|
SAN ANTONIO • More than four decades after Pope Paul VI promulgated Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s “Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions,” a luncheon at the Doubletree Hotel in the Alamo city Nov. 22 applauded how much has changed in the world since.
Rabbi Jack Bemporad, founder and president of the Center for Interreligious Understanding in Secaucus, N.J., applauded the document, saying that it revolutionized the very nature of the Catholic’s Church’s approach to Jews after nearly 2,000 years.
He said religions have a very hard time in changing, in trying to change their way. “Religions are very insular. A really spiritual revolution took place in the Catholic Church with the declaration of Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate. It totally transformed the way religions unite and talk to one another,” said Bemporad. “No other religion has done what the Catholic Church has done. None. What John XXIII, then Paul VI, then especially Pope John Paul II have done is say the only way we can really appreciate the other’s religion is to be able to put ourselves in their place so they can recognize our description of them as accurate of their religion.”
|
|
Bemporad said the event that led to Christians getting together with Jews and other religions to unite was the Civil Rights movement. “The religions decided they had to do something about injustice in society,” he said. “But you didn’t have religions coming together in order to understand one another. The main reason they came together was to work together to achieve common goals.”
That changed quite radically, said the rabbi, following Pope John Paul II’s visit to a synagogue in Rome in 1986. “We are now looking at Judaism as a living religion, as an authentic religion, a religion we have to respect. When he did that there was a revolution. Jews and Christians began to think, ‘How do we understand one another?’”
Bemporad praised Pope Benedict XVI for the job he has done continuing in the steps of John Paul. “When he went to Cologne for World Youth Day, he went to a synagogue and reiterated the very things Vatican II initiated 40 years ago,” said the rabbi.
An international leader in Catholic-Jewish dialogue, Bemporad said a revolution has taken place in the relationship between Catholic and Jews brought about by Vatican II. “As much as it took the Jewish community to achieve civil rights, those rights were always precarious,” he said. “Those civil rights were always held hostage to their receiving religious rights.”
The holocaust was so devastating that the Jewish community is still traumatized by it, the rabbi explained, saying Pope Benedict XVI is fully aware of what a horror this has been to the Jewish people.
He described it in this way: “In Catholic terms, imagine if in a period of six years 450 million Catholics were killed ruthlessly with no mercy. Imagine the Vatican was destroyed; all the major Catholic centers were destroyed. Imagine if that total complete annihilation took place. Where would the Catholics be with this kind of destruction?”
He continued, “More Jews were killed than exist in the United States today. More Jews were killed than exist in Israel today, all in a period of six years. So you have to understand why the Jews feel uncomfortable when they hear about a mission to the Jews.”
Bemporad noted that Jews have their own biography of more than 3,000 years. “What would be the benefit to anyone for this heroic, tragic and sublime biography, which has nourished so many, to end? Is it not possible that Jews should continue to be a significant voice in the orchestra of mankind?”
He pointed out that, at Vatican II, the church rejected any representation of the Jews as repudiated or cursed by God, that the church deplored the hatred, persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against Jews, that the Jews rejected collective Jewish responsibility for the crucifixion, that the church affirmed that Christ freely underwent his passion and death because of the sins of all human beings.
“Nostra Aetate reconnected Christianity to its Jewish roots,” said Bemporad.
Fran Maier, director of ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the Archdiocese of Denver, presented an address urging dialogue to ensure that Catholics and Jews help reduce prejudices and anti-Semitism and lead to greater mutual understanding.
“What Nostra Aetate says in general stresses the fact that all humanity lives in one community and has a common origin and destiny in God and all men share a common dignity as his creation,” he said. “The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and good in other religions and Catholics are called to begin discussion and collaboration with other faiths.”
Maier continued, “It (Nostra Aetate) encourages us to build on the common spiritual heritage that we find in the patriarchs and the prophets in order to build mutual understanding and appreciation through scholarly research and gatherings and friendly discussions.
He emphasized that the Jews have a covenant with God that has never been rejected or abrogated. “The new covenant which the church claims for herself in no way means the Jewish people are discarded or superseded,” said Maier. “All forms of persecution against the Jewish people whenever and wherever they happen are to be deplored.”
The director of ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the Denver Archdiocese cautioned that there is a tremendous need for patience and persistence in dialogue between Catholics and Jews, as well as an outlook for modest expectations. “A commitment to truth on both sides is very important. Jews have to be true to their faith and speak the truth when they’re dealing in dialogue, with respect and affection. Truth always does serve dialogue,” Maier said.
He highlighted that the Vatican II document calls for increased dialogue among all world religions. “Nostra Aetate has 650 words dealing with the Jewish people in a document of 2,000 words. The full text of the Vatican II documents contains 420,000 words, and 2,000 of them deal with Nostra Aetate. Those are 2,000 words and 650 words that should lead the church in a way that 400,000 words didn’t.”
Maier, who has also served as an editor in the Catholic press, explained to the 50 luncheon attendees that the Catholic Church is going through a wholesale evaluation of her identity and mission in the world. “One of the things I would hope the Jewish communities understand is that we are not going to go back to the way we were. This change is permanent and fundamental,” he said. “I would ask you to be patient with the process because there are certain things that are fundamentally unresolved regarding our self identity right now.”
The speaker from Colorado also acknowledged that Catholics are living under the mandate to go make disciples of all nations. “What does that mean in relation to the Jewish people?” he asked. “Obviously it doesn’t mean stealth proselytism, but it’s a great, great question for us. If the Jews have a living covenant and an ongoing role in the salvation of the world, how do we incorporate that into the new theology of being Catholic?”
Maier concluded by telling listeners, “One thing that can’t happen is going back to the way it was in 1850 or 1650. It’s in the blood stream of the church now. It’s driving that message deeper and deeper into the consciousness of Catholics so it’s part of their routine way of dealing with the world.”
In closing comments, Archbishop José H. Gomez said it was an honor to join in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Aetate, a document which he defined as helping shape dialogue between Catholics and Jews.
“It began with the simplest reminder that God made the whole human race, and that the final goal is God,” he said.
The archbishop said he has been blessed to have inherited a rich legacy of respect and love that exists between the Catholic and Jewish communities in San Antonio, a relationship that was formed by men and women of great faith and leadership.
“In the short time I have served as archbishop, we have prayed, talked and shared meals together. I share your desire to continue and enrich our interfaith dialogue that it will remain a collaboration made in the spirit of understanding and respect for one another,” he said.
“Pope John Paul II reminded us that there is much that we have in common, so much we can do together for peace, justice, for a more human fraternal world. In Nostra Aetate, we are called anew to continue the good work we have begun.” |