The New York Jewish Week
The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith has expressed “deep concern regarding the implications” of remarks made by Pope John Paul II, which ADL interprets as denying God’s covenant with the Jews.
In a letter to the Vatican secretary for Jewish relations, Rabbi David Rosen of the ADL’s Jerusalem office said anyone reading the pope’s words “may fairly conclude from them that God’s covenant with the Jewish people is superseded by the Christian covenant as the only everlasting covenant.”
The implications regarding Jews and Judaism, he said, are “unavoidably prejudicial.” Rosen said he assumed these were not “the intentional implications,” but he asked that his concern be brought to the pope’s attention.
“I look forward to urgent clarification of the matter so that we may demonstrate to the world that the clock of Catholic-Jewish relations has not been tragically set back,” Rosen said.
At the end of the letter to the Rev. Pier Francesco Fumagalli, Rosen said he had consulted with Rabbi Leon Klenicki, ADL director of interfaith relations, and was signing also on his behalf. The two are the ADL liaison representatives to the Vatican.
The pope’s remarks were made Aug. 2 in a brief theological reflection given during the weekly general audience he holds as part of a series on the Christian feast of Pentecost.
In his sermon, the pope said that “we consider the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as the fulfillment of the new and everlasting covenant between God and humanity.”
Under the Sinai covenant, he said, God would continue to regard Israel as “his special people” on the condition that they remain faithful to his law.
‘ISRAEL’S INFIDELITY TO GOD’
“But the history of the Old Testament shows many instances of Israel’s infidelity to God,” the pope said. “Hence God sent the prophets as his messengers to call the people to conversion, to warn them of their hardness of heart and to foretell a new covenant still to come.”
Eugene Fisher, Jewish relations secretary for the U.S. Catholic bishops, said in a telephone interview Monday that he considered Rsen’s letter “a very hasty response” to the pope’s remarks.
“In actuality, the ADL has rather seriously misread the statement,” Fisher said. “The pope’s statement neither asks nor answers the questions the ADL is raising. He was talking about Christianity’s own self-view. The statement doesn’t address Judaism’s self-understanding.”
Fisher also criticized ADL’s tactics in publicizing the protest before the Vatican had an opportunty to offer any explanation.
“I’m very disappointed,” Fisher said. “This is a serious breach of the understood process between our two communities — to send a letter to the Holy See and issue a press release the same day without the basic courtesy of allowing time for a response.”
“It is always proper to ask for a clarification,” Fisher said. “But no chance was given to the Holy See to clear up the matter.”
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.
