Habent Papam—They Have a Pope
Will Pope Francis help restore Catholic-Jewish relations to pre-Benedictine values?
The selection of Pope Francis has captured the interest of the Jewish community in an exceptional manner. The Age of Social Media allowed geographically, politically, and theologically widespread Jewish voices a medium for expressing commentary and concern during this selection like no other. Seemingly even before the white smoke had cleared, reports about Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio S.J. and his connection to the Jewish community were beginning to hit the computer screens and smart phones of interested Jews around the world. While the non-Jewish world marveled at the historic selection of the first Latin American and Jesuit to the Chair of Peter and noted his commitment to social justice and the poor, Jewish commentary focused on the news that as Cardinal of Argentina, Pope Francis created strong, positive ties with the Argentine Jewish community. The very next day on March 14th, Channel 10 in Israel featured a segment on the new pope. Rabbi Tsvi Graetz, an Israeli Masorti rabbi shared with his Rabbinical Assembly colleagues “the star of the news item was our friend and colleague, Masorti (Conservative) Rabbi Avraham Skorka, Rector of the Seminario [the Latin America Masorti Movement rabbinical school] who apparently is best Friend of the new Pope.” A live interview with Rabbi Skorka and other Masorti rabbis in Argentina is a significant section of the 6:17 news segment.
Why is all this important to the Jewish people? What motivates such interest?
Part of the answer may lay in the fact that the Jesuits were a driving force behind The Second Vatican Council (“Vatican II”) in general, and Nostra Aetate, the document which laid out a new theological framework for Catholic appreciation of Jews and Judaism, in particular. This Council and their work marked a watershed moment in Catholic-Jewish relations. The next forty years would see the emergence of a level of interfaith understanding, respect, and cooperation between these two sibling faiths that defied an often difficult and deadly shared history. But even as these new appreciations were nurtured between the Church and the Jewish people, a backlash was brewing. An increasingly strident chorus of radical traditionalists decried the new platform by which the Church embraced the larger world. Recall for example the release of Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ, and the resurgence of Easter-time Passion Plays and their insistence of portraying the Jews as guilty of deicide. The Jews as Christ-killers was a charge laid to rest by Nostra Aetate in 1965, only to be resurrected with a vengeance by Mel Gibson’s movie in 2004.
A growing fear emerged among many Jews that the Church had began to distance itself from the climate of openness inspired by the Second Vatican Council in their deliberations and proclamations. In particular was the concern that this rejectionist turn began to undo much of the holy work of Pope John Paul II accomplished in his papacy. Many Jews considered this papacy nothing short of amazing viz a viz the relationship between Church and the Jewish people, and in particular with the State of Israel. The fresh air that rejuvenated the Church and her faithful also pollinated efforts for mutual understanding between Catholics and Jews around the world but especially in the United States. I know firsthand how significant that was. The Diocese of Pittsburgh and the American Jewish Committee participated in the Catholic-Jewish Educational Enrichment Program, or C-JEEP. I was an adjunct Rabbinic Instructor at St. Joseph Catholic High School in Tarentum, PA from 2001-2005. During that period and even beyond, every single Catholic high school in the Diocese of Pittsburgh had similar staffing at the insistence of Bishop Wuerl (now Cardinal Wuerl and Archbishop of Washington). The impact of that amazing experience will only be fully appreciated in the years to come as these young adults become the next generation of leaders in their parishes, other Catholic organizations and their communities at large.
Jews had good reason to be concerned for this perceived sea-change. The death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 marked the first serious, formal rupture in this new relationship. The election of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from his unrelated but extremely influential roles as Prefect for the Congregation of the Faith and Dean of the College of Cardinals to become Pope Benedict XVI was a cause for concern by many Jews involved in high level Catholic-Jewish dialogue. Their concerns were justified; it augured a papal recommitment to traditional Catholic theology that seemingly decried, challenged and rejected the Church’s theology and doctrines regarding the Jewish people since 1965. Consider the following three examples of Pope Benedict’s papacy to appreciate why there was warrant for such deep Jewish concern.
1. Pope Benedict's proposed rehabilitation of four schismatic bishops of the Society of St. Paul X dissolved for many the common cause engendered by the Nostra Aetate. This act seemingly minimized the value the Church placed on Catholic-Jewish dialogue and outreach by embracing a problematic (if not schismatic) movement felt to be theologically anti-Jewish and politically anti-Semitic. Its leader has been convicted as a Holocaust denier by European courts. Many Jews dedicated to Catholic-Jewish dialogue wondered: If Nostra Aetate were to be negated, how long will it take before the spurious charges of deicide are revived? Once that happens, what is next? Will there be more crosses placed outside of the next Auschwitz by Carmelite nuns?
2. Another major concern was the revival of the Tridentine Mass. This liturgy not only calls for the conversion of Jews; it simultaneously nearly eliminates the presence of the biblical texts shared with Jews from the Catholic liturgy. Catholics are thereby deprived contact with the Holy Scriptures shared in common with Jews and Judaism. In one fell swoop Judaism is denied legitimacy in its own right, and the Jewish foundations of the Christian faith are effectively made to vanish. The implication is clear: If Judaism isn't vital and legitimate as a religion, then isn't it fair to ask if Jews are vital and legitimate as individual people?
3. Another subtle but troubling shift was Pope Benedict's preference for "intercultural" vs. "inter-religious" dialogue. It appeared to undermine the Church's teaching that God's Covenant with the Jewish people is a gift that God will never repent of making. For many Jews it seemed to make the statement that Rome can talk with different cultures, but not differing theologies. Those who appreciated the nuance expressed their concern; at what point would this shift affect the catechesis of the Church, and to what effect? Would deicide again become doctrine? Would Catholic missionaries again actively start to target Jews for conversion?
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| At the AMIA in support of the Jewish community. |
It is against this backdrop that Pope Francis and his relationship with the Jewish people takes on such important meaning. His attendance at Rosh HaShanah services, involvement in Kristalnacht commemorations, and his support for the Jewish community of Buenos Aries after the 1994 AMIA bombings by agents of the Iranian government are just a few of his deeds over the years that point to a deep respect of Jews and Judaism. I eagerly await the English translation of his co-authored book published in December 2010, Sobre el cielo y la tierra. In English the title will be On Heaven and Earth. Who was his co-author? Rabbi Abraham Skorka, his best friend, of course!
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| Hannukah Menorah lighting. Note the Kippah! |
Watch the Israel Channel 10 interview (in Hebrew) here:
The Jewish connection of the pope featuring Masorti rabbis starts from minute 2:00, and the actual interview with Rabbi Skorka starts from 3:08. The entire segment is 06:17 minutes.
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