ADL Vatican Newsletter
Judaism and the Middle East: Fluctuating Perspectives
from Lisa Palmieri-Billig
Representative in Italy of the Anti-Defamation League
Vatican City, January 15, 2001
The Pope’s "Great Jubilee Year Pilgrimage to the Holy Land", which included
Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories, was the fulfillment of a long-held
dream of John Paul II. In his recent Apostolic Letter, "Novo Millennio Ineunte",
delivered on Epiphany, January 6, Karol Wojtyla called the trip "my personal Jubilee
along the pathways of the Holy Land." With touching candor he admitted that he
"would have liked to begin the journey at Ur of the Chaldeans...in the footsteps of
Abraham... however, I had to be content with a pilgrimage in spirit...." The unspoken
reason for the canceled voyage to "Ur" is, of course, that the one-time Chaldean
city is now part of present-day Iraq, and insurmountable diplomatic and security issues
felled the Pope’s plans.
The poignancy of the pilgrimage, for John Paul II, went beyond his purely Catholic or
Christian experiences (the visits to Mount Sinai, Mount Nebo, Bethlehem, Nazareth...),
profound as they were. The most moving moments in Israel for him as well as for millions of
media watchers, were immortalized in images: the trembling hand at the Western Wall,
slipping in a prayer requesting God’s forgiveness for Christianity’s sins against Jews;
encounters at Yad Vashem with Holocaust survivors from his home town in Poland; a
closed-door meeting with Israel’s two chief rabbis, etc. "In those places", he
writes, "still so troubled and again recently afflicted by violence, I received an
extraordinary welcome not only from the members of the Church but also from the Israeli and
Palestinian communities. Intense emotion surrounded my prayer at the Western Wall and my
visit to the Mausoleum of Yad Vashem, with its chilling reminder of the victims of the Nazi
death camps. My pilgrimage was a moment of brotherhood and peace, and I like to remember it
as one of the most beautiful gifts of the whole Jubilee event. Thinking back to the mood of
those days, I cannot but express my deeply felt desire for a prompt and just solution to the
still unresolved problems of the Holy Places, cherished by Jews, Christians and Muslims
together."
The Pope had used the same conciliatory tones last October 29 in speaking about the
Middle East to 70,000 people at the Rome Olympic Stadium’s Sports Jubilee. He said,
"Once again I wish to call on all the parties involved in the peace process not to
spare any efforts for the re-establishment of the climate of dialogue that existed up until
a few weeks ago. Mutual trust, rejection of arms, and respect for international law are the
only means capable of reviving the peace process."
That day he asked for prayers for "a return to the negotiating table and, through
dialogue, arrive at the desired goal of a just and lasting peace, which guarantees to all
the inalienable right to liberty and security."
His latest comments, however, seem to flow from a different pen. On January 13, a week
after the Epiphany Apostolic Letter, John Paul II again focused on the Israeli-Palestinian
peace process, but this time, with uncharacteristic sharpness. The occasion was the Pope’s
annual New Year’s reception for the international diplomatic corps accredited at the
Vatican.
"In this part of the world", he said, "that received God’s revelation to
mankind, no one should accept the fact that a kind of guerilla warfare has become an
everyday event, nor the persistence of injustice, contempt of international law, or placing
parentheses around the Holy Places or the needs of Christian communities. The future can
only be conceived together, by Israelis and Palestinians, and each party must respect the
rights and traditions of the other."
Specific demands seemed directed exclusively to Israel, with no echo of previous calls
for the "re-establishment of the climate of dialogue". or "a return to the
negotiating table", "mutual trust" , "rejection of arms" or
"the desired goal of a just and lasting peace." He said to the diplomatic corps,
"It is time to return to the principles of international legality, the banning of the
acquisition of territory by force, the right of peoples to self-determination, respect for
the resolutions of the United Nations Organization and the Geneva Conventions, to quote only
the most important. Otherwise, anything can happen from unilateral, rash initiatives to an
extension of violence which will be difficult to control."
