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A note for the preparation of the document of the commission for religious relations with the Jews: Notes on the correct way to present the Jews and Judaism in preaching and catechesis of the Roman Catholic Church
Msgr. Jorge Mejía

The following is the text of the press conference given by Msgr. Jorge Mejia, Secretary of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, on the occasion of the publication of the Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis of the Roman Catholic Church' on 24 June, 1985.

The document published here is the result of long and considered work by our Commission.
At the beginning of March 1982, delegates of episcopal conferences and other experts met in Rome to examine a first draft. It was in the course of preparations for this meeting that requests from various quarters came to the Commission, asking that a guide he prepared. Such a guide would be for the use of all those in the Church who have the difficult task of presenting Jews and Judaism to the Catholic faithful in the light of new pastoral and doctrinal developments. These developments flow from the conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate, 4, published twenty years ago and also from the Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Declaration "Nostra Aetate" (n. 4), published by our Commission at the end of 1974.2

The idea was to he of help to those engaged in catechetical work, in teaching and also in preaching, and to put into practice the new directions just mentioned, which are not always easy to translate into teaching methods.

The preparatory work went on for three years. There were several consultations with our consultors in Rome and elsewhere, resulting in several subsequent drafts. Clearly, throughout these stages of the work, and above all in the final one, the drafters kept well in mind what the Holy Father has had to say on Jewish Catholic relations. Ile has addressed this subject on various important occasions, from Paris to Mainz, from Brooklyn to Caracas and Madrid, and many times in Rome itself. Neither could the drafters forget the various documents published in recent years by several episcopal conferences. And, at the same time the Commission, along with its consultors and experts, took into account the accumulated experience of many years of nearly daily contact with our Jewish partners. For all of that, the text is and remains a document of the Catholic Church. This means that its language, its structure, and the questions it intends to address belong to the teaching and pastoral practice of the Catholic Church.

As is normal procedure with any document published by a department of the Holy See, other departments with competency in the subject matter were consulted. Their observations have been dutifully and carefully taken into account. It is both our duty and our pleasure to express our gratitude and appreciation publicly to them for their patient and fruitful collaboration with us.
The document, in this its final version, bears the title Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis of the Roman Catholic Church. The first word of the title (Notes) appropriately indicates the aim of the text. It is intended to provide a helpful frame of reference for those who are called upon in various ways in the course of their teaching assignments to speak about Jews and Judaism and who wish to do so in keeping with the current teaching of the Church in this area. As everyone knows, this happens quite often. In fact, it is a practical impossibility to present Christianity while abstracting from the Jews and Judaism, unless one were to suppress the Old Testament, forget about the Jewishness of Jesus and the Apostles, and dismiss the vital cultural and religious context of the primitive Church. Neither is it an alternative to present one and the other in a prejudiced, unfavorable light. It is precisely this way of acting that the Council wanted to put to an end. That was also the aim that the 1974 Guidelines addressed more or less on the level of general principles. It is exactly the same aim that the present Notes address on a more concrete level — one might almost say in handbook style, us long as one keeps in mind the limitations of a text that cannot and should not be too lengthy.

Hence, the structure of the document. It starts with a series of "Preliminary Considerations," which introduce the spirit and the rationale of the text, mostly with the help of quotations from the Council, the Holy Father, or from preceding documents. Thereupon follows a first section called "Religious Teaching and Judaism," in which the doctrinal and pastoral principles underlying such teaching are set forth. Of special note is paragraph n. 3,3 which speaks about Judaism as a present reality and not only as a "historical" (and thus superseded) reality. Also to be noted is n. 5 on the complexity of both the historical and the religious relationships between the Church and Judaism. In this same section there is an affirmation that is important for the Catholic Church concerning the centrality of Christ and his unique value in the economy of salvation (n. 7). Clearly this does not mean, however, that the Jews cannot and should nor draw salvific gifts from their own traditions. Of course, they can, and should do so.

A second section is entitled "Relations between the Old and New Testament." This tries to help put into practice the directions of the Second Vatican Council that call for providing the Catholic faithful with access to a fuller and richer knowledge of Holy Scripture (cf. Dei Verbum, nn. 21-22 and Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 51). This especially includes the Old Testament. It is not always an easy matter to present the relations between both Testaments in a way that fully respects the validity of the Old Testament and shows its permanent usefulness for the Church. At this point, an effort is made to explain the meaning of what is called "typology," since on this a large part of our liturgical use of the Old Testament is grounded. In no way is "typological" usage a devaluation of the validity proper to the Old Testament. Rather, to the contrary. One can see this from another angle, since has always been taught in the Catholic tradition that there is also a "typological" use of the New Testament with respect to the "last things" or eschatological realities (cf. n. 8). The importance of the Old Testament for Judaism .is underlined. So, too, is the importance of Jews and Christians hearing the Old Testament together, so that together, in the path opened by the prophetic tradition, we may become more deeply engaged as fellow partisans for humanity today (nn. 10, 11). The significance of the continuity of the Jewish people in history is again mentioned toward the end of this document (cf. n. 25). It should also he noted that the limits of "typological" usage are acknowledged, and other possible ways of reading the Old Testament in relation to the New are not excluded (cf. n. 3).

