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ROME – As with any new papacy, there is a risk in these early days of over-interpreting every word or action from Leo XIV, and while that is real, when it comes to current Vatican-Jewish relations, there isn’t much that he can say or do on the issue right now that does not carry at least some subtext.

This is also true of Monday’s commemoration, during a ceremony held in the Sistine Chapel, of Blessed Iuliu Hossu, during which the pope praised Hossu’s commitment to saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust but also issued a clear condemnation of violence against the defenseless that was likely a subtle reference to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Hossu was a Greek-Catholic cardinal who oversaw the diocese of Cluj-Gherla and who was eventually martyred during the Romanian communist persecution.

Among other things, he opposed the persecution of the Jewish people during the Holocaust and made efforts to save them, as well as the forced passage of Greek Catholics to the Romanian Orthodox Church. He was eventually arrested in 1948 for his opposition to the communist government.

He once refused a position offered to him by both government and Orthodox leadership as Orthodox metropolitan of Moldavia in exchange for renouncing the Catholic Church. He was held in forced domicile at a monastery, and in 1969 he was named cardinal in pectore, or to be kept a secret, by Pope Paul VI. He died in forced domicile in 1970.

Hossu was beatified by Pope Francis June 2, 2019, in Blaj along with six other Romanian Greek-Catholic bishops recognized as martyrs for having been killed “in hatred of the faith.” In 2022, a process began to award him the title, “Righteous Among the Nations.”

To commemorate Hossu’s beatification, as part of a broader year dedicated to Blessed Cardinal Iuliu Hossu organized by the Romanian Parliament, two separate events were held in Rome June 1-2 to celebrate Hossu, specifically his efforts to help Jews from Transylvania during the Holocaust.

On Sunday, June 1, Mass was celebrated in Romanian at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica by Bishop Claudiu-Lucian Pop, Greek Catholic eparchial bishop of Cluj-Gherla, along with Italian Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Eastern Churches, and Archbishop Giampiero Gloder, Vatican nuncio to Romania and Moldova.

The June 2 celebration paying homage to Hossu was attended by Pope Leo XIV, as well as various other ecclesiastical and political representatives, and specifically emphasized his efforts on behalf of the Jewish community.

In addition to Pope Leo, a speech was also given by Silviu Vexler, a Romanian politician and president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania, and a message was read aloud on behalf of Cardinal Lucian Muresan, major archbishop of the Greek-Catholic Church of Romania.

Monday’s ceremony took place against the backdrop of fresh condemnation from the international community of a new Israeli military offensive in Gaza that has left thousands dead and displaced, and after several papal appeals for peace in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Pope Leo XIV in his speech Monday called Hossu “a symbol of fraternity transcending all ethnic and religious boundaries.”

He hailed Hossu’s “courageous” commitment to supporting and saving Jews from Transylvania between 1940-1944 when the Nazis were deporting them to concentration camps.

“At enormous risk to himself and to the Greek-Catholic Church, Blessed Hossu undertook extensive activities on behalf of the Jews aimed at preventing their deportation,” the pope said.

Hossu, he said, was an impressive pastor who offered hope to countless people as “a man of faith, who knows that the gates of evil will not prevail against God’s work.”

“His life was a witness of faith lived to the full, in prayer and devotion to others,” Leo said, calling Hossu “a man of dialogue and a prophet of hope.”

Referring to a phrase Hossu had spoken indicating that the suffering they were enduring at the time was allowed by God as a means to offer forgiveness and to pray for the conversion of all, Pope Leo said this is the characteristic spirit of martyrs.

These words, he said, illustrate “an unshakeable faith in God, devoid of hatred and coupled with a spirit of mercy that turns suffering into love for one’s persecutor.”

“Even now, those words remain as a prophetic invitation to overcome hatred through forgiveness and to live one’s faith with dignity and courage,” Leo said, saying, “the Church is close to the sufferings of the Jewish people, which culminated in the tragedy of the Holocaust. She knows well what pain, marginalization, and persecution mean.

For this reason, he said, the Church is committed “as a matter of conscience” to building a society that is centered on respect for human dignity.

Calling Hossu’s actions “most timely,” the pope said that what Hossu did for the Jews of Romania, at the risk of his own life, makes him “a model of freedom, courage and generosity, even to the point of making the supreme sacrifice.”

Leo voiced hope that Hossu’s example, which came several years before the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 Declaration Nostra Aetate redefining the Church’s relationship with the Jewish community, and the 60th anniversary of which will take place in October, “will serve as a beacon for today’s world.”

In a line that likely carried a double meaning, Leo closed his speech, saying, “Let us say ‘No!’ to violence in all its forms, and even more so when it is perpetrated against those who are defenseless and vulnerable, like children and families.”

While undoubtedly applicable to Hossu’s actions and the context in which he was martyred, it is also likely a veiled reference to Gaza, where over 54,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s military operation, termed by some as a genocide, and which has left millions displaced amid an effort to recover hostages and oust the Hamas militant group from power.

Leo XIV has been described by many close to him as balanced and deeply thoughtful, meaning there’s not much he doesn’t think carefully about before saying.

On Monday it is likely he was trying in earnest to mend fences with Israel, and the Jewish community, given the strain in relations over the past 18 months due to some remarks from Pope Francis and his top aides, however, he wasn’t completely letting them off the hook either.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen