Chief rabbi faces blowback from Pope critique

Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein has angered and upset Christian groups, especially Catholics, by declaring that Pope Leo XIV’s “hands are dripping with blood”. 

Goldstein said this at the Yom Hazikaron commemoration in Johannesburg on 21 April, in response to the Pope’s Palm Sunday speech in which he’d said G-d does not hear the prayers of those who conduct war because “your hands are full of blood”. 

The chief rabbi countered that it was the Pope’s hands that were “dripping with blood” because he “makes no distinction between good and evil. He makes no distinction between the barbarians of Hamas, the genocidal maniacs of Tehran, and the noble and brave soldiers of the State of Israel who are defending civilisation itself.” 

He said that for the Pope to “lack the moral insight to see a difference between good and evil” is to “disqualify yourself from religious leadership in your essence and in your soul. Only a religious leader who has lost his soul can say such a thing.” 

This is not the first time the chief rabbi has criticised a Pope. In December 2023, he called out Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, over his stance on the Gaza war, saying he was “colluding with the forces of evil who seek to annihilate the Jewish people”. 

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) ‒ comprised of Catholic Bishops from South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini ‒ published an open letter at the time, saying, “We believe the allegations you present as proof of Pope Francis and the Catholic Church’s hatred of Jews lack truth and objectivity, and have an air of mistrust and character assassination.” 

Father Hugh O’Connor, the Secretary General of the SACBC, told the SA Jewish Report his organisation is “saddened” by the chief rabbi’s recent comments. 

“We believe that all people of goodwill want to see peace prevail,” said O’Connor. “Pope Leo XIV is an advocate of peace, as he does not want violence and war to be the fate of anyone, regardless of ethnicity, religious affiliation, or nation.” 

O’Connor says the Pope’s consistent call for peace “is deeply rooted in our belief that G-d has a dream for humanity, that there would be equality, justice, and peace. Pope Leo has invited anyone who wants this to be a reality to join him. We hope and pray that Rabbi Goldstein will unite with people of goodwill everywhere and help us bring about G-d’s peaceful reign.” 

Other Christians were also upset about the chief rabbi’s remarks. Father Russell Pollitt, a parish priest in Johannesburg, wrote that “to suggest that a call for peace makes one complicit in bloodshed must be denounced by any person of faith who values the truth”. 

He said Goldstein “risks compromising Jewish-Catholic dialogue”, and “we cannot, at this time, ruin the fruit of goodwill in Jewish-Catholic relations”. 

But South African Friends of Israel spokesperson Bafana Modise said his organisation supports the chief rabbi, and believes his message has been quoted out of context. 

“It is very clear that the chief rabbi is calling for moral clarity from the Pope as a spiritual leader. Iran is a regime of evil. Forty thousand protesters were killed in two days in Iran. Thousands of young people have been executed. If the Pope is not willing to call it out and wants to resort to political correctness, this is not what we expect from a spiritual leader.” 

Furthermore, the Church “must be on the side of good, to dismantle this regime, to safeguard the world from a nuclear Iran, and to safeguard the world from radical jihadist groups that are funded by Iran, which has caused thousands of deaths and destruction to communities in the Middle East”, Modise said. 

For the Pope to “assume a politically correct position at a time where the world needs a leader like him to be firm against Iran, is truly appalling”, he said. “We support the chief rabbi in saying, ‘This is the moment when the Church should take a position protecting our Judeo-Christian values.’” 

Local senior Anglican priest, Reverend Canon Peter Houston, told the SA Jewish Report he doesn’t agree with the Pope’s sentiment. “There is a long-held ‘just war’ theology in Christianity,” he said. 

However, “I would not disagree with the Pope’s view in the manner that the chief rabbi did. He attacked the man ‒ his essence, his soul ‒ and not the message, his argument that G-d is a pacifist, and war does not bring about peace. To speak ill of a person and not simply their ideas is a weighty matter,” Houston said. 

South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) National Chairperson Professor Karen Milner said the SAJBD disagrees that the Pope’s hands are “dripping with blood”, and considers these comments “unsubstantiated and inflammatory rhetoric”. 

She said the comments “crossed a clear red line, both in their lack of factual grounding and in the divisiveness and hurt they have caused to fellow South African citizens”. 

Roughly 80%–85% of South Africa’s population identify as Christian. 

Over the past two and a half years, said Milner, “we have witnessed deepening polarisation across South African communities. It is the responsibility of leadership to foster robust debate on difficult issues without allowing that debate to degenerate into offensive slurs. This weight falls particularly on religious leaders.” 

She said the SAJBD has a “long and consistent record of speaking out against divisive rhetoric, from whatever political or religious quarter it originates, whether aimed at our community or at others. We categorically reject any attempt to drive wedges between South Africans.” 

Religious communities “have the potential to be powerful forces for healing and reconciliation”, said Milner. “The SAJBD believes that interfaith is a space for respect, tolerance, and engagement. We remain deeply committed to meaningful and respectful dialogue with the interfaith community.” 

Pollitt said the chief rabbi’s words seemingly sanctified war and violence, and did not call for peace, but Goldstein did emphasise that Jews “pray for the end of war” and “for when no one will have to die for their country”. 

He noted that if the soldiers of the Allied forces had not fought against Nazi Germany, “the world would be engulfed in darkness forever”. 

The chief rabbi did not respond to the SA Jewish Report’s request for comment.