Relations between Catholicism and Judaism
This article on relations between Catholicism and Judaism deals with the current relationship between the Catholic Church and Judaism, focusing on changes over the last fifty years, and especially during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. For an overview historical relations, see anti-Judaism.
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[edit] Background
As a reaction to the Holocaust, many theologians, religious historians, and educators dedicated their efforts to seek reconciliation between Christians and Jews. By reconciliation it was meant that Christianity sought to understand how its antisemitic teachings over millennia contributed to the Holocaust, to ensure it did not happen again. It was not an effort to synchronize the theological positions of the two religions, Christianity and Judaism.
[edit] Second World War to 2005
The Second Vatican Council, commonly known as Vatican II, was a pastoral ecumenical council of the Catholic church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. One of the most revolutionary changes that resulted from interpretations of this council's documents concerned the document Nostra Aetate.
- True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. The Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ. Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.
In 1971 the Catholic Church established an internal International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, outside the Church's Magisterium, to further these efforts.
[edit] Modern Catholic teachings about Judaism
On May 4, 2001, at the 17th Meeting of the International Liaison Committee in New York, Church officials stated that they would change how Judaism is dealt with in Catholic seminaries and schools. In part, they stated:
- The curricula of Catholic seminaries and schools of theology should reflect the central importance of the church's new understanding of its relationship to Jews....Courses on Bible, developments by which both the church and rabbinic Judaism emerged from early Judaism will establish a substantial foundation for ameliorating "the painful ignorance of the history and traditions of Judaism of which only negative aspects and often caricature seem to form part of the stock ideas of many Christians. (See notes on the Correct Way to Present Jews and Judaism in Catholic Preaching and Catechesis, #27, 1985[1])
- ...Courses dealing with the biblical, historical and theological aspects of relations between Jews and Christians should be an integral part of the seminary and theologate curriculum, and not merely electives. All who graduate from Catholic seminaries and theology schools should have studied the revolution in Catholic teaching on Jews and Judaism from Nostra Aetate to the prayer of Pope John Paul II in Jerusalem at the Western Wall on March 26, 2000....For historic reasons, many Jews find it difficult to overcome generational memories of anti-Semitic oppression. Therefore: Lay and Religious Jewish leaders need to advocate and promote a program of education in our Jewish schools and seminaries - about the history of Catholic-Jewish relations and knowledge of Christianity and its relationship to Judaism....Encouragement of dialogue between the two faiths does involve recognition, understanding and respect for each other's beliefs, without having to accept them. It is particularly important that Jewish schools teach about the Second Vatican Council, and subsequent documents and attitudinal changes that opened new perspectives and possibilities for both faiths.
This new understanding of the relationship between Catholics and Jews is also reflected in the revised liturgy of Good Friday in a particular way. The pre-1962 version of the Good Friday Prayer had Catholics praying for the "perfidis Judaeis", the "unfaithful Jews".[2] The Latin adjective "perfidis", whose derivations in modern languages had taken on a strongly pejorative sense, was excised from the text. As part of the revision of the Roman Missal, the prayer was completely rewritten, so that the Catholic Church now prays for "the Jewish people, first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant".
[edit] Efforts by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II was one of the few popes to have grown up in a climate of flourishing Jewish culture, one of the key components of pre-war Kraków, his interest in Jewish life dated from early youth.
[edit] Significant outstanding issues
Despite considerable progress in improving relations during the period covered by this article, points of contention still exist between the Catholic Church and the Jewish community. Importantly, some criticise the Church for failing to ‘grab the bull by the horns and look at Christian culpability and Church culpability for the Holocaust.’[3] Several decisions supported by Pope John Paul II prompted criticism among some members of the Jewish community, including:
[edit] Pius XII
- The beatification of Pope Pius XII, whom many Jewish groups believe did little to aid Jews during the Holocaust.
- The Vatican's continued policy of allowing only partial access to its extensive World War II era archives. Many Jewish groups believe that full access to this archive might demonstrate that Pope Pius XII deliberately did not do enough to help Jews, or even that he demonstrated some sympathy for the Nazi regime.
[edit] Church repentance
In addition, although the Jewish community appreciated John Paul II's 1994 statement, We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, which offered a mea culpa for the role of Christians in the Holocaust, some Jewish groups felt that the statement was insufficient, as it focused on individual members of the Church who helped the Nazis, portraying them as acting against the teachings of the Church.