Different moments, and perhaps the influence of different advisers leave their mark on
Papal speeches. These uncharacteristic remarks made by the Pope to the Diplomatic Corps were
more reminiscent of the semantics of Vatican State Department officials than of the Pope’s
own rhetorical style. For example, on October 26th ,1998, during a trip to Israel, Monsignor
Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican’s Foreign Minister ("Secretary for Relations between
States") said, "the situation today /in the Holy City is/ a case of manifest
international injustice. The situation today has been brought about and is maintained by
force. The Holy See has spoken out on this and will continue to speak out clearly, without
mincing words...." "...the distinction often made between ‘the question of the
Holy Places and the question of Jerusalem’ is unacceptable to the Holy See...the solution
of a territorial dispute alone is not enough for Jerusalem...the Holy See continues to ask
that it be protected by a ‘special internationally guaranteed Statute’ ".
The Pope generally uses pastoral language while Holy See officials get down to brass
tacks. Inherent to the Vatican’s concern for Jerusalem lies its vital interest in
"...the communities with their schools, hospitals, cultural, social and economic
activities", as Monsignor Tauran specified. Last year, on February 15, a Basic
Agreement between the PLO and the Holy See was signed in Rome. Its preamble contains a joint
political stand on Jerusalem, calling for "a special statute for Jerusalem,
internationally guaranteed" plus a declaration "that unilateral decisions and
actions altering the specific character and status of Jerusalem are morally and legally
unacceptable." By strengthening the weaker Christian minorities in the Arab world, by
gaining the confidence of Muslim leaders and especially the Palestinian Muslim majority, the
Vatican hopes to ease and strengthen the presently uncomfortable situation of Arab
Christians, as well as weaken the hold of Islamic Fundamentalism.
A similar variegated pattern has marked the Catholic Church’s policy on issues
regarding inter-religious dialogue and, specifically, that between Catholicism and Judaism.
After John Paul II warmed Jewish hearts with the spontaneity and deep symbolism of his
actions in Israel last spring and his many statements on the importance of inter-religious
dialogue, he caused a sudden let-down on September 3 by beatifying Pius IX (infamous for his
abduction of Edgaro Mortara, a secretly baptized Jewish child who, personally segregated by
that Pope, later became a priest) and placing his seal of approval on a problematic document
- "Dominus Iesus" - written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Prefect of the
Pontifical Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). That document, aimed primarily at
calling back to line the Catholic Clergy in India, seemed instead to turn the clock
backwards to pre-Vatican II times by proclaiming that Catholicism was the only true faith,
and no salvation outside the Church was possible.
The strongest reactions against these two events came from the Italian Jewish Community.
The Pope’s famous friend, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, and other Jewish leaders
made known they were upset by these signs of backtracking, and bowed out of a jointly
planned Vatican-Jewish Jubilee Year celebration that was supposed to have taken place last
October 3rd at the Pontifical St. John’s University in Rome.
Dialogue has slowly resumed. The skeptics have become more skeptical. But among those who
habitually participate and believe in the positive aftermath of encounter, none have
abandoned the various dialogue associations that have become local and national institutions
in Italy, such as the annual Christian-Jewish Colloquiums at the Monastery of Camaldoli, the
national and local ICCJ chapters, the inter-religious events organized by the Community of
St. Egidio, etc. The Italian Episcopate’s twelfth "Day for Dialogue with
Judaism" took place January 17th with local rabbis participating across Italy in church
organized events. The Chief Rabbi of Milan, Giuseppe Laras, interviewed by the Catholic
daily, "Avvenire" said, "I believe this year’s ‘Day’ is of particular
significance for the very reason that there have been problems. We have been challenged in
our capacity to go beyond the difficulties and aim towards higher horizons, far-off but
quite reachable - just like the Promised Land in Abraham’s times. He didn’t see it but
it was as if he did see it."
On international and diplomatic levels, some important events have taken place. On
December 20, Yosef Lamdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See, organized a one-day
seminar on "Pope John XXIII and Jewish-Christian Relations". Participants included
high Vatican officials such as Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, Cardinal Johannes Willebrands and
Monsignor Walter Kasper and from Israel, Minister Rav M. Melchior, Ambassador Shmuel Hadas,
with the participation of Italian and Israeli scholars and the Community of St. Egidio.
