Reformulated Tridentine Rite Prayer for Jews

On February 5, 2008 a reformulation by Pope Benedict XVI of the 1962 Tridentine Rite Good Friday Prayer for the Jews was made public. This followed the "Motu Proprio" edict of July 2007 in which Pope Benedict widened the use of the 1962 Latin Tridentine missal. Used only by a small minority of traditionalist Catholics who still adhere to the pre-Vatican II Latin Tridentine Rite, this reformulated prayer does not replace the current Good Friday prayer officially approved in 1970 for the Roman Missal, which will be used by the vast majority of Catholic Christians around the world.

The Good Friday Prayer for Jews, revised after the Second Vatican Council and officially approved in 1970 for the Roman Missal, reads:

Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God,
that they may continue to grow in the love of his name
and in faithfulness to his covenant.
Almighty and eternal God,
long ago you gave your promise to Abraham and his posterity.
Listen to your church as we pray that the people you first made your own
may arrive at the fullness of redemption.

The newly-formulated Good Friday prayer applies only to the 1962 missal, and its use among Roman Catholic Christians will be the exception. The original Good Friday prayer in the 1962 Latin missal, from which the phrase, "faithless Jews," - from the Latin 'perfidis' - had already been deleted in 1960, read: (Translation from Latin)

Let us pray also for the Jews:
that almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts;
so that they too may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us pray. Let us kneel. Arise.
Almighty and eternal God, who doest not exclude from thy mercy the Jews:
hear our prayers, which we offer for the blindness of that people;
that acknowledging the light of thy Truth, which is Christ,
they may be delivered from their darkness.

In an effort to remove derogatory language toward Jews, this Tridentine rite prayer - which retains the 1962 heading "Prayer for the Conversion of the Jews" - has been reformulated as follows: (Translation from Latin)

We pray for the Jews.
That our God and Lord enlighten their hearts
so that they recognize Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind.
Let us pray. Kneel down. Arise.
Eternal God Almighty, you want all people to be saved
and to arrive at the knowledge of the Truth,
graciously grant that by the entry
of the abundance of all people into your Church,
Israel will be saved. Through Christ our Lord.

Jewish and Catholic responses to this official Tridentine rite reformulation have expressed disappointment and concern, given its inconsistency with the message of the Vatican II declaration Nostra Aetate, and the theological understandings which have been developing in the context of official and scholarly dialogue efforts over the past five decades.

Cardinal Walter Kasper's Response to the Reformulation

Statement of Most Reverend Richard J. Sklba, USCCB

Statement by ADL National Director, Abraham H. Foxman

Statement by the World Jewish Congress

Communique by the Rabbinical Assembly of Italy

Amitie Chretienne de France

Amicizia Ebraico Cristiana di Napoli