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News in Christian-Jewish Relations:  April 2004

April, 2004

Catholic and Jewish representatives, at the semi-annual meeting of the Catholic-Jewish Consultation Committee in New York on April 20, 2004, shared with depth and intensity their respective views on the film, The Passion of the Christ. While for many Christians, the movie represents an opportunity for faith values to be expressed on the screen in a way that has broad appeal, for other Christians and most Jews it recalls the Passion Plays of the past. Those dramatizations of Jesus? death in medieval and indeed modern European history often precipitated violence against Jews by triggering the insidious notion that ?the Jews? were and are collectively guilty of the death of Jesus. 

Even though Jesus, His mother, the Apostles, indeed all in the picture who are identified with Christ were Jewish, the film?s depiction of the Temple leaders and its essentially ahistorical use of the Gospels could be twisted in an anti-Semitic way. We have reports of incidents where Jews are once again being taunted as "Christ killers," and those who have raised questions about the film have received antisemitic mail. 

Though no major anti-Semitic incidents have yet been reported in this country or in Europe, it is with deep concern that the Consultation received reports that the film is being utilized in some countries, most regrettably in some Arab lands, to foment anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish feelings. It is with great dismay, especially on the Catholic side, that, where relations are already difficult due both to long-standing and more recent policy differences, we see elements of ancient Christian anti-Jewish teachings now threatening to infect the Muslim world, hitherto relatively free of such prejudice. We pray that the spiritual leaders of both Christianity and Islam will guide their faithful away from any such anti-Semitic implications.

has made it abundantly clear during his long pontificate that anti-Semitism is a sin against God and humanity and that the Church?s teachings must never be perverted for the dissemination of such sentiments. 

For almost forty years, the Catholic Church has worked to implement the teachings of the Second Vatican Council?s landmark declaration, Nostra Aetate, which condemned anti-Semitism and rejected the ancient ?deicide? charge indicting all Jews past and present for the death of Jesus. In a series of significant documents, the Holy See and national episcopal conferences have emphasized that any depiction of Jesus? death under the Romans should be so fashioned as to present accurately both the theological and historical causes of Jesus? crucifixion. Theologically, all humanity was responsible for killing Jesus, not just one group or people. Historically, Jesus was executed through collaboration between the Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate, and the Roman-dominated high priesthood of Jerusalem. Jesus was popular with the people at large as his clandestine arrest at night shows. Catholic texts have been rewritten to incorporate these new understandings of ancient texts so that the teachings of the Church may never again give rise to contempt for and denigration of Jews and Judaism. 

The U. S. Bishops issued in 1988 important guidelines to ensure that any presentation of the Passion under Catholic auspices will not depict Jews as sinister killers of God. These guidelines, along with those of the Holy See, show how the Church reads the Gospels and how to avoid the temptation to selectively manipulate the texts to create erroneous and invidious impressions of Jews. The key documents of the Church have now been conveniently assembled in a new book, The Bible, the Jews and the Death of Jesus available from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops ().  These should be studied, ideally by Jews and Catholics together, to discern the proper understanding of the meaning of Jesus? death as understood in official Catholic teaching.

Any Catholic school or religious education group contemplating using The Passion of Christ in their programs should make use of these documents in developing solid educational programming around the film to guide students so they will be familiar with the deep theological significance and complex historical context of the passion narratives that no single film could fully convey.  Here, the U.S.Bishops? 1988 Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion will be most helpful in bringing out where its artistic vision may be inadequate or misleading either theologically or historically. Resources for teachers and clergy are posted on many diocesan websites, and also on that of Boston College?s Center for Christian-Jewish Learning ().  Also, caution is advised with regard to age levels, because of the graphic nature of the film?s violence.  Some might feel it suitable only for the upper grades of high school, some for all high school students, but it would seem to be too overwhelming for elementary or middle school classes. 

Study groups, seminars, adult education, parochial schools and seminaries can likewise benefit by using the recently issued six‑part video series, Walking God?s Paths, also available from the USCCB, as well as the Union for Reform Judaism () and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism ( ). Indeed, it is encouraging that many groups of Catholics, Protestants and Jews are doing precisely this: they are getting to the sources of Christian teachings in order to dispel dangerous misconceptions that make for hate instead of harmony. 

We have progressed significantly in building bridges of understanding between Catholics and Jews and we are determined to do all we can in pulpits, schools, seminaries, educational and media settings to prevent any outbreak of the ancient scourge of anti-Semitism.

The Consultation also wishes to express its joint concern over the persistence of anti-Catholic attitudes in the US in the secular media and in certain intellectual circles.  While much of the coverage of sex abuse scandal in the media has been fair and balanced, far too much appeared to us to be exploiting the crisis in order to attack, not just the abusers and their enablers, but the Catholic Church as such.  Similarly, in the debates concerning immigration into this country, one can at times discern not very subtle evocations of the Protestant Nativist tradition of anti-Catholicism.  