The third section speaks about the "Jewish Roots of Christianity". Here we turn to the New Testament and try to show that the Jewishness of Jesus and the Judaism of his time are far from being something marginal or incidental. On the contrary, they are connected with the very dynamic of the Incarnation. Thus, they have a specific value in the divine plan of salvation. The relationship of Jesus to the biblical law is carefully assessed (n. 13). So, too, are his relations to the Jewish religious institutions of his time, including the Temple (n. 14). Also carefully assessed are his contacts with the Pharisees, who constituted a movement within the Judaism of his time with which, beyond doubt, he had very close relations and to which he was very near — notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, about which more is said in the subsequent section.
This fourth section is, in fact, given over to the problem of the way "The Jews in the New Testament" are presented. On the basis of an exceedingly superficial analysis, some (Jews and Christians) feel that the New Testament is "anti-Semitic." By contrast, in this document the sound and proven results of recent scholarly exegesis arc taken into account. Relying on this evidence, principles and criteria are offered to teachers for the presentation and explanation of texts that can create difficulty, whether these are found in the Gospel of John or in other New Testament writings. There is no intention, however, of hiding the fact of the disbelief of Jews in Jesus, a fact which is here called "sad," just as it is in the well-known text of the Letter to the Romans (9:2). In fact, it is from this point that the division and enmity between Christians and Jews originated, and it is also from this fact that the present urgent need for reconciliation derives, as is very carefully noted (cf. n. 21 D). At the same time, with no less care, it is emphasized that no one can judge the conscience of another, neither of others in the past nor — still less — of others today (ibid. E, F). In this conection, the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on religious liberty must constantly he kept in mind, since this is "one of the bases on which rests the Jewish-Christian dialogue promoted by the Council" (ibid. F). A special paragraph is dedicated to the "delicate question of responsibility for the death of Christ" (n. 22). No attempt is made, however, to enter into complex and difficult historical questions. Rather, in keeping with the viewpoint of the Catechism of the Council of Trent (here quoted explicitly), the text focuses on the theological significance of the death of Christ and out participation in it as sinners. From this perspective, the historical role of "those few Jews" and those few Romans in Jesus' passion becomes a very secondary matter. (The Creed of the Catholic Church has always mentioned Pontius Pilate in relation with the death of Christ, not the Jews.)

In the fifth section, reference is made to the liturgy and to similarities and points of contact with Jewish worship. Specific mention is made of the source of our prayers, of the cycle of feasts, and of the very structure itself of our eucharistic prayers.

A sixth section contains material altogether new in this series of documents, It intends to offer some information on the common history of Judaism and Christianity down through the centuries, a history that unfortunately is largely unknown or poorly understood if not altogether distorted. In this section, the central elements are chiefly three. First, the permanence of Judaism and, as we say, its theological significance, "which allowed Israel to carry to the whole world a witness — often heroic — of its fidelity to the one God" (n. 25). Second, the "religious attachment" of the Jews to the "land of their forefathers," which Christians are encouraged to try to understand (ibid.). And third, the creation of the State of Israel. This is taken up with extreme precision. It is said that the "perspective" in which the State should be "envisaged" it not "in itself religious." It should be seen "in . reference to the common principles of international law" which govern the existence of the various states and their place in the community of nations (ibid.). It will surely be noted that for the first time in a document of this Commission, in different but related paragraphs, reference is made to the land and the state. A brief sentence at the end of the paragraph refers to the "extermination" of the Jews (in Hebrew, the shoal), i.e., the catastrophe) during the dark years of the Nazi persecution. It calls upon Catholics to understand how decisive such a tragedy was for the Jews, a tragedy that is also obviously ours. Several teaching aids have been prepared, including those by Catholic offices for education, to help Catholics better comprehend the senseless dimensions of this tragedy and to grasp better its significance. Our Commission is gratified by these efforts and, with this brief emphasis, would like to indicate in them the path to be followed.

Here again (cf. n. 26), as well as toward the begin- ning of the document (cf. n. 8), the text repeats its condemnation of anti-Semitism. This time, however, that condemnation is explicitly linked with the necessity of a "precise, objective, and rigorously accurate teaching on Judaism," which is the aim of these Notes. We arc well aware that much has been done to dispel what has been called the "teaching of contempt" (the expression comes from the famous Jewish historian from France, Jules Isaac). But much still remains to be done, not least because new forces of racism and anti-Semitism remain ever ready to rise.

The aim of the Notes is, thus, a thoroughly positive one, as the Conclusion states. They seek to promote the formation of Catholics equipped "not only for objectivity, justice, and tolerance" (which would already mean a lot), but "also for understanding dialogue." Indeed, "our two traditions ate so related that they cannot ignore each other" (as is still frequently the case). It remains a constant necessity that "mutual knowledge . . . be encouraged at every level."

It is our hope that the in-depth study of this text can he carried out by both parties in an atmosphere free of preconceptions and attentive to meaning and sometimes delicate nuances of many paragraphs. This will help us toward our highly desired goal, which is also the indispensable condition for our united and truly efficacious action together in behalf of the ideals we hold dear and which we have inherited from our shared biblical tradition.

Monsignor Jorge Mejla, Secretary Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews
Rome, June 24, 1985
Translated from the Italian by Fr. John F.Hotchkin.

Notes
1. Once clearly stated, the tide of the document under discussion will he referred to throughout as Notes for Catechists and Preachers or, more simply, Notes.
2. Released in Jan. 1975.
3. Throughout this issue reference will be made to the NOTES as follows: n. I, 1 to 8 will indicate the paragraphs of the first chapter: Religious Teaching and Judaism, which sets out the principles underlying this teaching. Beginning with chapter II„ the paragraphs are numbered in consecutive order from n. 1 to 27 without reference to chapter numbers.