A synod of Catholic bishops, called to plan the re-evangelization of Europe in the post-Communist era, ended its two-week session at the Vatican last Friday with a voluble affirmation of Jewish contributions to European culture.
The statement, issued at the close of the gathering attended by bishops from all over Eastern and Western Europe, was clearly aimed at easing the strains with Jews that arose from Pope John Paul Il’s emphasis on the “Christian roots of Europe” when he called the synod last month.
The bishops seemed to be responding to a European Jewish Congress request that the synod “respect and affirm the principle of religious and cultural pluralism” that is fundamental to modern Europe.
The congress’ request was made in a letter to Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini of Malan, president of the European Episcopal Conference, a week before the synod opened on Nov.28.
It seemed significant that the bishops went out of their way to address Jewish concerns while ignoring protests from the Eastern Orthodox churches.
Orthodox leaders charged, among other things, that the Roman Catholic Church was seeking converts among them. They were angered by the pope’s apparent support for Catholic Croatia over Orthodox Serbia in the Yugoslav civil war.
Eastern Church leaders in Russia, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece declined invitations to send observers to the synod.
A ‘NEW SPRING’ IN RELATIONS
The bishops assembled in Rome pledged to work for “a new spring” in Catholic-Jewish relations.
They made clear their abhorrence of resurgent anti-Semitism in Germany, Poland and other countries of the former Communist bloc.
Their statement observed that “European culture has grown from many roots.”
The fact that the Christian faith goes back to the very foundations of Europe “does not imply that Europe and Christianity are one and the same thing.”
The church has a “special relationship with the Jewish people,” the bishops asserted.
“An extremely important factor in the construction of a new order in Europe and in the world is interreligious dialogue, above all with our ‘elder brothers,’ the Jewish people whose faith and culture are an element of human development in Europe,” the statement said.
It added that “after the terrible Holocaust of our century, for which the church feels a profound grief, new attempts have to be made to acknowledge Judaism more profoundly, rejecting all forms of anti-Semitism, which are contrary either to the Gospel or to natural law.”
The bishops said the church “certainly esteems the roots which Christianity and the Hebrew people share” and seeks to “promote positive relationships with the Jewish people in the church’s preaching and educational work.”
The bishops concluded that “joint work at different levels between Christians and Jews” could have “great significance in Europe’s future.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