Apart from the excellent contributions, many interpreted and appreciated the initiative as a
tactful but firm response to the joint beatification of John XXIII and Pius IX in September
(Honour - only - where honour is due....)
Another international meeting on inter-religious dialogue in the Mediterranean, entitled
"Forgiveness in the House of Abraham" was held at the Villa Piccolomini in Rome,
with participation by representatives of the three Abrahamic faiths from Europe and the
Middle East including Rabbi David Rosen, director of the Jerusalem ADL office, Rabbi Rene’
Sirat, Ambassador Shmuel Hadas, Palestinian Authority officials, etc. An
Israeli-Italian-Vatican Steering Committee to work on further projects was formed.
In an apparent effort to soften the effects of the Cardinal Ratzinger’s "Dominus
Iesus" document, the Pope’s January 6 Apostolic Letter contained a special section on
"Dialogue and mission" which refers to "the great challenge of
inter-religious dialogue...in fidelity to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. In
the years of preparation for the Great Jubilee the Church has sought to build, not least
through a series of highly symbolic meetings, a relationship of openness and dialogue with
the followers of other religions. This dialogue must continue. In the climate of increased
cultural and religious pluralism which is expected to mark the society of the new
millennium, it is obvious that this dialogue will be especially important....The name of the
one God must become increasingly what it is: a name of peace and a summons to peace."
Significantly, the topic of "inter-religious dialogue" is coupled with the
concept of mission, and the Pope elaborated on this point. "However", he warns in
his Apostolic Letter, "dialogue cannot be based on religious indifferentism, and we
Christians are in duty bound, while engaging in dialogue, to bear clear witness...."
And here the Pope recalled the bottom line of Cardinal Ratzinger’s document: "As the
recent Declaration ‘Dominus Iesus’ stressed, this cannot be the subject of a dialogue
understood as negotiation, as if we considered it a matter of mere opinion: rather, it is a
grace which fills us with joy, a message which we have a duty to proclaim."
While "proclamation" may be a part of inter-religious dialogue in general,
tacitly and not so tacitly, any form of "missionizing" to Jews has been banned
from the Christian-Jewish dialogue since Vatican II. The Catholic Church’s history of
forced conversions and staged "theological disputes", have marked permanent
boundaries beyond which "no trespassing" signs are clearly installed. For these
and other historical reasons and because of the "special" Catholic-Jewish
relationship recognized by both partners, the Vatican’s "Religious Relations with
Jews Office", headed by Cardinal Cassidy, is separate from the Pontifical Council for
Inter-religious Dialogue, and practically all official Vatican documents treating dialogue
since Vatican II respect this division by including separate sections on
"Inter-religious Dialogue" and on "Catholic-Jewish Dialogue". The Pope’s
latest Apostolic Letter, strangely, does not contain such a section. One might ask whether
this was an oversight or whether there is some significance in this kind of editing.
Just before the New Year, on December 29, the Vatican daily, "L’Osservatore
Romano", published an article written by the author of "Dominus Iesus",
Cardinal Ratzinger. It was called, "The Heritage of Abraham, a Christmas Gift."
The message, expressed by the Vatican’s principal guardian of the faith, is that
Christians owe the Jewish people gratitude for having received from them a heritage of
belief in the One True God, the God of the Jewish Bible, who was also "the God of Jesus
Christ and the apostles." Cardinal Ratzinger refers to Paul’s letter to the Romans as
evidence that not only the ancient Hebrews have been chosen by "adoption, the promises,
God’s Covenants and the patriarchs...from whom Christ in the flesh descended"
(9,4-5), but also contemporary Jews because "the gifts and calling of God are
irrevocable" (11,29). Dialogue today "should begin with a prayer to our God to
give to us Christians above all, greater respect and love towards this people."
