Page 75 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

15
From the Pope Down:
The Catholic Church’s Leadership Failure over October 7
“Interview by Vic Alhadeff OAM, 14 January 2024
Vic Alhadeff ’s interview with me was first published in The Jewish Independent, www.thejewishindependent.com.au (previously Plus 61J), on 14 January 2024.
Vic Alhadeff OAM is a former CEO of the” NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and a veteran
contributor to Catholic-Jewish relations in Australia.6
Vic Alhadeff meets Teresa Pirola, one of the few voices in the Australian Catholic Church who has spoken out against her colleagues’ silence.
Teresa Pirola has a clear picture in her mind as to what should have happened on October 8, 2023.
‘October 7 occurred during a global synod of bishops convened by the Pope at the Vatican’, she says. ‘The Catholic world was watching. Given the severity of what had happened, the Holocaust and antisemitism, and the Catholic Church’s connection with that history, this was the Church’s moment to step up and enact its promise of “Never Again”.
‘What was needed was for Pope Francis to interrupt the
6
75
Since this interview first appeared, Vic Alhadeff has been awarded an OAM.