It is truly disappointing to find in an age that claims to be tolerant and enlightened, that there can still be intolerance expressed over the continuance of a historically traditional way of praying. Such oppositional fervor can only be seen as an example of intolerance against the most basic and foundational of Christian beliefs.
ROME (Reuters) - A leading Italian rabbi Tuesday accused Pope Benedict of wiping out 50 years of progress in Catholic-Jewish dialogue and announced that Italian Jews will boycott an annual Church celebration of Judaism.
Elia Enrico Richetti, chief rabbi of Venice, said in an editorial in a Jesuit journal that the main reason for the rabbis' decision to boycott was the reintroduction last year of a Holy Week prayer for the conversion of the Jews.
"If (to the prayer) we add the pope's recent statements on dialogue being useless because the Christian faith is superior, it is clear that we are moving toward the cancellation of 50 years of Church history," he wrote in the Jesuit journal Popoli.
Last year the Vatican revised a contested Latin prayer used by traditionalist Catholics on Good Friday, the day marking Jesus Christ's crucifixion.
But Jews criticized the new version because it still says they should recognize Jesus Christ as the savior of all men. It asks that "all Israel may be saved" and Jews said it kept an underlying call to conversion that they had wanted removed.
It seems obvious that with last year's revision of the traditional prayer the Church made a monumental gesture of good will. To demand that Christians not pray that all might recognize Jesus Christ as the savior is in effect tantamount to insisting that we no longer recognize Jesus as God incarnate.
The spirit that rejects Christ has been in the world since the time of Christ, and because it's nothing new we should keep in mind that there's no real reason to take a reactionary stance. Rather patience, tolerance, and, somewhat ironically, prayer is often the best way to deal with assaults against our traditions and beliefs.
A great deal of truth comes through in the Church's celebration of Judaism, which the article mentions. Certainly such a celebration respects and serves to lift up the prayers and traditions of Judaism that we too see as a vital source of nourishment to our faith.
There is also wisdom to be had in knowing that the Catholic prayer for conversion to Christ does not necessarily entail conversion from Judaism. Rather the heart of the prayer for conversion is the hope that Christ will be revealed within all human cultural expressions that search in truth for God.
Despite the current boycott and others that are sure to come, dialogue will continue and progress toward mutual understanding and respect will also continue. However, it's realistic to expect that opposition to Christianity will continue as well. In fact it may even grow to such a degree that being intolerant of the Catholic faith will be accepted by many as a virtue. However, again, this is nothing new to us--we are called to have faith and to hope for the coming of the day when all will know the Son of God as the savior of the world.
Well, DD..I wouldn't be so quick to condemn. You have to understand where these Italian rabbis are coming from...The Church is present with everything from announcements to little tidbits of news every day in the Italian media, something which sparks a an increasing tension and conflict in our society.
This is happening in particular because it seems that, although the message is the same, while Pope John Paul II was a great communicator who was revered by everyone, believers and non believers alike. Navarro Valls was a well known, reassuring father figure.
The whole approach towards communication is completely different now, and this is creating quite a bit of unrest among the Jews, the Muslims and any other category of folks that are interested in or affected by what the pope has to say - not to mention it's effect among those who are not interested in his message.
Also, the figure of reference in the national Jewish community is the chief rabbi of Rome, who made his objections at the appropriate time (when the change in the prayer for the Jews was announced) and apparently there is still dialog going on at that level. I don't know how important the chief rabbi of Venice is, but I don't think his announcement meant that no Jews would be present at the meeting to be held in the next few days.
Posted by: Pia | January 14, 2009 at 08:06 AM
Of course I understand that my perspective is bound to be different from that of someone who lives in a society where the Church has such a presence as it does in Italy. Certainly I didn't intend to have a condemning tone either, though I may have come across that way.
In living my own standard of tolerance toward the faith of others, I do not believe that I would have the right to criticize their practice of religion, even if it meant that they were praying for my conversion from the faith I hold. Rather, I would see such a practice as an opportunity to delve deeper into the rationale for it. Hence, I would see it as an opportunity for further dialogue.
Nevertheless, I can concede that if someone is praying for my conversion the implication of it can be taken to be that my belief is somehow defective or inferior. This is why I said that a prayer for conversion to Christ does not necessarily entail conversion from one's current expression of faith. Instead it can connote the desire for a more accepting stance regarding the position of Christ in salvation history.
Posted by: Deacon DW | January 14, 2009 at 03:41 PM