The Consultation, in a rich exchange, shared the distinct but related religious attachments of Jews and Christians with the Holy Land, Eretz Israel throughout history and today. A deep concern is expressed for the plight of Palestinian Christians in Israel whose lives, while relatively secure, are not without very real difficulties, and for those suffering increasing pressures in the territories under the Palestinian Authority. We are greatly distressed, moreover, to learn that as a result of government policies the situation of the institutional church in Israel, in the eyes of Catholic officials, seems to have  greatly deteriorated. For that reason, the Consultation is relieved to learn that the Israeli government has moved to establish a working committee of representatives of the key ministries involved to resolve the urgent question of visas for Christian church workers, who are vital to so many Christian institutions in the area, and also to address still-pending issues regarding full implementation of the 1993 Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel. As repeated commitments have gone unfulfilled over the past year, we hope that the committee will address these issues with the utmost urgency.

Leading the discussion of our respective theological and historical understandings of our relationship as People of God with the Land we both call holy were Professor Benjamin Gampel of  Jewish Theological Seminary and Monsignor Robert Stern of Catholic Near East Welfare Association.  Leading the discussion of Catholic-Jewish relations in the aftermath of the Gibson movie were Rabbi Michael Signer of the University of Notre Dame; Rev. John Pawlikowski, OSM, of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago; Rabbi Joel Zaiman, rabbi emeritus of Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Baltimore; and Dr. Eugene J. Fisher, staff member of the U.S. Conference of the Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.  The Consultation is co-chaired by Rabbi Zaiman and Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, Episcopal Moderator for Catholic-Jewish Relations of the USCCB. Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal serves as Executive Director of the National Council of Synagogues.

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An Ecumenical News International story by Ross Dunn and dated March 30, 2004 states that hundreds of priests, nuns, and volunteers have been denied renewal of their visas by the government of Israel and may face arrest or deportation.  Thus far no church leader has reported that any staff have been forced to leave. 
 
"It's a problem not only for the Catholic Church but for all (Christian) denominations in the Holy Land," a unidentified spokesman for the Vatican's representatives in Jerusalem is quoted as saying. "What is unacceptable is the block on giving visas. It is not good for relations with us and is creating a problem with the whole Christian world." 
 
According to the ENI report at least 130 Roman Catholic representatives have been affected.

An article by Ruth Sinai in the March 30, 2004 edition of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated that "Israeli visa policy [is] straining relations with the Vatican."  Minister Avraham Poraz had met with Church officials and promised to solve the problem, but every day visas of church delegates expire, a Vatican spokesman said. In recent months several monks and nuns have been held by Israeli immigration police for lacking legal authority to be in Israel, some of whom have lived in Israel for many years. .

A growing minority of Americans believe that Jews were responsible for Christ's death. Roughly a quarter of the public (26%) now expresses that view. This represents a modest but statistically significant increase in the number holding this opinion when compared with a 1997 survey by A51茶馆 News which found 19% feeling this way. But a solid majority of Americans both then and now (60%) continue to say that Jews were not responsible for the death of Christ.

The increasing sense among some groups that Jews were responsible for Christ's death comes amid controversy over the Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ." A relatively large proportion of people who have seen the movie (36%) feel Jews were responsible for Christ's death. However, this is also the case among people who plan to see the movie (29%), suggesting people who are drawn to this movie may be predisposed to this opinion more than others. By comparison, just 17% of those who have no plans to see the movie believe that Jews were responsible for Christ's death.

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In an interview given to Aviad Kleinberg described in an April 6, 2004 article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, offered some remarks on the Mel Gibson film, The Passion of the Christ. Other than the pope, Cardinal Kasper is Catholic Church's official voice on matters pertaining to Catholic-Jewish relations, and so his observations about the movie are of particular interest.

Although reluctant to enter the controversy around the film, the Cardinal, when pressed by Kleinberg, made some specific observations about the film, which he had seen.  "This is not a Catholic Church film," as Kleinberg paraphrases Kasper's remarks. The Cardinal "was shocked by the [film's] cruelty and violence," and while he does not think that the film is anti-Semitic, Kasper feels "it could stir anti-Semitism."

This is similar to a conclusion of an American team of Catholic and Jewish scholars who had evaluated the movie's shooting script a year ago at the request of Dr. Eugene Fisher of the U.S. Bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

During his interview with Kleinberg, Cardinal Kasper reiterated that "the Church has repeatedly expressed its reservations about every form of anti-Semitism," including through a recently published joint statement by German bishops and German Jewish leaders.

When asked about the recent increase in anti-Semitic acts, Kasper expressed his great distress.  "The Church is opposed to any form of racism, and the attacks on Jews and Judaism are worse than simple racism - they are equivalent to an attack on the Church itself, as Judaism is the mother of Christianity," narrates Kleinberg. "Kasper recall[ed] the Pope's visit to the synagogue in Rome in 1986, when John Paul II declared that 'the Jewish religion is not external to us, but in a certain sense it is part of our religion. With Judaism we have a relationship that we have with no other religion. You are beloved brothers; it can even be said that you are our elder brothers.'"

There is an urgent need for education in the Catholic Church's new perspectives on Jews and Judaism, said the Cardinal. "The Church is trying to spread the new views."
 

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