c. 1997 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Pope John Paul II on Friday (Oct. 31) forcefully condemned anti-Semitic interpretations of the New Testament and for the first time drew a link between those views and the failure of Roman Catholics to defend Jews during the Holocaust.

Although he did not apologize for Catholic treatment of Jews as French, German and Polish bishops have, the pope appeared intent on demonstrating that Catholics committed sins against Europe’s Jews.”Erroneous and unjust interpretations of the New Testament relative to the Jewish people and to their pretended culpability (for the death of Christ) have circulated for too long, engendering sentiments of hostility with regard to this people,”the pope told the 60 scholars selected by the Vatican to examine anti-Jewish strains in Christianity.”Anti-Semitism is totally unjustified and absolutely condemnable,”the pope said in French to the historians and theologians at the closed three-day symposium ending Saturday. The Vatican released a text of the pope’s remarks.

The Polish-born pontiff, who lived through the Nazi slaughter of his Jewish countrymen and has vowed to continue the church’s effort to disavow anti-Semitism, said the faulty views were a powerful force among many Catholics.

The sentiments”contributed to a softening of many consciences, so that when Europe was swept by the wave of persecutions inspired by a pagan anti-Semitism … the spiritual resistance of many was not what humanity was awaiting on the part of the disciples of Christ,”the pope said.”The church firmly condemns all forms of genocide,”the pontiff said,”as well as racist theories which inspired them and which pretend to justify them.” Jewish leaders praised the pope’s remarks, saying they were a natural but important step beyond previous declarations. In 1965, the Second Vatican Council produced the document Nostra Aetate (“In Our Age”) which reversed 2,000 years of Catholic doctrine that reviled the Jews for the death of Christ.”What the pope said today would not have been said in 1965,”said Rabbi Leon Klenicki, director of interfaith relations at the Anti-Defamation League.”I think that what the pope has done is positive in the sense that he’s recognizing the teaching of contempt that has been the reality of Christianity and especially the Catholic Church up to 1965. Also, the way that Christians have understood the (New Testament) is an important point,”he said.”This is a continuation of a line and an attitude toward Jews and Judaism which really began with Nostra Aetate and has come a long way,”said Rabbi David Blumenthal, professor of theology at Atlanta’s Emory University.”These are steps in the right direction. The question now is how is that going to be implemented.” That is less clear. The pope himself has said words are not enough.”Certainly, it is not enough to make public statements of sorrow for past wrongs,”he said recently.”We must remind ourselves and the faithful of the radically personal nature of the repentance and conversion required.””Forgiveness is a Christian concept,”Blumenthal said.”They must take concrete steps.” Those may be found in a document on anti-Semitism the pope vowed 10 years ago would be produced. On Friday he suggested the statement was nearly finished, telling the gathering,”your work completes the reflection”begun by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews charged with preparing the text.

But while Jewish leaders say they will evaluate the church’s goodwill by its deeds _ through education, training for priests and sermons _ they argue full disclosure of the church’s activities during the war years is necessary. That means opening the Vatican’s secret archives to independent scholars, something this pope has thus far refused to do.

In fact, it is far from clear the pope, who is credited with having done more to repair relations with Jews than any predecessor, is willing or able to mine the Vatican for a complete disclosure of its activities.

In his remarks, the pope praised the two pontiffs whose actions have come under attack by the Jewish community, Pius XI and Pius XII.

Some critics contend the Catholic Church, particularly during the reign of Pius XII (1939-1958), did not speak out against the Nazis or condemn anti-Semitism bandied about by Catholic priests and bishops.

Still, the pope, Blumenthal said, illustrated in his remarks he is committed to”enlarging Nostra Aetate. He’s saying, `we should have taken the Jews more seriously than we had.'”

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