News in Christian-Jewish Relations:  June 2005

This month:


 

Beatification of French priest delayed after discovery of antisemitic writings
 

From Catholic News Service:

June13, 2005

Pope asks panel to look into anti-Semitic writings of would-be saint
By John Thavis

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has formed a commission of church experts to study whether antisemitic writings by a French priest should prevent his planned beatification, sources in Rome said.

Father Leon Dehon, founder of the Sacred Heart of Jesus religious order, had been scheduled to be beatified by Pope John Paul II April 24. After the pope died April 2, the ceremony was expected to be rescheduled for later in the year.

But recent publicity about Father Dehon's writings on the Jews prompted objections from the French bishops' conference, the French government and some Jewish groups.

Pope Benedict has temporarily blocked the beatification until the situation can be clarified, Rome sources said June 13.

According to the French Catholic newspaper La Croix, the problems were caused by seven texts written by Father Dehon, who lived 1843-1925. The newspaper quoted the priest as writing that the Jews were "thirsty for gold" and "united in their hatred of Christ."

Father Dehon said the Talmud, the Jewish holy book, was a "manual for the bandit, the corrupter, the social destroyer." He supported the idea that Jews should be marked by special clothing, isolated in ghettos and excluded from certain professions like teaching, La Croix reported.

After the writings were pointed out in late February by French historian Jean-Dominique Durand, the French government told the Vatican it would not be sending a representative to the beatification, the sources in Rome said. At the same time, the French bishops sent their own protest to the Vatican.

The problem fell to Pope Benedict after his election to the papacy in mid-April. The new pope has privately named a panel to study whether to go forward with the beatification; the panel was expected to meet June 24, sources said.

Its members were said to include Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martinsi, head of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, as well as three other French-speaking churchmen at the Vatican: Swiss Cardinal Georges Cottier, papal theologian; French Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture; and retired French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray.

Cardinals Etchegaray and Cottier were key figures in the church's 1999-2000 "examination of conscience" that, among other things, asked forgiveness for historical wrongs by Christians regarding Jews and Judaism.

Church sources said Pope Benedict clearly has the authority to decide not to go ahead with the beatification, because in such a case a pope is not bound by the actions of his predecessors.

But one source said that because Pope John Paul approved Father Dehon's "heroic virtues" and approved a miracle attributed to his intercession, cancellation of the beatification would cause "a certain amount of bewilderment" among the faithful.
"This could create a very serious precedent. There is a miracle, so it seems God is in favor of it, and yet there are problems," said the source, who asked not to be named.

The defenders of Father Dehon's sainthood cause say that antisemitism was widespread in Europe at the time of the writings in the late 19th century and maintain that the priest's comments were mild in comparison with many other Catholic leaders. They have argued that Father Dehon's actions and words must be judged in context, and that in any case his spiritual and social work far outweighs his comments about Jews.

As a pastor in industrialized northern France, Father Dehon organized meetings of church leaders to make them aware of the hardships endured by the working class and helped workers organize in order to combat unjust employment conditions.

Durand, the French historian who alerted French bishops to the writings, told La Croix that the virtues of Father Dehon were not the main issue, but rather "the fact that such a beatification would leave the impression that antisemitism is a venial sin, nothing serious."
END

For a related story from The Jewish Week, click HERE

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Chicago Jews, Protestants find way to talk over Israel-Palestine conflict
 
After more than three years and a dozen meetings, a small group of Jewish and mainline Protestant leaders meeting at the University of Chicago Divinity School have created a document they hope can serve as a model for interfaith communication across the country. The document – entitled “What We’ve Learned from Each Other: A Report on a Jewish-Protestant Conversation about the Israel-Palestinian Conflict” – includes a statement of shared principles, as well as guidelines for how American Jews and Protestants can respectfully discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The document comes at a time of great consequence.

“It’s no secret that there is a serious situation that pertains today between Jews and Protestants,” said Rabbi Yehiel Poupko, the Judaic scholar at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and one of the signatories on the new document. “Jews and Protestants were once partners in a whole series of social justice issues, but there are now great strains in the relationship revolving around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

At the same time, as Israeli and Palestinian officials are meeting to plan Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip, this is a historic moment of hope.

“This document reflects the sustained and heartfelt engagement of people of good will from the Protestant and Jewish communities,” said Richard Rosengarten, Dean of the Divinity School at the University of Chicago and convener of the group. “The conversation they seek to promote is particularly timely. I hope the resulting document will have a long and lively public life.”

The signers of the “Report on a Jewish-Protestant Conversation” are: the Rev. John Buchanan of Fourth Presbyterian Church; John Colman, the past President of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago; Michael Kotzin, the Executive Vice President of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago; Cynthia Lindner, the Director of Ministry Studies and Senior Lecturer in the University of Chicago Divinity School; Martin Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Modern Christianity in the University of Chicago Divinity School; Rabbi Yehiel Poupko of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago; and Benjamin D. Sommer, the Director of the Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies at Northwestern University.

“We have talked and engaged in at times difficult conversation and dialogue, and we will continue to do so,” they write. “We urge you who find yourselves in the leadership of churches and synagogues to do much the same and to reach out to one another and begin similar conversations.”

For the full text of the statement of principles in the document entitled, "What We've Learned from Each Other: A Report on a Jewish-Protestant Conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," click HERE.

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