Other articles from this issue | Version in English | Version in French

A Catholic View
Père J. Dujardin

(Extracts from an article published in La Revue du Diocese de Paris, Paris Notre-Dame and La Revue de l'Alliance Israelite Universelle - Les Nouveaux Cahiers, by Père J. Dujardin*)

...
Rather than an elaborate and well laid out theology of the relationship with the Jewish people, even though this is not absent, it is a climate that the document creates step by step at each opportunity. It will greatly influence the Christian people if it is wisely used.

Two delicate questions need to be treated separately:

1. Is there any hint of something like a "theology of substitution?" Is the expression "verus Israel" found in the Catechism? The expression does not exist in the New Testament and the catechism does not take it up. However one meets the other expression which is a problem for Jews, in the form of a citation from a conciliar text: the expression "new Israel" (no. 877).

Must we conclude that there is only limited progress? To be just we must put in parallel another passage of the catechism much more remarkable in a positive way. It is the expression "Israelitica dignitas" (no. 528). To understand its significance let us put it in context. The Christian feast of the Epiphany is described in the catechism in this way:

"...In the magi, representatives of the neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation... Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Saviour of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament. The Epiphany shows that the ' full number of the nations" now takes its "place in the family of the patriarchs", and acquires Israelitica dignitas".

Thus the opening to the nations, that is to say to that part of the Church which becomes little by little the most important is presented here not as a substitution of the mission of the people of Israel but as an inclusion in its vocation. It is a approach quite different from that of "Verus Israel".

2. How does the Catechism understand the Old Testament?

A careful examination shows an abundant use of texts in the catechism. This is something new which shows the influence of the Council and the biblical renewal. But what is its understanding? The question is important for relations between Jews and Christians. Let us try to be clear. First, the unity of Scripture is strongly affirmed. "The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value for the Old Covenant has never been revoked". "...in them (the books of the Old Testament) the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way". (no. 121 and following which reflect Dei Verbum no. 15).

If Christians necessarily read the Old Testament in the light of the dead and risen Christ, and in a sense this cannot be otherwise for Christ is for them not only the master of interpretation, but he expresses by his life the fullness of meaning, that should not make them forget (as the text says) that the Old Testament keeps its own proper value, reaffirmed, the same Catechism says, by Jesus himself and it cites Mark 12:29-31. Furthermore the document explicitly says that the New Testament needs to be read in the light of the Old. All that is positive. What makes for a certain problem is the very strong reference to the "typological" reading of Scripture. This reading, already found in the Old Testament, is quite justified and understandable from the Christian point of view but it carries a risk, from which the tradition, under the influence of Greek thought, has not totally escaped, of devaluing persons and events which are presented in so symbolic a fashion that they become unreal. They then lose their own permanent value. It would be well not to forget the preliminary paragraphs 121-128. This way of interpretation which is found too often in biblical commentaries, in catechesis or preaching, can lead again to a subtle form of the theology of substitution or even to a certain appropriation.

The Notes for Preaching and Catechesis published in Rome in 1985 underlined the "malaise" that this kind of interpretation can evoke. They had even presented it as "indicating a problem not yet resolved". The catechism does not take up this questioning. It strives through this means to give a proper consistency to events and personages of the Old Testament. Has it totally succeeded? It can be discussed and certainly not only from the Jewish point of view...

Does stating this difficulty mean that this presentation of the catechism concludes with a negative remark? No, it simply means articulating one of the thorniest problems between Judaism and Christianity. It is also to realise that the catechism, whose outlook is essentially pastoral, cannot go into and resolve a question which is so complex. It hasn't closed the door. The field of investigation opened by the dialogue between Jews and Christians is too recent to find satisfying ways of reflecting on all the difficulties that exist. In the end the question posed is rather this one: Does the Catechism reflect the new outlook on the Jewish people promoted by the Council? Within the limits indicated here there must be a clear affirmative reply. But this teaching must be made to penetrate the christian people, which is not an easy task. To theologians, to exegetes, to historians and above all to pastors, to all those who are stimulated by the Jewish-Christian dialogue belongs the task of continuing this reflection so that the catechesis itself bears fruit...