Some critics consider the statement to be an akin to the so-called "No true Scotsman" defense, as it absolved the Church itself of any blame. Lingering disputes also remain about some of the practical aftereffects of the Holocaust, including the question of how to deal with Jewish children baptized during the Second World War who were never returned to their Jewish families and people.
[edit] Arab Catholics
Continuing tensions in the Middle East impacts on the relations between Jews and Catholics in the region and beyond. Relations with Arab Christians in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria often parallel those relations with Arab Muslims and remain difficult, especially with regards to the question of anti-zionism and Zionism.
[edit] Traditionalist Catholics
The term "traditionalist Catholics" has been applied to Catholics particularly devoted to practicing the ancient traditions of the Church (cf Summorum Pontificum).
There are also groups calling themselves "traditionalist Catholics" that either reject many of the changes made since Vatican II, or regard Vatican II as an invalid Council, or who broke away entirely from the Catholic Church after Vatican II (cf Society of St. Pius X and Sedevacantism).
[edit] Media treatment of the Church
In a May 2002 interview with the Italian-Catholic publication 30 Giorni, Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga claimed that Jews influenced the media to exploit the recent controversy regarding sexual abuse by Catholic priests in order to divert attention from the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. This provoked outrage from the anti-Defamation League, especially since Maradiaga has a reputation as a moderate and that he is regarded as a papabile.[4] The high-profile Don Pierino Gelmini of Italy, himself personally accused of sexually abusing a number of young men, put the blame on a nebulous "Jewish radical chic" in an interview with the Corriere della Sera.[5][6] He later apologized and shifted the blame onto the Freemasons.[7] The bishop Giacomo Babini described the scandal's exposure as a refined "Zionist attack" in an April 2010 newspaper interview.[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Vatican.va:Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations with the Jews
- Staying The Course: John Paul II built a closeness between the Vatican and Jewish community, and Jewish leaders don’t expect that to change
- Catholic Encyclopedia Article on Judaism. Of particular interest is section four: "Judaism and Church Legislation." (The Catholic Encyclopedia was written before Vatican II, and may reflect attitudes that no longer characterize the Catholic view of Judaism.)
- TIMELINE - Pope Benedict angers Jews - a timeline of recent events in Catholic-Jewish relations (Reuters, January 25, 2009)
[edit] References
- Bibliography
- Ain, Stewart. "Staying The Course: John Paul II built a closeness between the Vatican and Jewish community, and Jewish leaders don’t expect that to change", The Jewish Week, April 8, 2005
- Lipman, Steve. "The Jewish Critique: Amid the pope’s remarkable record on the Jews, issues linger", The Jewish Week, April 8, 2005
- Notes
- ^ "Vatican Notes". Bc.edu. http://www.bc.edu/research/cjl/meta-elements/texts/cjrelations/resources/documents/catholic/Vatican_Notes.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-06.[dead link]
- ^ The English cognate "perfidious" had, over the centuries, gradually acquired the sense of "treacherous." In order to eliminate misunderstanding on this point, Pope Pius XII ordered in 1955 that, in Catholic liturgical books, the Latin word "perfidis" be properly translated "unbelieving", ensuring that the prayer be understood in its original sense: praying for the Jews who remained "unbelieving" concerning the Messiah. Indeed, the same adjective was used in many of the ancient rituals for receiving non-Christian converts into the Catholic Church. Owing to the enduring potential for confusion and misunderstanding because of the divergence of English usage from the original Latin meaning, Pope John XXIII ordered that the Latin adjective "perfidis" be dropped from the Good Friday prayers for the Jews; in 1960 he ordered it removed from all rituals for the reception of converts. See: Time Magazine August 15 1960. that they might convert to the truth. Pope John XXIII
- ^ Ranan, David, Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church, p. 236, Theo Press, 2007. [1]
- ^ ADL Outraged by Honduran Cardinal's Jewish Conspiracy Theory
- ^ Fisher, Ian (17 August 2008). "Vatican Plays Down Meeting That Angered Jewish Groups". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "Sex Abuse Charges a 'Conspiracy': Priest" (5 August 2007). Independent Online. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "Chiedo scusa agli ebrei" (7 August 2008). Quotidiano.net. Retrieved 7 July 2010. (Italian)
- ^ Kington, Tom (11 April 2010). "Bishop 'Blames Jews' for Criticism of Catholic church Record on Abuse". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
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