Cardinal Walter Kasper
Addresses the Reformulation of Tridentine Prayer for Jews

Cardinal Walter Kasper, who heads the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, has expressed his hope that this reformulated prayer will not become an obstacle in Catholic-Jewish dialogue. Speaking on Vatican Radio on February 7, 2008, he indicated that, while the Catholic Church cannot hide its belief that Jesus Christ is the savior of all peoples, including the Jews, this does not mean the Church is launching a missionary effort among the Jewish people.

Kasper was responding to Jewish criticism of the Pope Benedict's new Good Friday prayer for Jews in the 1962 Tridentine rite Roman Missal, which can be used with greater freedom now under new norms issued last year. Kasper highlighted the fact that the offensive phrase referring to "the blindness" of the Jews was removed, but indicated as well that "[the Holy Father] also wanted to underline the specific difference that exists between us and Judaism." That difference, he said, is that for Christians Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. "This difference cannot be hidden. The Holy Father wanted to say, yes, Jesus Christ is the savior of all men, even the Jews. - But if this prayer, today, speaks of the conversion of the Jews, that doesn't mean we intend to carry out a mission." Rather, he said, the pope's revised prayer expresses an "eschatological hope" by citing St. Paul's expectation that when "the full number of the Gentiles" enters the church, then all Israel will be saved.

Kasper's message indicated that the pope has removed the "language of contempt" and replaced it with words that express honest differences. Insisting that true dialogue between faiths must always accept the identity of the other, he said, "We respect the identity of the Jews; they should respect ours, which we cannot hide.I don't see this as an obstacle, but rather as a challenge for true theological dialogue."