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Relations between Catholicism and Judaism concern the two thousand year history and rivalry between Judaism and Christianity, in particular with the Roman Catholic Church. Relations at times have been strained, but have improved notably during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.

30 A.D.–1962

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Catholicism traditionally taught that without belief in Jesus as God and as the messiah, it would be impossible for any person to have a relationship with God; the result of a lack of such a relationship is "damnation". All Jews were considered to have "forsaken" God by not "accepting" Jesus as the messiah. Some even went so far as to view Jews as being "collectively responsible" for the death of Jesus, despite the protestions of many pontiffs and fellow Catholics.

The Crusades and the Inquisition

The era of the Crusades and the Inquisition resulted in many Jews being killed or forcibly converted to Catholicism by the Catholic Crusaders and Inquisitors over many centuries and in many countries, mainly in Western Europe. However, many Catholics also strongly opposed the persecution of the Jews. This topic of Catholic opposition to anti-Semitism is covered extensively in the article Christian Opposition to Anti-Semitism.

1962 A.D.–1978

Vatican II

The Second Vatican Council, commonly known as Vatican II, was a pastoral ecumenical council of the Catholic church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. One of the most revolutionary changes that resulted from interpretations of this council's documents are those which concerned the document Nostra Aetate.

True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ. Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.

In 1971 the Catholic Church established an International Liaison Committee for itself and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (this Committee is not a part of the Church's Magisterium).

1978–2005

Pope John Paul II wrote and delivered a number of speeches on the subject of the Church's relationship with Jews, and often paid homage to the victims of the Holocaust in many nations. He was the first pope to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, in 1979.

One of the few popes to have grown up in a climate of flourishing Jewish culture, one of the key components of pre-war Kraków, his interest in Jewish life dated from early youth. His visit to The Great Synagogue of Rome was the first known visit to a synagogue by a modern pope.

On 2 April, 2005, after John Paul II's death, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization, stated that the Pope had revolutionised Catholic-Jewish relations, saying that "more change for the better took place in his 27 year Papacy than in the nearly 2000 years before." (Pope John Paul II: An Appreciation: A Visionary Remembered)

Modern Catholic teachings about Judaism

On May 4, 2001, at the 17th International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee in NYC, they stated that they would seek changes in how Judaism is dealt with in Catholic seminaries. In part, they state:

The curricula of Catholic seminaries and schools of theology should reflect the central importance of the church's new understanding of its relationship to Jews....Courses on Bible, patristics, early church history and liturgy should incorporate recent scholarship on Christian origins. Illumining the complex developments by which both the church and rabbinic Judaism emerged from early Judaism will establish a substantial foundation for ameliorating "the painful ignorance of the history and traditions of Judaism of which only negative aspects and often caricature seem to form part of the stock ideas of many Christians" (Notes on the Correct Way to Present Jews and Judaism in Catholic Preaching and Catechesis, #27, 1985).

...Courses dealing with the biblical, historical and theological aspects of relations between Jews and Christians should be an integral part of the seminary and theologate curriculum, and not merely electives. All who graduate from Catholic seminaries and theology schools should have studied the revolution in Catholic teaching on Jews and Judaism from Nostra Aetate to the prayer of Pope John Paul II in Jerusalem at the Western Wall on March 26, 2000....For historic reasons, many Jews find it difficult to overcome generational memories of anti-Semitic oppression. Therefore: Lay and Religious Jewish leaders need to advocate and promote a program of education in our Jewish schools and seminaries - about the history of Catholic-Jewish relations and knowledge of Christianity and its relationship to Judaism....Encouragement of dialogue between the two faiths does involve recognition, understanding and respect for each other's beliefs, without having to accept them. It is particularly important that Jewish schools teach about the Second Vatican Council, and subsequent documents and attitudinal changes which opened new perspectives and possibilities for both faiths.

This new understanding of the relationship between Christians and Jews is reflected in the revised liturgy of Good Friday in a particular way. The 1962 edition of the Good Friday Prayer had Catholics praying for the "perfidious Jews" that they might convert to the truth. The current prayer prays for "the Jewish people, 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."

The Carmelite Nun convent at Auschwitz

The Polish national Catholic bishops conferences supported the attempt of Carmelite Nuns to establish a convent at the former World War II Nazi-run death camp located at Auschwitz, so crucial to the Holocaust. Differences over the place of this convent caused some sectors of the Jewish community to become hostile to the idea of building a Catholic institution on the ground where mass genocide of the Jews was carried out. Jewish groups believed that this was inappropriate, and some groups engaged in peaceful protest. At one point the nuns at the convent accused Modern Orthodox Rabbi Avi Weiss, of Riverdale, Bronx, NY, of attempting to assault them when he silently protested at the site. The Vatican did not support this convent, but since Vatican II each national bishops conference had local autonomy. Rabbi Leon Klenicki, founding member the of Interfaith Theological Forum of the John Paul II Center in Washington, D.C., said:

Since Vatican II, each national bishops’ conference has its freedom to deal with local issues. Once the nuns took that place, that was under the jurisdiction of the Polish national bishops’ conference, not the Vatican. The pope couldn’t say anything. The pope intervened when the bishops’ conference was not strong enough to stop the convent. When he realized that nothing was being done, he issued an order for the nuns to move. (Lipman, 2005)

Visit to the State of Israel

In March 2000, Pope John Paul II went to the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem in Israel and touched the holiest outward remaining shrine of the Jewish people, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, in the hope of promoting Christian-Jewish reconciliation. The Pope has said that Jews are "our elder brothers."

