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Jews Continue Seeking Dialogue With Church |
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Published by InvestCatholic.com
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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
By Jesús Colina
ROME, FEB. 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
Jewish representatives have shown their willingness to continue
dialogue with the Catholic Church, going beyond interpretations sparked
by the new Good Friday prayer to be used by those communities that
celebrate the liturgy according to the 1962 missal.
The messages, some of them addressed directly to the Holy See, have arisen after strong criticism of the text of this prayer,
which asks that the children of the Chosen People, as well as the rest
of humanity, can all come to recognize Jesus Christ and his Church.
The
text replaces another prayer for the Jews, offered before the Second
Vatican Council, which was perceived as offensive in some of its terms,
in part due to the difficult history of relations between Christians
and Jews.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical
Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews, speaking on Vatican
Radio on Feb. 7, clarified that this prayer -- prayed only by very
small groups of Catholics, since the rest of the Church will continue
with the prayer introduced by Pope Paul VI -- only professes the
Christian faith, and does not seek proselytism of conversion.
"In
the past, frequently this language was one of scorn, as Jules Isaac, a
famous Jew, has said. Now there occurs a respect in diversity," the
cardinal said.
Expressing identity
Among the reactions,
an article published Feb. 23 in the German newspaper Die Tagespost is
noteworthy. The article, written by Jacob Neusner, professor of History
and Theology of Judaism in Bard College, supports the explanation given
by the cardinal, explaining that the prayer does nothing more than
express Christian identity.
"Israel prays for the gentiles, so
the other monotheists -- the Catholic church included -- have the right
to do the same, and no one should feel offended. Any other policy
toward the gentiles would deny gentiles access to the one God whom
Israel knows in the Torah," wrote the professor, who has taught at
institutions including Columbia University, University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Brandeis University, Dartmouth College, Brown
University and the University of South Florida.
"And the
Catholic prayer expresses the same generous spirit that characterizes
Judaism at worship. God’s kingdom opens its gates to all humanity and
when at worship the Israelites ask for the speedy advent of God’s
kingdom, they express the same liberality of spirit that characterizes
the Pope’s text for the prayer for the Jews -- better ‘holy Israel’ --
on Good Friday," the Jewish professor explained.
"Both ‘It is
our duty’ and ‘Let us also pray for the Jews’ realize the logic of
monotheism and its eschatological hope," Neusner concluded.
Other
representatives of important Jewish organizations have sent messages to
the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which oversees
the Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews. The messages seek
to advance in the dialogue that began with the Second Vatican Council.
A
letter from the World Jewish Congress, for example, proposes to advance
in the difficult path of dialogue to go deeper precisely in those
aspects that mutually wound the believers of both religious, with
frankness, respect and the necessary openness of spirit.
Unbroken covenant
Cardinal
Kasper has explained in responses to consultations from Jewish
organizations that the text of the prayer is inspired in St. Paul's
Letter to the Romans, Chapter 11, in which it speaks also of God's
unbroken covenant with the Jews.
The prayer, he affirmed, leaves everything in the hands of God, not in ours. It does not speak of missionary activity.
Beyond
the debate sparked by the prayer, the vast majority of Catholic
faithful in the world will continue praying the great intercessions of
the Good Friday liturgy, according to the missal adopted in 1969, which
came into effect in 1970 during the pontificate of Paul VI.
That
prayer says: "Let us pray for God's ancient people, the Jews, the first
to hear his word […] that God will grant us grace to be faithful to his
covenant to grow in the love of his name."
Article reprinted from zenit.org with permission.
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