Every country has its distinctive form of Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
That of the U.S. is characterized by passionate frankness and interest on one hand, and a good degree of ignorance of the subject matter by the religious media on the other.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, the new President of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with Jews who replaced Cardinal Walter Kasper a year ago, experienced both aspects during an encounter with about 80 people at the Seton Hall University Center for Interfaith Understanding in New Jersey, and at the (UJA /United Jewish Appeal) offices Jen New York where he met with delegates of America’s largest Jewish organizations, assembled as members of IJCIC (the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations) – the Vatican’s official Jewish partner in the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC).
The Cardinal delivered an hour long, in-depth analysis of “Theological Questions and Perspectives in Jewish-Catholic Dialogue”, and then engaged with the public in lively question and answer periods.
His speech centered around the uniqueness and interdependence of the Christian-Jewish relationship and the mysteries surrounding what he defined as “the One Covenant”, that does not replace but includes all previous Covenants between God with the Jewish People.
His text was richly documented with scholarly references to excerpts from Nostra Aetate and Christian theologians including statements of both “Cardinal” and “Pope” Ratzinger’s writings of different periods.
Cardinal Koch made several references to the Shoah, admitting that although “the primitive racist anti-Semitism of the Nazi ideology…has nothing in common with Christianity, we Christians nevertheless have every cause to remember our complicity in the horrific developments, and above all to confess that Christian resistance to the boundless inhuman brutality of ideologically-based National Socialist racism did not display that vigour and clarity which one should by rights have expected.” He blamed this inadequacy partially on “a Christian theological anti-Judaism that had been in effect for centuries, fostering a widespread anti-Semitic apathy against the Jews.”
While these and other complex and significant theses contained in his speech will surely lead to further debate by Jews and Christians engaged in the dialogue, what hit the headlines was merely a quite offensive article published by “The Forward”, a popular New York Jewish publication, which focused mainly on the Cardinal’s brief remarks concerning Pius XII.
“Top Cardinal Claims Jews Want Sainthood for Nazi-Era Pope: Anger Greets Vatican Liaison to Jewry in U.S. Debut” was the misleading, sensationalist title.
An indignant reply was immediately issued by the Board of Directors of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations (CCJCR), which represents the major Centers and Institutes in the U.S. and Canada devoted to enhancing understanding between Jews and Christians.
Noting that the article had ignored the contents of “the more than two hour event” while concentrating only on the five minutes when Cardinal Koch merely stated “that there were favorable and unfavorable opinions among Jews and Christians on the subject” of Pius XII, the CCJCR communiqué added that “By limiting the report to certain subjects, the article leaves readers with a distorted image of the cardinal’s remarks and indeed of the present state of Catholic-Jewish relations.”
“It is very regrettable”, says the CCJCR release, “for instance, that the report did not convey Cardinal Koch’s acknowledgements of Christian ‘complicity…in the horrific developments /of the Holocaust/’; that Jews are ‘participants in God’s salvation’ even though they ‘do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel and Son of God’; and that the Catholic Church, ‘in contrast to several fundamentalist and evangelical movements, neither has nor supports any institutional mission work directed towards /converting/ Jews.’”
Rabbi Noam Marans, the American Jewish Committee (AJC)’s Director for Interreligious Relations in the U.S. told “Vatican Insider” that Cardinal Koch’s subsequent meeting with Jewish leaders at New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary “was cordial and intimate, one of the first give and takes in which the Cardinal engaged with the Jewish community.”
“The discussion left many questions still open for further debate, but it was candid, frank and forthcoming which is always a sign of mutual trust and friendship” said Marans.
Among the topics covered during the question and answer period said AJC’s Interfaith director, were the need for accepting joint responsibility for further diffusion and education in both Catholic and Jewish circles on “Nostra Aetate” and more recent documents, especially in the continents of South America and Africa where little is known about Catholic-Jewish relations.
“We requested support for combating the demonization of Israel” said Rabbi Marans “not for political reasons which are outside the competence of the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews, but because the hate roused by biased anti-Zionist propaganda (which often resorts to the use of Nazi stereotypes) feeds into world anti-Semitism – against which we have a common commitment.”
Rabbi Marans said that Cardinal Koch stressed the importance of finalizing the remaining economic and fiscal issues (Art 10, paragraph 2) of the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and Israel, enacted in 1993. The Vatican-Israel Bi-Lateral Permanent Working Commission meets periodically but negotiations have been dragging on for the past eighteen years. The next plenary meeting is to take place on December 1 in Israel.
Betty Ehrenberg, Vice President of IJCIC and Executive Director of the U.S. and Canadian chapter of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), said Marans, expressed concern for the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, and asked how Jewish organizations could be of help.
“The Cardinal replied that he was grateful for the offer, but indicated il required careful considerations since Christians might be fearful of the consequences of accepting such help” said the Rabbi. “He added that the insecure situation was unfortunately causing Christians to emigrate from communities and cities with historic Christian heritages, such as, for example, Bethlehem.”
Responding to concerns expressed by the IJCIC group regarding the possible reintegration into the Church of the Holocaust denying bishop, Richard Williamson, and the other bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) which has never ceased to accuse the Jewish People of “deicide”, Cardinal Koch is reported to have assured his Jewish partners that the bishops and other members of the SSPX will not be able to return to the Church unless they unequivocally accept the documents of the Second Vatican Council.
Finally, all agreed that religious extremism was a common concern since no religion is totally free of a minority of constituents who are fanatic fundamentalists and potentially violent.
“One of the purposes of the recent Assisi Interreligious Summit”, Cardinal Koch reportedly said, “was to fend off extremism and promote a fruitful dialogue of peace between religions.”