News in Christian-Jewish Relations: February 2004
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WHATEVER
THE PASSION MESSAGE, THE CHURCH RENOUNCES ANTI-SEMITISM |
The film `The Passion of the Christ'' is about to open. I have not been able to
view the movie, and it is important that I state this at the outset, for I
cannot pretend to offer a review or any kind of critique of this project of
director Mel Gibson. I do offer some reflections on underlying concerns that
seem to be coming into focus in light of the Ash Wednesday release of ``The
Passion.''
While the primary source material of the film is attributed to the four gospels,
these sacred books are not historical accounts of the historical events that
they narrate. They are theological reflections upon the events that form the
core of Christian faith and belief.
The reader can easily misunderstand the gospels when they are viewed through the
lens of contemporary conceptions, attitudes and prejudices, as well as those of
intervening millennia. The attribution of anti-Semitism to the gospel narratives
is one such misunderstanding.
It is a distortion by Christians who forget these facts: Jesus was a Jew, the
apostles were Jews, the writers of the New Testament (as well as the Old
Testament, also known as the Hebrew Scriptures) were Jews, and the audience for
which the Old and New Testaments were written was primarily Jewish. It was not
until several generations after the writing of the gospels before Jewish
Christians (the first believers in Jesus) began to consider themselves not to be
Jews. It is an inescapable fact that first-century Jewish writers would depict
the drama of the passion of Jesus in light of their own perceptions. We,
however, have a responsibility to history as well as to the present to bring a
different understanding to our relations with one another.
Unfortunately, this understanding has not always motivated Catholics in
relations with their Jewish brothers and sisters. History relates periods of
Christian persecution of Jews, and the direct effects of this persecution still
touch us today.
On Feb. 18, 2000, soon after I became bishop of San Jose, I went to Temple Emanu-El
to apologize for the Catholic Church's actions that incited or in any way
encouraged anti-Semitism. An elderly man approached me and related how, when he
was a young boy some 70 or 80 years earlier, he had been attacked by other boys
who called him ``Christ-killer.'' Even after all of the years, this man broke
down in tears at recounting the story. All I could do was offer him a personal
apology and to embrace him as a brother.
This most tragic part of our not-so-distant-past was addressed at the Second
Vatican Council by the Roman Catholic bishops of the world in the 1965 document,
Nostra Aetate. The bishops wrote, ``Humanity forms but one community. This is so
because all stem from the one stock which God created. . . . The Jews should not
be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this follows from holy scripture.
Indeed the Church reproves every form of persecution against whomsoever it may
be directed. . . . it deplores all hatreds, persecutions, displays of
anti-Semitism leveled at any time or from any source against the Jews.''
In the nearly 40 years since Nostra Aetate was written, the relationships
between Catholics and non-Christians -- including but not limited to Jews,
Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists -- have grown warmer. We see ourselves as sisters
and brothers, co-workers and friends.
In solidarity with Pope John Paul II, who asked for forgiveness during his
pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 2000, I apologize to all my brothers and sisters of
any faith tradition which has felt prejudice. Let us not allow the mutual
respect that has developed to be threatened by an unenlightened reflection on an
artistic rendering of the events of 2,000 years ago. Remember, it is just a
movie.
As we enter the season of Lent next Wednesday, Catholics and Christians are
called to repentance. I call upon Catholics and all Christians in this Valley to
renew the ties that bind us to our Jewish brothers and sisters, the first of
God's Chosen People.
PATRICK J. McGRATH is the Roman Catholic bishop of San Jose. He wrote this column for the Mercury News.
Posted on Wed, Feb. 18, 2004
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The Bible, the Jews, and the Death of Jesus: A Collection of Catholic Documents |
NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE UNITED STATES
CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
The Bible, the Jews, and the Death of Jesus: A Collection of Catholic Documents
The Bible, the Jews, and the Death of Jesus brings together in one place excerpts from official documents of the Church pertaining to the presentation of the Passion and Death of Christ, whether in classrooms or from the pulpit, in Passion Plays or media dramatizations. Its intent is not only to end prejudices against Jews and Judaism, but also to better understand salvation in Christ by seeing the unique place of Jews and of the Jewish religion in the unfolding of salvation.
Contents:
Introduction by Bishop Stephen Blaire, Chairman of the Bishops Committee for
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
A. The Second Vatican Council and the Pontifical Biblical Commission
B. Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.
