The “Elder Brother” Heresy: How John Paul II’s Synagogue Visit Fueled Religious Indifferentism and the Denial of Christ’s Kingship
On April 16, 2026, American Catholic and Jewish leaders gathered at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 40th anniversary of John Paul II’s 1986 visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome. The event, co-sponsored by the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism and the shrine, extolled the late antipope as a champion of interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance. Eric Cohen, president of the Tikvah Fund, praised John Paul II as “one of the greatest philosophers, religious leaders, and statesmen of the modern era,” while Catherine Szkop of the Israeli Embassy recalled the antipope’s popularity in Poland. The event promoted a vision of Catholic-Jewish relations rooted in the heretical teachings of Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate, which denies the exclusive salvific mission of the Catholic Church and undermines the social kingship of Christ the King.





