Several Popes had expressed interest in the Jewish people. but none matched Pope John XXIII in embodying that interest in specific acts. As Archbishop Angelo Roncalli. he was apostolic delegate to Greece and Turkey. based in Istanbul. during World War II. When told of the plight of several thousand Jews. including a number of children. slated for deportation to death at Auschwitz. he instantly made available thousands of baptismal certificates for use for the doomed Jews. without conditions. thus saving thousands from the Nazi furnaces. Early in his papacy. he ordered the elimination from the Good Friday liturgy of the reference to "perfidious Jews." which he knew was offensive to Jews and which. it was understood. he considered not a doctrinal matter but a carryover from the polemical history of the past. He had strong personal feelings about the need to remove the bases of animosity and hostility between religious communities. particularly in regard to Jews who. he was known to feel. had a special role in "salvation history." This was reflected again during the recent Good Friday when. according to press reports. the celebrant of the mass at the Vatican. either from habit or through use of a missal not brought up to date. again made a reference to "perfidious Jews." The Pope halted the service and had it repeated in its entirety with that reference omitted.
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deportation