The Cardinal states that "a new vision of the relations between the Church and
Israel was born, with a sincere desire to overcome all types of anti-Judaism and to begin a
constructive dialogue for mutual understanding and reconciliation." This "new
vision", he feels, is perhaps an outcome of the tragedy of the Shoah. He remains true
to the official Catholic position regarding responsibility for the Holocaust, stating that
"although the Shoah was perpetrated in the name of an anti-Christian ideology that
wanted to strike at the Abrahamitic roots of the Christian faith - the people of Israel - it
cannot be denied that a certain insufficient resistance by Christians to these atrocities is
to be explained by the anti-Judaic heritage present in the souls of not a few
Christians."
Important Vatican documents of the past decade (such as the Pope’s Apostolic Letter in
preparation of the Jubilee Year, "Terzo Millenium Avveniente"; the 1998
"Shoah Document"- "We Remember: The Catholic Church and the Shoah"; and
the publications related to the Vatican International Theology Committee’s Symposium on
"Anti-Judaism in Christian Circles"), always speak of the pagan, anti-Christian
roots of Nazi ideology (which is never mentioned by name), and the sin of
"indifference" committed by "many Christians" regarding the persecution
of Jews. While these statements should hopefully raise consciences and questions about
anti-Judaism in Catholic teaching, they are limited by a certain refusal to even consider
that some Christians might actually have collaborated (such as Monsignor Tisso, head of the
fascist government in Slovakia, to give but one example.)
Cardinal Ratzinger makes a brief excursion into Catholic-Jewish history which leads him
to conclude that the early Church "did not oppose Israel, but believed quite simply
that it was its legitimate continuation". Conflicts arose, however, since "the
Church was considered a degenerate daughter by its mother, while Christians considered their
mother blind and obstinate." Degeneration into Anti-Judaism, he says,
"historically produced deplorable acts of violence". And while the Shoah was
actually anti-Christian in its anti Judaism, Christian anti-Judaism was responsible for the
indifference of many Christians to the anti-Semitic persecutions.
Ratzinger asserts that "it is evident that our dialogue, as Christians, with Jews is
on a different level than that with other religions." The Jewish faith "as
witnessed in the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament of the Christians, is for us not another
religion but the basis of our faith."
Some might say that this vision of unity is a double-faced blessing. While it raises the
Jewish religion to levels of holiness, it does not obey the principles of the 1974
"Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate
(No. 4) issued by the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with Jews. That document
called for Christians to try to understand Jews as they define and see themselves "in
the light of their own religious experience." Jews see their religion as an
independent, living, evolving, contemporary religion - not just as the ancient, basic part
of Christianity. Ratzinger creates additional ground for confusion by saying, "We will
also pray that [God] also grant the children of Israel greater knowledge of Jesus of
Nazareth, their son [who is] the gift they have given to us. Since we are both awaiting the
final redemption, let us pray that the lines of our paths converge."
Yet these are minor shortcomings. Unquestionably, Cardinal Ratzinger’s intentions are
noble and above reproach. He is not calling for missionary activity to convert Jews. He
limits his wishes to prayers for "convergence" when the Messianic Age comes, at
the end of time, and calls for fellow Christians to harbor greater respect and love for Jews
in the context of an awareness of the horrifying evils that Christian anti-Judaism has
wrought in the past. An elite section of society today is on an advanced level of dialogue;
the majority of the world is not. And if Cardinal Ratzinger, as an observer essentially
outside the growing circle of habitual players in the ongoing Christian-Jewish dialogue,
currently feels the need to stress the religious duty to respect the Jewish people and their
faith, he must know there is need to be heard by the many who need to hear.
In his last paragraph, the Cardinal refers to the gift of God obtained through prayer,
"to be shared among...religions in search of greater knowledge of the divine mystery,
nations seeking peace and peoples wanting to establish societies where justice and love
reign. This is the program traced by the Second Vatican Council for the Church of the
future...."
Altogether, Cardinal Ratzinger’s article seems to aim at a more open and
dialogue-friendly reading and context for the "Dominus Iesus" document. As a
document, it cannot be disavowed by the Catholic Church but it can be clarified by
"correcting" (or bending) integralist interpretations.
An aphorism that might sum up contemporary perceptions of Jews, Judaism and Israel is
that behind the walls of Vatican City (which houses the officials of a government as well as
of a world religion), pluralism rages. ![]("../img/common/arrow-up.gif") |
