Cardinal Tells Rabbi Tanenbaum That the Church’s Relations with Jews Are ‘unique’

A Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church told an American-Jewish leader that he considered the Church’s relations with the Jewish people something “unique.” ordained by God. Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, director of the department of religious affairs of the American Jewish Committee, described his conversation with Johannes Cardinal Willebrands in the Vatican last May 30 to the Houston Chapter of the A.J. Committee.

Cardinal Willebrands was recently named by Pope Paul VI to serve as president of the Secretariat for Promotion of Christian Unity, succeeding the late Augustin Cardinal Bea. According to Rabbi Tanenbaum, Cardinal Willebrands said he felt strongly that the “Jewish question” must remain with his Secretariat rather than with that of Non-Christian Religions. “It is true that Christian unity is one thing, a separate thing, and Christian-Jewish relations is a separate thing. But they belong side-by-side,” Cardinal Willebrands told Rabbi Tanenbaum.

The Catholic leader said his Church sought good relations with Moslems. Buddhists and others and recognized that other religious have great books as their sources of inspirations. “But they are written by a man or men of great talent; they are not, however. Divine books. You have received God’s book and we have it through you, by the grace of God.” Rabbi Tanenbaum recounted.

He said Cardinal Willebrands thought “the Jewish people preserve special values, very important and precious, and they are of permanent meaning. The Jewish people and Judaism have a permanent mission in the world and we must work together side-by-side to serve God’s people and to help bring the Kingdom to the whole human family.” the Cardinal was reported to have said.

Rabbi Tanenbaum reported that while at the Vatican he also met with Father Cornelius Rijk, director of the Vatican Office for Catholic-Jewish Relations, who said he planned to increase theological dialogues around basic questions arising out of intertestamental studies and a better understanding of Judaism, the Jewish people and Israel.