This "Current Topics" page will make available resources on the new pontificate of Benedict XVI in regard to Catholic-Jewish relations.

Catholic-Jewish relations has not been a topic frequently expounded upon by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in his capacity as president of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope John Paul II since this concern falls under the direct purview of the president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. Relevant writings include a short book published in 2000 entitled, Many Religions – One Covenant: Israel, the Church, and the World and an article published in 2000 in L'Osservatore Romano, "The Heritage of Abraham: The Gift of Christmas."

Noteworthy is the 2000 CDF document, Dominus Iesus: Declaration on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church. While the declaration does not explicitly treat the special place of Judaism in Catholic theology, it does insist on a number of principles in considering religious pluralism.

The Declaration is related to the CDF's investigation of the 1997 book by Jacques Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. The "Notification" and Commentary on the Notification regarding the book also have implications for theologies of Christian-Jewish relations.

The 2001 study by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible is also pertinent. Although not authored by Cardinal Ratzinger, the document was introduced by him and was issued under his authority as ex officio president of the PBC.

See below for links to these resources.

• Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, "The Heritage of Abraham: The Gift of Christmas"

• Many Religions – One Covenant: Israel, the Church, and the World ( Ignatius Press, 1999)

• A Sampler of Noteworthy Quotations from the book

• Book review by Theresa O'Keefe

• "Interreligious Dialogue and Jewish-Christian Relations"
  From Communio 25 (Spring 1998), this essay was later reprinted in Many Religions One Covenant, pp. 89-113, though in a different translation. Courtesy of jcrelations.net and with permission of Communio.

 

• Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, " Relativism: The Central Problem for Faith Today"
  A 1996 address delivered to bishops from Third World countries. It argues that the "pluralist theology of religion" in the work of theologians John Hick and Paul Knitter relativizes the significance of Christ as the absolute mediator between God and humanity.

• Dominus Iesus: Declaration on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church (2000)

• The text of the declaration

• Two relevant articles:
  Rabbi Prof. David Berger assesses the declaration in relation to Cardinal Ratzinger's book, Many Religions – One Covenant;
  Cardinal Walter Kasper discusses the declaration's significance for Catholic-Jewish relations.

• Notification on the Book Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism by Father Jacques Dupuis, S.J. (2001)
  This 2001 statement signed by Cardinal Ratzinger summarizes some of the points of Dominus Iesus in regard to other religions.

• Commentary on the Notification
  This CDF commentary on the Dupuis Notification praises " the valuable work of theologians who take up the challenge of religious pluralism and new questions posed by interreligious dialogue." The first endnote also acknowledges "that the relationship between Christianity and Judaism requires an altogether singular explanation, because, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, of 'the spiritual ties which link the people of the New Covenant to the stock of Abraham.'”

• Cardinal Ratzinger's preface to the study

• The text of the study

• Selected important quotations with comments

• April 20, 2005: Address following Benedict XVI's First Mass as Pope
  In these remarks, the new pope dedicates himself to continuing the work of his predecessor in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.

• April 24, 2005: Inaugural homily (click for full text)
  "With great affection I also greet all those who have been reborn in the Sacrament of Baptism but are not yet in full communion with us; and you, my brothers and sisters of the Jewish people, to whom we are joined by a great shared spiritual heritage, one rooted in God's irrevocable promises. Finally, like a wave gathering force, my thoughts go out to all men and women of today, to believers and non-believers alike."

• April 20, 2005: Benedict telegrams Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo di Segni, an invitation to his papal inauguration
  "May the Lord have mercy and bless us; may his light shine upon us. On April 19, 2005, the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church elected me Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the universal Catholic Church. In announcing my election and the solemn inauguration of my pontificate, on Sunday, April 24, at 10 o'clock, I trust in the help of the Almighty to continue with the dialogue and to reinforce collaboration with the sons and daughters of the Jewish people.
  "Vatican, April 20, 2005, Benedictus XVI."

• May 8, 2005: Ninetieth Birthday greetings to Rabbi Elio Toaff, Rome's chief rabbi emeritus (extracts)
  "With a grateful spirit to God, I thank you for the good relations that have been interwoven with the Holy See, particularly during the pontificate of my deceased predecessor. Your birthday becomes an occasion to renew the commitment to continue the dialogue between us, looking with confidence to the future. I bless the eternal Father for the gift of the long and fruitful life he has granted you, during which the goodness of God has been manifested many times."

• June 9, 2005: Address to Delegates of the International Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC)

• June 13, 2005: Beatification of French priest delayed after discovery of antisemitic writings
  • Catholic News Service Story
  • The Jewish Week Story

• August 19, 2005: Address at the Synagogue of Cologne

• October 26, 2005: Message on the Occasion of the Fortieth Anniversary of Nostra Aetate

• November 30, 2005: General Audience
  In these brief comments, reference is made to the Shoah. It is described as "an infamous project of death, which remains an indelible shame on the history of humanity."

• December 22, 2005: Address to the Roman Curia
  In this address, the pope reviews the events of the year 2005, including a section dealing with the legacy of the Second Vatican Council. Among the challenges taken up by the Council in its exploration of the Church to the modern world was "the relationship between the Church and the faith of Israel." He indicates that "the Second Vatican Council, with its new definition of the relationship between the faith of the Church and certain essential elements of modern thought, has reviewed or even corrected certain historical decisions, but in this apparent discontinuity it has actually preserved and deepened her inmost nature and true identity."
  

• January 16, 2006: Address to the Chief Rabbi of Rome
  In these remarks, welcoming Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Pope Benedict reiterates that the Catholic Church and the Jewish People both join in singing a song of gratitiude for salvation. Noting that in Christ, Christians are "grafted onto the one 'holy tree' of the people of God," he also states that the "Catholic Church is close to you and is your friend."

• March 16, 2006: Audience with Delegates of the American Jewish Committee
  In these brief remarks, Pope Benedict, citing Nostra Aetate, 4, notes that the "Church can never forget that chosen people with whom God entered into a holy covenant." He also urges Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to work together for justice and peace.

• May 28, 2006: Address at the Concentration Camp at Auschwitz
  Speaking as a "son of Germany," Benedict reflects on the meaning of the Shoah for faith, including the question, "Where was God?"

• May 31, 2006: General Audience
  In his weekly public audience, Benedict offers some remarks on his recent prayer at Auschwitz.

• Vatican website: "Biographical Notes"