Archbishop of Milan Pleads for the Purging of Anti-semitism from Theological Literature

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the Archbishop of Milan, delivered an impassioned plea for the purging of anti-Semitism from theological literature, for promoting deeper Christian understanding of Jewish religion, culture and tradition and for Jews and Christians to join in dialogue with people of other faiths, notably Moslem.

The Cardinal spoke Tuesday to some 200 Christians and Jews from all over Europe, including the Eastern Bloc, assembled at Vallombroso, near Florence, for a colloquium, “1984 and Beyond: Purpose and Strategy in Jewish-Christian Relations.” It is sponsored by the International Council for Christians and Jews (ICCJ).

“Let us go back to God and to man, His image. Let us bend over this Jewish brother, over the history of his suffering, martyrdom and persecution. Let us remove tendentious or injurious interpretations of passages contained in the New Testament and in other writings,” Martini said.

He suggested, specifically, that Christians become acquainted with “Jewish prayer and Jewish spirituality”; for them to take the “initiative” to study and promote “research in schools by making use of already existing” opportunities provided by existing “scholastic regulations, creating others … revising text books … planning refresher courses for the clergy and catachists, paying attention to and checking catachisms, setting up similar courses and initiatives in diocesan seminaries.”

A FIRST TIME

This was the first time an Italian prelate of Martini’s high rank has made such concrete suggestions as to steps to “dissipate the misunderstandings that still make us diffident of real reciprocal good will” and to further “a dialogue, a lively and up to date relationship with the entire Jewish reality” because it is “essential to the Church.”

He said the Church has suffered from “being deprived of help that could have come from a living Jewish tradition within the Church,” especially in such areas as “Christian political thinking and practice,” the “right attitude toward the body, sex and family” and the relation of “messianic hope” to the problems of “justice and human rights.”

Martini is an outstanding scholar of Judaism, a member of the International Committee of Consultants of the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews.

One of the workshops at Vallombrosa concerned “Christians and Jews in Dialogue with People of Other Faiths,” led by Rev. Marcus Brayebooke, of London; Prof. Jean Halperin, the World Jewish Congress representative in Geneva; Father Bruno Hussar of the Jerusalem Isaiah House and Neve Shalom; and Prof. Hava Lazraus-Yafeh who teaches Islamic culture at the Hebrew University.

SUGGESTS AN OPENING TO ISLAM

Martini suggested an “opening to Islam because of common historical, cultural and religious roots” without the expectation of “short term results or preferential strategic advantages.” He reminded the participants of Jews who had dialogues with Islam in the past, Phylus of Alexandria, Maimonides and Spinoza to name a few.

“Israel has a universal messianic mission of ‘shalomization’ of the world,” Martini said. “If the Christian Church” is to be a “critical conscience, especially in Europe,” on matters of concern to all, “then it will find the force of the religious and ethical doctrine of Judaism at its side in this mission. It is precisely toward Judaism before any other place, that this dialogue and this peace must be brought about,” the Cardinal said.

Other key addresses were delivered by Father Marcel Dubois, co-founder of the Isaiah House and a professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University; and Rabbi Gordan Tucker, Dean of the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York.

Tucker filled in for Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg who was unable to attend. His thesis, which provoked a lively discussion, was that a healthy dialogue should be rooted in everyday life, in religious continuity and not only in “momentous events with apocalyptical overtones” such as the Holocaust or the birth of the State of Israel. While the Holocaust politically facilitated the creation of a Jewish State, Tucker said, he rejected a “meaningful connection.”