The call by Pope Francis Sunday for an investigation into whether Israel is commiting genocide is a shocking development. What it means is that the man who sits on the throne of St. Peter is taking sides against Israel in the war precipitated by Hamas and its backer, Iran. This is a defensive war that is now being fought by Israel on five or more fronts. Why in the world is the leader of more than a billion Catholics opposing the Jewish state?

The call by His Holiness, according to the Associated Press and other news reports, is in excerpts released today from a new book in respect of the pontiff’s jubilee year. The AP calls it the first time that Francis “has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.” In September, the AP notes, the Pope called Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon “immoral” and “disproportionate” — and beyond the rules of war.

The book, “Hope Never Disappoints,” is, the AP reports, by Hernán Reyes Alcaide and is based on interviews with the pontiff. It’s due to be brought out Tuesday. Francis’ yearlong jubilee is expected to bring more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year. “According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope said in excerpts published today by the La Stampa, the AP reports.

“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he added. The AP notes that last year, Francis met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian Arabs living through the war. He set off a firestorm, the AP writes, by using words that Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide.”

It’s unclear, at least so far, for what kind of investigation the Pope is calling. Or whether it is just political leftist blather of the kind this leader of the Church has sometimes indulged. The International Court of Justice at The Hague determined that it is “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, as South Africa alleges. The kangaroo court is presided over by a Lebanese lawyer, Nawaf Salam, given to Israel bashing. Iran is reportedly bankrolling the case.

His Holiness’s call to examine, amidst the fighting, whether genocide is being committed in Gaza stands in sharp contrast to the Holy See’s obfuscation of records related to a real case of genocide. It took decades — until 2022 — for the Vatican to release archival documents related to the Nazi Holocaust. Archives indicate the Church turned a blind eye to the atrocities across Europe, which at times amounted to full complicity by Pope Pius XII.

Witness a  letter unearthed last year. Written to Pope Pius XII in 1942 by a Jesuit priest, Reverend Lothar Koening, it documents the gassing of 6,000 Jews and Poles in Poland. Pope Pius did not call for an investigation. Extermination of Jews intensified, and the church said little if anything. Since the days of Torquemada and his Inquisition, the Holy See’s record on genocide has been far from stellar. The Vatican didn’t deign to treat with Israel until 1993.

We get that relations between Jews and the Church are better than they have been in something like 2,000 years. Many of the faithful from both religions are finding common cause on social issues and bedrock values. Those who hew to  a traditional understanding of their creeds have come to perceive that they share the same skeptics. They have often been on the same side in the great constitutional clashes over religious liberty, which is no small thing.  

It is doubling disappointing, then, when the Pope turns on Israel.  He hasn’t called for an investigation into whether genocide is being attempted by Israel’s enemies. Then, too, there is the Jewish state’s stewardship of the Christian holy places. In 2016 the pontiff visited the Great Synagogue at Rome and called the Jews “our elder brothers and sisters in the faith.” What has happened to that fraternal spirit?