Italian Jewish leaders are awaiting with intense interest publication of a Vatican document which, among other things, will contain guidelines for the teaching of religion in public schools, Catholicism is presently a compulsory subject from which students may be excused only on written request.
The Church announced yesterday the imminent publication of the document, drafted under the auspices of Msgr. Clemente Riva, head of the Ecumenical Commission of the Diocese of Rome. It is titled “An Outline for An Ecumenical Pastoral,” and contains a special section on “relations with the Jews.” The document will also serve as a guideline for teaching catechism and for the content of sermons and homilies delivered by priests in the Roman diocese.
It comes at a time when the Jewish community in Rome has been moving steadily toward cooperation with civic authorities and joint actions to combat anti-Semitism in the aftermath of the fatal attack on worshippers outside the Main Synagogue last October 9. Part of the program to combat anti-Semitism is to spread knowledge about Judaism in the city.
The Jewish community here has had no official contacts with the Catholic hierarchy since Pope John Paul II met briefly with the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, two years ago, in a church compound near the old Jewish ghetto. Toaff has spoken recently of the “lack of developments” issuing from that much publicized encounter. It remains to be seen whether the forthcoming Vatican document reflects such developments.
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