The Catholic Church should make further changes in liturgy to eliminate readings which either hurt or offend Jews, a Jesuit priest told a Catholic-Jewish conference here.
The Rev. Walter M. Abbott, associate editor of America, the Jesuit weekly, mentioned as an example that when Pope Paul VI visited the United States last October millions of Americans, including Jews, watching the Pope’s New York appearance, “gasped” when a seminarian read a passage from John that referred to the disciples “gathered together for fear of the Jews. “
Father Abbott said though many watchers assumed that the Pope had chosen the passage, “it was the long-established reading printed in the missal for the mass of peace. ” He added that apparently neither the Pope nor anyone else officiating at the mass thought of the effect “when this established text would be read out in the world’s Jewish capital. “
Sponsors of the conference were lona College, College of New Rochelle and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. The audience of 200 included priests, nuns, brothers and Catholic and Jewish lay listeners.
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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.
