Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
October 16, 2002
Jewish-Catholic relations in the 21st century
Enormous progress achieved since Second Vatican Council, but more needed
The following column has been adapted from an address Bishop Gomez delivered at Regis University May 6 to the Jewish-Catholic Dialogue sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League.
Speaking in Denver to a Jewish-Catholic gathering in January 2001, Rabbi James Rudin remarked that the last 35 years have witnessed more progress in Catholic-Jewish relations than in all the previous 1,965 years. At one level, his observation seems obvious to most of us, but we ought to keep its profound contrast in clear focus as we consider our relations in the new century.
The correct interpretation of "Nostra Aetate" signaled the end of nearly 2,000 years of difficult relations between Christians and Jews by encouraging mutual understanding and appreciation, study, dialogue and friendship. And remembering the common spiritual heritage of Jews and Christians the Second Vatican Council strongly condemned "all hatreds, persecutions and displays of anti-Semitism leveled at any time and from any source against the Jews (NA 4)."
In the final paragraph of the declaration the council strongly reproved any discrimination or harassment on the basis of "race, color, condition in life or religion" and made clear that the norm for Christians is the love of every human person as a brother "created in God's image (NA 5)."
Soon after the close of the council local dialogue groups formed and scholarly conferences and collaborations began. These activities have multiplied and continued on every continent, and what was once only a hope for good relations has become reality for a growing number of Jews and Christians.
More recently, during the papacy of John Paul II, the pace of improvement in Catholic-Jewish relations has quickened. The Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, with responsibility to implement "Nostra Aetate," has issued publications to further those aims, most notably, "We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah," in 1998.
And who could forget the personal actions of the Holy Father, especially his visit to the great synagogue of Rome in 1986, his prayers for forgiveness on behalf of all Christians on the first Sunday of Lent 2000, and his jubilee pilgrimage to Israel two weeks later. Of all the published photos of this much-traveled pope, the picture of him praying at the Wailing Wall might be the most moving because it shows how far we have come in the last 35 years and how urgent it is for us to continue.
But how should we continue? In January of this year, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris, spoke to the European Jewish Congress meeting in the French capital. In April Cardinal Lustiger also addressed the World Jewish Congress in Brussels. To both audiences he cited the resolve of this pope to come to terms with history and to seek reconciliation as the fruit of purified hearts and memories. Although criticized for his position, John Paul II, with the encouragement of Jewish leaders, has been steadfast in his belief that truth is not a constraint to be feared, but rather, a freedom to be embraced. Acknowledging the responsibility of Christians for acts of intolerance, persecution and violence to Jews during 2,000 years of common history is no small undertaking, but it is necessary for the joy of jubilee to be experienced.
In Brussels, Cardinal Lustiger insisted on the necessity of an ongoing dialogue: "It is necessary to carry on the patient labor of mutual recognition, so as to grasp how Jews and Catholics truly see each other. We have to come to terms with the legacy that both unites and divides us. We have to know the other, both emotionally and concretely, if genuine dialogue is to overcome suspicions and wounded sensitivities."
According to Lustiger, "Mutual understanding will also foster a new awareness of shared perspectives of key aspects of social life." One of the shared perspectives he mentions is ethics. While noting "a great diversity among Jews as well as among Christians concerning the norms of human behavior(.) Nevertheless, the fact is that the message of the Bible and that of the Gospel strongly and really agree on ethical issues. Two words may sum up this ethical attitude: justice and peace."
He continued, "Another common point ... is a certain idea of democracy and liberty." After clarifying some historical facts on both sides, he concludes "Nowadays, the defense of religious liberty leads us both to deny the state any sacred authority or control of human conscience, because such power can only be God's."
Finally, turning again to his Paris remarks, Cardinal Lustiger made the point that a resumption of biblical and theological dialogue will lead to reciprocal understanding and respect and the discovery that Christians and Jews "are necessary for each other in a more intense and stronger vision of the greatness of the gift of God and of the beauty of human destiny."
In keeping with Cardinal Lustiger's proposal, let me be so bold as to suggest a topic for your consideration. In June 2001, the Pontifical Biblical Commission published "The Jewish People and Their Scriptures in the Christian Bible." This text is now available in English from the Vatican Press and can be read or downloaded from the Vatican Web page at www.vatican.va. Some of you may already have it. The document is long and scholarly but straightforward. I surely can't summarize it today, but I can recommend it as food for study and discussion because it goes to the heart of who we are, respectively, as children of Abraham. Without neglecting or discounting our very real differences, it makes clear what we hold in common biblically and theologically. I offer it for your consideration as a solid foundation for Jewish-Catholic dialogue in the early years of the 21st century.
The course set by the Second Vatican Council and faithfully navigated by Christians and Jews ever since is irreversible. May God grant us the grace of perseverance for there is much to be accomplished.
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