The Archbishop of Los Angeles, Timothy Cardinal Manning, has issued a letter to every priest in the Archdiocese asking that on Sunday, Sept. 18 “the prayer of the faithful at each liturgy contain a petitionary prayer for all our Jewish brothers and sisters” for the High Holy Day period. In his letter, Manning declared that during the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, “we extend prayerful blessings to our brothers and sisters of the Jewish community.”
The Cardinal suggested as a model for the Sept. 18 liturgy the following prayer: “We pray that our Jewish brothers and sisters be richly blessed by the Almighty God as they celebrate in faith those holy days. May Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur bring peace, love, joy and justice to their families and their communities. We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.”
He stressed that “added to these sentiments of respect and love, may we again acknowledge that mission and witness for the Catholic includes neither proselytism nor crusade.” Manning cited the promulgation last March of the Venice statement on “the Mission and Witness of the Church.” He said “we commend this monumental document, hopeful that it will open possibilities of even greater friendship between our communities, with the fear of proselytism once and for all banished from Catholic-Jewish relations.”
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