In October 2003, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement congratulating Pope John Paul II on entering the 25th year of his papacy:

"His deep commitment to reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people has been fundamental to his papacy. Jews throughout the world are deeply grateful to the Pope. He has defended the Jewish people at all times, as a priest in his native Poland and during his pontificate... We pray that he remains healthy for many years to come, that he achieves much success in his holy work and that Catholic-Jewish relations continue to flourish."

2005 meeting with 141 Jewish leaders

The Nassau Herald (January 27, 2005 page 14) and The Jewish Star (January 28, 2005 page 12) reported that unprecedented in Judeo-Christian history, on 18 January 2005 a group of 141 Jewish leaders from around the world, Rabbis and Cantors, met with Pope John Paul II in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, to thank the Pope for all he had done for the Jewish people and for the State of Israel. Gary Krupp, the seventh Jewish person to be knighted into the Order of St. Gregory by this Pope, offered a few words thanking the Pope for his efforts in the ongoing process of Christian-Jewish reconciliation, and for his support of the State of Israel.

The Pope welcomed the Jewish audience, composed of Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism Jewish leaders. The Pope noted that that year had marked the fortieth anniversary of the Vatican's landmark Nostra Aetate declaration, which rejected the charge that Jews collectively were responsible for the death of Jesus. "May this be an occasion for renewed commitment to increased understanding and co-operation in the service of building a world ever more firmly based on respect for the divine image in every human being", he said. "Upon all of you, I invoke the abundant blessings of the Almighty, and in particular, the gift of peace. Shalom Aleichem, shalom, shalom (in Hebrew: "Peace unto you. Peace. Peace")."

The Rabbis then blessed the Pope with the "Priestly Blessing", and the Pontiff greeted the crowd individually. Thirteen cantors sang a Hebrew blessing to him. Cantor Lawrence Eliezer Kepecs, an artist, presented Pope John Paul II with a personally designed mezuzah inscribed with the "Priestly Blessing", numbered 12 standing for the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

It was reported by the Vatican that no other group in the world had ever said "thank you", giving blessings to the Pope. It was the first time in history that such a large contingent of Jewish clergymen officially met with a Pope. It also marked the first time in history that Jewish cantors sang in front of a Pope at the Apostolic Palace.

Jewish critiques of Catholic positions: 1980s-2005

Given the significant differences between Catholic Christianity and Judaism, it should not be surprising that a number of points of dispute exist between the Catholic Church and the Jewish community. A number of issues supported by John Paul II caused dissension within elements of the Jewish community, including:

• The beatification of Pope Pius XII, who many Jewish groups believe did little to aid Jews during the Holocaust.
• The Vatican has allowed only partial access to its extensive World War II era archives. Many Jewish groups believe that full access to this archive would show that Pope Pius XII deliberately did not do enough to help the Jews, and that may show some sympathy for Nazi Germany.
• How to deal with baptised Jewish children during the Second World War who were never returned to their Jewish families and people.
• The canonization of Edith Stein as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Stein was a Jew who died in the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz.
• Jewish groups were grateful for his 1994 We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, which offered a mea culpa for the role of Christians in the Holocaust. However, many Jewish groups felt that this statement was insufficient, as it focused on individual members of the Church who helped the Nazis, portraying them as acting against the teachings of the Church. This portrayal is considered by some to be a "No true Scotsman" defense, as it absolved the Church itself of any blame.
• Vatican positions on some aspects of Israeli policy
• The Pope John Paul saw all abortion as murder, while for reasons endangering one's physical health, or in some cases one's mental health, Judaism views abortions as permissible.

Nonetheless, the number of issues that divide Jewish groups and the Vatican have dropped significantly during the last forty years.

External link

• Staying The Course: John Paul II built a closeness between the Vatican and Jewish community, and Jewish leaders don’t expect that to change
• http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08399a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia Article on Judaism. Of particular interest is section four: "Judaism and Church Legislation."

References

• Stewart Ain Staying The Course: John Paul II built a closeness between the Vatican and Jewish community, and Jewish leaders don’t expect that to change, The Jewish Week, April 8, 2005
• Steve Lipman The Jewish Critique: Amid the pope’s remarkable record on the Jews, issues linger, The Jewish Week, April 8, 2005

v t e Pope John Paul II
Born Karol Józef Wojtyła, 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005 Pope (1978–2005) Archbishop of Kraków (1963–1978)
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