Catholic Voices for Israel is asking Pope Leo XIV to clarify the Church’s position on Zionism and the modern state of Israel.
In an open letter addressed to Pope Leo on June 22, the group’s co-founders André Villeneuve and Father Antoine Lévy, OP, are asking the Holy Father to answer the question, “Should Catholics interpret the creation and enduring existence of the State of Israel as a sign of God’s providence — or should they not?”
While the pair note that “the Church’s reticence to pronounce on the theological meaning of the State of Israel has served a real purpose,” they proceed to express concerns over “a number of Catholic commentators” who they contend “have interpreted this silence as a formal dismissal of the very possibility of ascribing any theological resonance to the founding of the State of Israel and to its enduring existence.”
“The Church’s silence regarding Israel’s right to exist — the reluctance to go beyond mere political recognition, on a par with that extended to the still inchoate State of Palestine (2013) — gives ground
