I decided to do more research on Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger to gain a greater perspective, and to be able to compare between what Goldman wrote about him versus others. I utilized The New York Times and looked into what articles they had written over the years about the Cardinal. I found articles from 1983, 1995, 2004, and finally his obituary from 2007.

An aspect of my research that I found interesting was that in the 1983 article titled “A Most Special Cardinal” which served as the product of an extensive interview between John Vinocur and the Cardinal , and the 2007 obituary is that they both noted how the Cardinal worn the Nazi’a yellow star to his school during the occupation during World War II. However, in Goldman’s chapter he notes how Cardinal Lustiger never registered himself as a Jewish individual during the war and that was something he regretted. This article elaborates on the conflict that occurred between Lustiger and his parents in regards to him attending a Catholic institution and converting. A decision that according to Goldman they seeked the guidance of a local Rabbi for. In the article Lustiger describes how a “strong mystic element accompanied the change,” describing the situation as more of a “crystallization than a conversion.” Lustiger notes how revolting the idea was to his parents but he explained to them that “I’m not leaving you. I’m not passing into the enemy camp. I’m becoming what I am. I’m not stopping being a Jew, just the opposite. I’m discovering a way of living it.” Lustiger goes on to say that his parents did agree, believing that it could offer their son protection but that for him the conversion was not escape. I found this interesting because within Goldman’s chapter he does discuss the internal conflict the parents faced but he also heavily notes how they did not believe France would fall and believed themselves to be safe because they were within France. This article also includes how Lustiger’s sister, Arlette, also converted. A detail that was not in Goldman’s chapter.

The 1995 article discussed how Lustiger went to Yad Vashem, dressed as a simple priest and the criticism he received. Some of the strongest outrage came from Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau who according to The New York Times said “he betrayed his people and his faith during the most difficult and darkest of periods” during sermons and interviews. The Cardinal’s presence also brought back feelings that the Vatican had not done enough to speak out against the Nazis. The New York Times described how Lustiger did not make it clear if the criticism was troubling to him but that one of the comments made by Rabbi Lau strucked a nerve saying , “it’s the first time that I hear such a thing, that being baptized is worse than what Hitler did.”

An interesting point that gets brought up in a few of ,he articles is the question of if Lustiger thought he would be named the next Pope. He found this idea crazy. He considered it to be a bit of a stupid question but he was named a possible successor. A moment that was striking for Lustiger was being named Archbishop of Paris saying, “this nomination was as if all of a sudden the crucifix began to wear a yellow star.”

The 2004 article discussed how Cardinal Lustiger had assembled a coalition of Cardinals to visit Yeshiva University in America in hopes of showing them how to be men of faith in the modern world. The meeting kept to the guidelines of Rabbi Soloveitchik and did not involve any discussion of theology.

The final aspect of these articles I will mention is once again from “A Most Special Cardinal,” which mentioned how the Cardinal has a special identity document given to Paris notables that advices the police to “assist” the individual in accomplishing his tasks. When showing the reporter Lustiger exclaimed “Me, with this thing!” “When you think that from age 14 I was terrified of cops.” This alone highlights the striking arch and irony in Cardinal Lustiger’s journey from a young Jewish boy in 1940s France who had to fear many including the police to Cardinal, well respected by the Pope, who can seek assistance from the “same” police.

“To say that I am no longer a Jew is like denying my father and mother, my grandfathers and grandmothers…I am as Jewish as all the other members of my family who were butchered in Auschwitz or in the other camps.”