For almost 2000 years of Catholic history, the Jews were
considered a cursed nation. They were the villains of the most
heinous crime in human history: they were the killers of Christ.
Then in 1965 came the Second Vatican Council's declaration on
inter-religious dialogue, which halted the blame game and
revolutionized relations by repudiating the concept of
continuing collective Jewish guilt for the death of Christ.
Sydney Catholics and Jews recently marked the 40th anniversary
of
Nostra Aetate, Latin for "In our Time", at a point
when the central question is still being posed: can there be
true reconciliation for these two great religions when one does
not affirm the universality of salvation through Jesus Christ
that is so fundamental to the other?
Rabbi Raymond Apple, joint president of the Australian Council
of Christians and Jews, says dialogue is not about either side
seeking to change the other.
"Neither religion is going to change in itself, so what we are
talking about is the respectful understanding between neighbors
who each have their own family, their own way of thinking and
their own commitments," he says.
"Catholics will remain Catholics and Jews will remain Jews.
There will always be differences but the question is can we live
together regardless of difference from the theological, and the
answer is we can and we must."
Mel Gibson's "unreconstructed pre-Vatican II" take on the
Crucifixion in The Passion has been one of the setbacks
to the cause of mutual understanding, Rabbi Apple says.
"So far the dialogue has been a rarefied, top-echelon exercise
so we need to be able to bring the new spirit particularly into
Catholic seminaries, teachers' colleges and to the person in the
pew."
Part of the challenge lies in connecting the immoveable fringes
of both faiths. Interfaith dialogue has been mostly a
conversation between church moderates.
Cardinal Edward Cassidy, the retired president of the Vatican's
Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, accompanied
Pope John Paul II on his historic visit in 2000 to the Wailing
Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Judaism. He says
inter-religious dialogue is not an option so much as an
imperative in a world of escalating religious conflicts.
"We all know that much more has to be done in this field in both
communities," he says. "But we must not be satisfied with that,
for we have so much in common that we can offer together to a
troubled world."
For Rabbi Apple, the potential to subdue inter-religious
conflicts is only part of the motivation. "The fact is in a
sense all religions are on the defensive, and in a largely
materialistic world it's better for religions to fight together
than fight each other."
Pope Benedict XVI assured the world's Jews last week that he and
the Vatican were committed to good Catholic-Jewish relations and
would never forget the Holocaust, in which the Nazis killed some
6 million Jews.
Since being elected Pope, Benedict's efforts to reach out to
Jews have carried an added symbolic dimension because of his
membership of the Hitler Youth and his later role as a German
army conscript during World War II. He has said his
participation was forced.
Writing in Online Catholics this week, Dr Paul O'Shea, a
proponent of dialogue, said Catholics had still to undertake
"the hard work of accepting Judaism as a religion valid and
authentic on its own terms without compromising the revelation
given through Christ".
But the ultimate challenges of ecumenism may lie in how Pope
Benedict confronts the increasingly influential presence of the
Islamic world in Europe while building bridges with Muslim
leaders.
Kuranda Seyit, a founder of the Goodness and Kindness project,
which takes the message of religious tolerance into NSW schools,
says there is a danger of excluding Islam from the global stage.
"The world is in danger of creating a prestigious club," he
says. "At the moment it is a Judeo-Christian partnership and
there is a lot of commonality between the two faiths but there
is a third member with the credentials to join that club."
For
Rabbi Apple, the potential to subdue
inter-religious conflicts is only part of the
motivation. "The fact is in a sense all
religions are on the defensive, and in a largely
materialistic world it's better for religions to
fight together than fight each other."
Pope Benedict XVI assured the world's Jews last
week that he and the Vatican were committed to
good Catholic-Jewish relations and would never
forget the Holocaust, in which the Nazis killed
some 6 million Jews.
Since being elected Pope, Benedict's efforts to
reach out to Jews have carried an added symbolic
dimension because of his membership of the
Hitler Youth and his later role as a German army
conscript during World War II. He has said his
participation was forced.
Writing in Online Catholics this week, Dr
Paul O'Shea, a proponent of dialogue, said
Catholics had still to undertake "the hard work
of accepting Judaism as a religion valid and
authentic on its own terms without compromising
the revelation given through Christ".
But
the ultimate challenges of ecumenism may lie in
how Pope Benedict confronts the increasingly
influential presence of the Islamic world in
Europe while building bridges with Muslim
leaders.
Kuranda Seyit, a founder of the Goodness and
Kindness project, which takes the message of
religious tolerance into NSW schools, says there
is a danger of excluding Islam from the global
stage.
"The world is in danger of creating a
prestigious club," he says. "At the moment it is
a Judeo-Christian partnership and there is a lot
of commonality between the two faiths but there
is a third member with the credentials to join
that club."
