COMMENTARY: As Church Moves Forward, Jews Watch Uneasily

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As Pope John Paul II moves to his final resting place and the Catholic Church takes up the task of choosing a new leader, Jews are uneasy. John Paul did so much for Catholic-Jewish relations, and many wonder if his successor will follow suit, or revert to older Catholic […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) As Pope John Paul II moves to his final resting place and the Catholic Church takes up the task of choosing a new leader, Jews are uneasy.

John Paul did so much for Catholic-Jewish relations, and many wonder if his successor will follow suit, or revert to older Catholic attitudes and teachings? There are four areas where Jews will be watching carefully the actions of the new pontiff.


First, John Paul II recognized the State of Israel as the legitimate homeland of the Jewish people. By doing so, he did not endorse the policies of any particular Israeli government and _ even as he recognized the right of the Jewish people to a state of its own _ affirmed a similar right for the Palestinians. The temptation for every world leader, but especially for the head of the Catholic Church with its very complex history of relations with the Jews, is to press for peace at the expense of the Jewish state.

While Jews everywhere, including Israel, welcome everyone’s efforts on behalf of peace, the next pope will need to accompany all his efforts in this matter with an unshakeable commitment to the safety and continued security of the Jewish people within the State of Israel. Efforts that are not accompanied by this explicit commitment will fall on suspicious ears and untrusting hearts.

Second, John Paul II continued and expanded the teaching of the church on the subject of the Jews, affirming that they are not guilty of deicide (the death of Jesus), that the Christian faith does not supersede or replace the ongoing covenant between God and the Jewish people, and that Jews are not to be targeted for evangelization.

These teachings reversed many centuries of Catholic doctrine, yet they have not been universally accepted. Indeed, there are very powerful forces within the Catholic Church that would reverse these teachings, or at least condemn them to inaction. The next pope will need to energetically enforce these teachings through education and church discipline. Otherwise the Second Vatican Council that overhauled the church’s teaching on Judaism will become a blip in Catholic history, and Jewish-Catholic relations will regress.

Third, actions count. John Paul II went to a synagogue, traveled to Israel, visited the Yad VaShem Holocaust memorial, prayed at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, and routinely received Jewish delegations. The next pope will need to continue to act in such ways. Communication is not just the act of conveying information; it is an act of building trust.

The next pope will also have to be careful about whom he designates to represent the church in Israel and elsewhere, and will need to make sure that their acts, too, are consonant with the goals of Jewish-Catholic dialogue.

Fourth, John Paul II brought the Holocaust to the forefront of Catholic reflection, visiting Auschwitz, acknowledging the responsibility of Catholics, and repeatedly asking forgiveness from the Jewish people and God. As memory of the Shoah fades, and as the temptation to sweep responsibility for it under the rug grows, the new pope will need to confront vigorously the desire to forget.


Ceremonies will need to be created and renewed, and unresolved issues will have to be forthrightly addressed, such as the beatification of the wartime Pope Pius XII, the full opening of the papal archives from the war period, and the responsibility of the Catholic Church per se during the Holocaust. To be sure, the church’s fight against anti-semitism will need to be pursued with a great deal of energy in a world where its resurgence is seen in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere.

John Paul II left very large shoes to fill, but it is not impossible for his successor to fill them. To accomplish this goal, he will need a deep sense of piety and a deep faith that God has a special relationship with the Jews that is part of the spiritual reality of Catholic faith and practice.

Without a spiritual and theological bond to the Jewish people and their concrete existence, I don’t know where the new pontiff would draw the strength that he will need to govern the church in justice, love and faithfulness. If the new pope can achieve this degree of spirituality, he will not betray the legacy of his blessed predecessor, John Paul II, but will become the faithful shepherd of that legacy.

KRE/JL END BLUMENTHAL

(Rabbi David R. Blumenthal is the Jay and Leslie Cohen Professor of Judaic Studies at Emory University in Atlanta.)

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