Archbishop Hartmayer

Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., shares this week’s letter to members of the Jewish community of Atlanta as they observe High Holy Days:

October 7, 2024

My Dear Friends in the Jewish Communities of Atlanta:

Peace and All Good!

The arrival of High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur afford me, once again, the opportunity to send my personal best wishes and prayerful greetings, and those of our entire Catholic community of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, to the American Jewish Committee, to your rabbis and synagogue congregations and to all members of the Jewish communities residing here in the Atlanta area.

These are days of prayer, reflection and new beginnings. May everyone in the local Jewish community experience good health, joy, wisdom and true peace in the year ahead.

Ever since my appointment as Archbishop of Atlanta, I have been blessed in so many ways by our friendship. We have prayed together. We have been in conversation with one another. And we have shared fellowship on many occasions, especially during High Holy Days. Please know of my respect and affection for the Jewish community. I am blessed to call you friends!

I am especially mindful that today, October 7, 2024, marks the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks by Hamas where over 1,000 Israelis were killed, and 250 hostages were taken. What a tremendous loss of life, as well as the anxious waiting of families still waiting to hear about their loved ones in captivity. In commemoration of this anniversary, Pope Francis has made a heartfelt appeal for peace, urging Christians worldwide to dedicate October 7 as a day of prayer and fasting. In the face of ongoing global conflict, he emphasized the urgent need for the Christian community to unite and serve humanity during these troubled times. The Pope’s plea comes amid what he described as “this dramatic hour of our history,” where “the winds of war and the fires of violence” continue to devastate nations and communities.

In his letter of February 2, 2024, to the People of Israel, the Holy Father wrote:

“We are experiencing a painful moment of travail. Wars and divisions are increasing all over the world. We are truly, as I said some time ago, in the midst of a sort of ‘piecemeal world war,’ with serious consequences for the lives of many populations.

Unfortunately, even the Holy Land has not been spared this pain, and since 7 October, it too has been cast into a spiral of unprecedented violence. My heart is torn at the sight of what is happening in the Holy Land, by the power of so much division and so much hatred. The whole world looks on at what is happening in that land with apprehension and pain. These are feelings that express special closeness and affection for the peoples who inhabit the land which has witnessed the history of Revelation.

Unfortunately, however, it must be noted that in public opinion worldwide, this war has also produced divisive attitudes, sometimes taking the form of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism. I can only reiterate what my predecessors also clearly stated many times: the relationship that binds us to you is particular and singular, without ever obscuring, naturally, the relationship that the Church has with others and the commitment towards them too. The path that the Church has undertaken with you, the ancient people of the covenant, rejects every form of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism, unequivocally condemning manifestations of hatred towards Jews and Judaism as a sin against God. Together with you, we, Catholics, are very concerned about the terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world. We had hoped that ‘never again’ would be a refrain heard by the new generations, yet now we see that the path ahead requires ever closer collaboration to eradicate these phenomena.”

I am united with each of you, my dear sisters and brothers, in praying for the release of all hostages and for lasting peace during these holy days. And may the Almighty hear our prayers for a new year filled with health and the blessings of peace and joy.

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).

In closing, I make the words of Pope Francis my own: ‘I embrace each of you, and especially those who are consumed by anguish, pain, fear and even anger. Words are so difficult to formulate in the face of a tragedy like the one that has occurred in recent months. Together with you, we mourn the dead, the wounded, the traumatized, begging God the Father to intervene and put an end to war and hatred, to these incessant cycles that endanger the entire world. In a special way we pray for the return of the hostages, rejoicing because of those who have already returned home, and praying that all the others will soon join them.’

“Shanah Tovah,” a good year to all! Shalom!