An American Jewish religious leader hailed a “new spirit” of openness in Catholic-Jewish relations but bluntly told senior Vatican leaders Wednesday that Jews are wary of the church’s new way of thinking.
Rabbi Jack Bemporad, chairman of inter-religious affairs for the Synagogue Council of America, said that until the “creative and outstanding work” of Pope John Paul II and other Vatican leaders had an impact on the grass-roots level of parish priests and laity, the task of reducing anti-Semitism and racism, particularly in Eastern Europe, would not be achieved.
He also urged the Vatican to recognize Israel.
Bemporad, one of the leaders of a 30-member international Jewish delegation scheduled to have an audience with the pope on Thursday, spoke during a public meeting with Cardinal Franz Koenig of Austria on “Perspectives and Orientation for the Future of Catholic-Jewish Relations.”
Jewish leaders expressed the hope that the pope would issue a personal reaffirmation of a Vatican position declaring anti-Semitism a “sin against God and Christian teachings.” That position was included in the final document issued after a high-level Catholic-Jewish meeting in Prague three months ago.
Wednesday’s session was part of a two-day conference involving members of the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and IJCIC, the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations.
The conference was called to mark the 25th anniversary of “Nostra Aetate,” the landmark decree issued by the Second Vatican Council, which opened the way to Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
‘A NEW SPIRIT HAS EMERGED’
At closed-door meetings earlier in the day, Jewish and Catholic leaders evaluated the quarter century since “Nostra Aetate” and discussed how to carry on following the joint Catholic-Jewish document issued Sept. 6 in Prague.
In that document, Archbishop Edward Cassidy, president of the Vatican commission, called on Catholics to repent for past sins committed against Jews.
The document also called for closer Catholic-Jewish cooperation in combatting anti-Semitism, particularly in the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe.
Speakers at the closed-door session Wednesday included Archbishop Cassidy and his predecessor as Vatican commission president, Cardinal Johannes Willebrands; Seymour Reich, chairman of IJCIC; Dr. Gerhart Riegner, co-chairman of the World Jewish Congress Board of Governors; Dr. Sergio Minerbi of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; and Bishop Pietro Rossano, a member of the Vatican commission.
Bemporad’s talk during the public session touched on many points raised earlier in the day.
“If one were to try to recapture the pre-Vatican II days, one would recognize that what existed between Christians and Jews was a state of suspicion and apprehension,” he said.
“Since Vatican II, a new spirit has emerged” and “startling changes have taken place,” he said. These augur “a new, significant and symmetrical dialogue” between Catholics and Jews.
“The promulgation of ‘Nostra Aetate’ instituted a radical change in Catholic teaching,” which has “brought about a revolution in Catholic thinking,” he said.
Nevertheless, given the long negative history of the church against Jews and Judaism in the nearly 2,000 years before “Nostra Aetate,” it is “not surprising that the Jew feels a little bit wary of the significant changes that have taken place within the church,” Bemporad said.
JEWISH WOUNDS RUPTURED ANEW
“The most horrendous destruction of Jews in history took place in predominantly Christian Europe,” he said. “Is there any wonder that it will take a long time for the Jewish community to genuinely trust the changes that have so radically changed the church?”
He said that when the pope, who otherwise has shown “deep concern” on Jewish issues, embraces Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat or meets with ex-Nazis such as Austrian President Kurt Waldheim — or when the Holocaust is “de-Judaized” by the erection of a Carmelite convent on the site of the former Auschwitz camp — “Jewish wounds that have yet to heal rupture anew.”
Bemporad stressed that education of the Catholic and Jewish laity is needed to create better understanding.
“Dialogue cannot be restricted to elites or to the top echelons of our respective organizations, but must be brought down to the grassroots level,” he said.
He called on the Vatican and IJCIC to set up a communications committee to “guarantee the promulgation of the Prague statement for Catholics and Jews on the local level throughout the world.”
There is a particular need, he said, for the sentiments expressed in the Prague statement “to be translated into action” in the newly democratic states of Eastern and Central Europe, the main killing grounds of the Holocaust, where reports of anti-Semitism are disturbingly on the rise.
He said Jews must also educate themselves about the changes in Catholic thinking. “Many Jews, like many Catholics, are not aware of the momentous changes in Catholic thinking about Jews and Judaism that have issued from the highest levels of the church since the Second Vatican Council,” he said.
A CALL FOR RECOGNITION OF ISRAEL
“We have to set up a commission to make sure that every parish, every synagogue and every community will be able to understand the new teaching of Vatican II and its guidelines, as well as the Prague statement,” he said.
“In doing so, every community throughout the world will be filled with this new spirit of reconciliation, spirit of love and spirit of hope.”
Bemporad said that a reversal of the Vatican’s continued refusal to recognize Israel would do a great deal to promote religious dialogue and understanding between the two faiths.
“You clearly state no theological objections to Israel existing and that the Jewish state has a right to exist,” he told the Catholic leaders, adding: “Why not go all the way and establish relations?
“Such recognition does not imply an agreement with a nation’s policies, but places the relationship on the same equal level that the Catholic Church has with world Jewry,” he said.
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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.
