Le choix de Dieu

Résumé

A series of interviews with Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, the Archbishop of Paris, who was born Aaron Lustiger in 1926 to Polish-Jewish parents. The interviews relate to his life, his conversion to Catholicism, his career in the Church, and his views on theological issues. The first part of the book (p. 19-70) deals with his family's life in Poland before the First World War, including their fear of pogroms and antisemitism, and his childhood in France and memories of the atmosphere in Germany during holidays in 1936-37 (where he was sent by his parents in order to learn German). Mentions, also, the atmosphere in Vichy France, suggesting that the cause of such a deep spiritual crisis in French society must be found in its past. Describes the fate of his mother, who was deported to Drancy and later to Auschwitz. Pp. 71-102, "Judaisme et christianisme", discuss the history of Christian-Jewish relations. Relating to antisemitism, emphasizes that Nazi antisemitism was closer to the atheistic antisemitism of the Enlightenment period than to Christian antisemitism, and was influenced by the German antisemitism of the 18th-19th centuries. Pp. 103-122, "Le génocide", deal with Lustiger's views on the position of the Catholic Church in France, and of the Vatican, during the war, and the importance of remembering the history of that period.

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