Relations between Catholicism and Judaism
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This article on relations between Catholicism and Judaism deals with the current relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Judaism, focusing on changes over the last fifty years, and especially during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.
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The Second Vatican Council
Throughout history accusations of anti-Semitism have resounded against the Christian Church, and some leaders and members of the Church, both now and in the past, have made anti-Semitic statements and engaged in acts of anti-Semitism.
The Roman Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council, which was opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965, set out to clarify, among other things, the Catholic Church's teaching on relations with Jews.
One of its statements was directed against the belief that the Jewish people were to blame for the death of Jesus of Nazareth, a belief that for many centuries caused great suffering to be inflicted on them. This statement is contained in 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. Although the Church is the new people of God, 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.
At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church established, in association with what was at first called the Secretariat – later, the Pontifical Council – for Promoting Christian Unity, a section devoted to religious relations with Judaism; and, in 1971, an International Liaison Committee, not part of the Roman Curia, was set up to interact with the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations.
1978–2005
Pope John Paul II wrote and delivered a number of speeches on the subject of the Church's relationship with Jews, and often paid homage to the victims of the Holocaust in many nations. He was the first pope to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, in 1979.
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. His visit to The Great Synagogue of Rome was the first known visit to a synagogue by a modern pope.
On 2 April 2005, after John Paul II's death, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization, stated that the Pope had revolutionised Catholic-Jewish relations, saying that "more change for the better took place in his 27 year Papacy than in the nearly 2000 years before." (Pope John Paul II: An Appreciation: A Visionary Remembered)
Modern Catholic teachings about Judaism
On May 4, 2001, at the 17th International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee in NYC, they stated that they would seek changes in how Judaism is dealt with in Catholic seminaries. In part, they state:
- 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, patristics, early church history and liturgy should incorporate recent scholarship on Christian origins. Illumining the complex 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" (Notes on the Correct Way to Present Jews and Judaism in Catholic Preaching and Catechesis, #27, 1985).
- ...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 which opened new perspectives and possibilities for both faiths.
This new understanding of the relationship between Christians and Jews is 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 "perfidious Jews", that they might convert to the truth. Pope John XIII excised from the text the Latin adjective "perfidis", whose derivations in modern languages had taken on a strongly pejorative sense. 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."
The Carmelite Nun convent at Auschwitz
The Polish national Catholic bishops conferences supported the attempt of Carmelite Nuns to establish a convent at the former World War II Nazi-run death camp located at Auschwitz, so crucial to the Holocaust. Differences over the place of this convent caused some sectors of the Jewish community to become hostile to the idea of building a Catholic institution on the ground where mass genocide of Jews and the deaths of thousands of Poles was carried out. Jewish groups believed that this was inappropriate, and some groups engaged in peaceful protest. The nuns at the convent accused Modern Orthodox Rabbi Avi Weiss, of Riverdale, Bronx, NY, of attempting to assault them when he silently protested at the site. The Vatican did not support this convent, but since Vatican II each national bishops conference had local autonomy. Rabbi Leon Klenicki, founding member the of Interfaith Theological Forum of the John Paul II Center in Washington, D.C., said:
- Since Vatican II, each national bishops’ conference has its freedom to deal with local issues. Once the nuns took that place, that was under the jurisdiction of the Polish national bishops’ conference, not the Vatican. The pope couldn’t say anything. The pope intervened when the bishops’ conference was not strong enough to stop the convent. When he realized that nothing was being done, he issued an order for the nuns to move. (Lipman, 2005)
Visit to the State of Israel
In March 2000, Pope John Paul II went to the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem in Israel and touched the holiest outward remaining shrine of the Jewish people, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, in the hope of promoting Christian-Jewish reconciliation. The Pope has said that Jews are "our elder brothers."
In October 2003, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement congratulating Pope John Paul II on entering the 25th year of his papacy:
- "His deep commitment to reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people has been fundamental to his papacy. Jews throughout the world are deeply grateful to the Pope. He has defended the Jewish people at all times, as a priest in his native Poland and during his pontificate... We pray that he remains healthy for many years to come, that he achieves much success in his holy work and that Catholic-Jewish relations continue to flourish." [1]
Jewish critiques of Catholic positions: 1980s-2005
Given the significant differences between Catholic Christianity and Judaism, it should not be surprising that a number of points of dispute exist between the Catholic Church and the Jewish community. A number of issues supported by John Paul II caused dissension within elements of the Jewish community, including:
- The beatification of Pope Pius XII, who many Jewish groups believe did little to aid Jews during the Holocaust.
- The Vatican has allowed only partial access to its extensive World War II era archives. Many Jewish groups believe that full access to this archive would show that Pope Pius XII deliberately did not do enough to help the Jews, and that may show some sympathy for Nazi Germany.
- How to deal with baptised Jewish children during the Second World War who were never returned to their Jewish families and people.
- The canonization of Edith Stein as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Stein was a Jew who died in the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz.
- Jewish groups were grateful for his 1994 We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, which offered a mea culpa for the role of Christians in the Holocaust. However, many Jewish groups felt that this 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. This portrayal is considered by some to be a "No true Scotsman" defense, as it absolved the Church itself of any blame.
- Vatican positions on some aspects of Israeli policy
- The Pope John Paul saw all abortion as murder, while for reasons endangering one's physical health, or in some cases one's mental health, Judaism views abortions as permissible.
Nonetheless, the number of issues that divide Jewish groups and the Vatican have dropped significantly during the last forty years.
External links
- Staying The Course: John Paul II built a closeness between the Vatican and Jewish community, and Jewish leaders don’t expect that to change
- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08399a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia Article on Judaism. Of particular interest is section four: "Judaism and Church Legislation."
References
- Stewart Ain 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
- Steve Lipman The Jewish Critique: Amid the pope’s remarkable record on the Jews, issues linger, The Jewish Week, April 8, 2005
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