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Seelisberg Anniversary: Postscript
Robert A. Graham

Father Robert Graham s.j., formerly on the editorial staff of America, is now living in Rome and involved in publishing the papers of Pope Pius XII relative to the World War II period.

The account of Rev. William Simpson on the thirtieth anniversary of the Seelisberg Conference (« The Ten Points of Seelisberg: A Significant Anniversary », SIDIC Vol. X, No. 1 1977) stirred vivid personal recollections. One of the participants, I had been invited by the Secretary of the (U.S.) National Conference of Christians and Jews, Dr. Everett Clinchy. In my possession still is a cherished photograph of myself in the company of the zealous Alsatian Capuchin, Fr. Calliste Lopinot, highly regarded by both the Jews and the Holy See, who is mentioned in the account.

I am grateful for the story of the later developments and emendations of the original text. But I am sorry that the writer did not judge it opportune to report also that Jules Isaac presented the final Seelisberg points to Pope Pius XII in an audience of October 16, 1949, shortly after publication. We find M. Isaac's own description of what transpired in the December 1949 issue of the bulletin l'Amitié Judéo-Chrétienne (N. 3-4). He insisted on the importance of the work of Seelisberg and said that if the Holy Father would examine it, have it examined by others, and recommended to the episcopate of the world this would not only be assuredly pleasing to God but be of capital importance for the future of Jewish-Christian relations. « Le Saint Pere », wrote M. Isaac, « ma ecoute tres attentivement et a bien voulu m'assurer qu'il ferait cet examen. »

What then followed in the audience also belongs, I think, to the history of the Ten Points. The learned visitor, referring to the recent (June 1948) action of the Holy See in issuing an authoritative interpretation of the phrase pro perfidis judaeis, urged yet another change in the Holy Week liturgy. This concerned the omission, at the point of praying for the Jews in the services, of the Oremus. He records: « A ce sujet, je me Buis permis de signaler que la suppression de la genuflexion pour ce seal Oremus — suppression dont il est difficile a l'historien de savoir avec certitude quand et pour quelle raison elle a ete decidee — était peutêtre un fait plus grave que la traduction 'perfide': une decision en sens contraire pourrait, elle aussi, avoir une profonde resonance dans les coeurs israelites. »

The Holy Father, says the writer, listened to him with kindness and, he thought, « une sympathie comprehensive ». As is known, in fact, when the New Ordo of the Holy See was issued in November 1955, it was found that — without fanfare — the Oremus had been restored, according to the hopes and prayers of Jules Isaac. It is not clear why this change appeared to him more important than the earlier gesture, but that Jules Isaac thought it did — and to good purpose — is significant in itself and deserves to be recalled on this anniversary.