C. Statements of Pope John Paul II
D. Statements of USCCB
Appendices
Visit the bishops' Internet site located at www.usccb.org
. To order, call toll-free (800) 235-8722 or FAX (202) 722-8709.
Para ordenar recursos en español, llame al 800-235-8722 y presione 4 para
hablar con un representante del servicio al cliente, en español.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing
3211 Fourth Street NE, Washington, DC 20017-1194
Click here for a printable order form.
Also Available:
Walking God's Paths: Christians and Jews in Candid Conversation
Six 15-minute discussion-starting segments are perfect for understanding how
Christians and Jews can relate to one another in positive ways. This video is a
great resource for adult education, ecumenical officers, and interfaith marriage
counselors.
No. 5-596, 90 min. video, $49.00
Catholic Teaching on the Shoah: Implementing the Holy See's "We
Remember"
The bishops offer ways to frame Holocaust issues properly and sensitively
for Catholic students using historical and theological contexts. Additional
included resources provide aid in developing curricula and furthering dialogue.
No. 5-406, 32 pp. $3.95
On February 5, 2004, in a meeting with Jewish representatives at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II, noted: "As we now approach the 40th anniversary of this historic document (Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council's condemnation of anti-Semitism), there is regrettably a great need to repeat our utter condemnation of racism and anti-Semitism." In order to re-affirm the Church's teaching on its relationship to the Jews and its stand against anti-Semitism, the BCEIA has decided to re-publish its 1988 Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion, and to do so in a volume which gathers together key documents of Catholic teaching over the years. The volume is entitled The Bible, the Jews and the Death of Jesus: A Collection of Catholic Documents. The documents included develop Catholic teaching on the interpretation of Scripture, Catholic understanding and proper presentation of the Passion and Death of Christ, and the Church's ongoing condemnation of the sin of anti-Semitism.
Two major developments within the Church awakened and fostered a new understanding of the relationship between the Church and its roots in Judaism. The first was the biblical movement, which led the Church to a re-reading of the Gospels through analysis of literary and historical forms in order to identify a fuller theological understanding. This movement, launched in 1943 by Pope Pius XII with his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, was fully incorporated into the teaching of the Church with the Dogmatic Constitution on Revelation, Dei Verbum, in November of 1965 (especially, 3, 12). The second movement was that in the Second Vatican Council the Church formulated its commitment to re-examining it relationship with the Jewish people, beginning with a profound reflection on the ongoing nature of God's covenant with the Jewish people and its implications for all of Catholic theology.
The first readings included in this volume, following the Conciliar declaration, Nostra Aetate, no. 4, were issued by the Pontifical Biblical Commission beginning in 1964. They examine how the Church reads its Scriptures in general, and the New Testament with reference to the Jews (Section A). These are followed by statements of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews (Section B), the Holy Father (Section C) and, finally, our own Conference (Section C), concluding with our 1988 Criteria, which is thereby set within the larger framework of pertinent magisterial teaching.
Behind all of these statements lies the determination of the
Church to oppose anti-Semitism and to understand more fully the salvation of
all humanity in Christ while affirming the unique place of Jews and Judaism in
the unfolding of the mysteries of salvation universally proclaimed by the
Church. We trust they will be useful for those entrusted with preaching
and teaching in the Church, and in parish discussion and Catholic-Jewish
dialogue groups.
Cardinal William H. Keeler, who as Episcopal Moderator for Catholic-Jewish
Relations raised the idea for this book with the committee, commented:
"The charge of collective guilt of the Jews as a people for the death of
Jesus for many centuries distorted in the minds of many Christians the central
truth that our sins are responsible for His death. So pervasive was this
misconception even in the 16th Century that the Roman Catechism of the
Catholic Church specifically sought to rebut it (I, 5, 11), by reminding us
that our sins, committed knowingly as Christians, are much worse than whatever
was done by the few Jews actually involved in the historical event.
Sadly, many ignored the Roman Catechism and the Second Vatican Council had to
reaffirm this truth in even stronger terminology. Any Christians
involved the presentation of the events of Jesus' death must hold, in the
words of the 1974 Guidelines of the Holy See to implement Nostra Aetate no. 4,
an 'overriding preoccupation' not only to avoid portrayals of Jews that might
lead to collective guilt, but also to replace them with positive ones."
Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire, Bishop of Stockton
Chairman, Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.