Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Cross, Page 4
Thursday, October 26, 2000
Catholics and Jews:
How do we understand each other today?
By Father Michael J. Kavanaugh
n her book, Has God Only One Blessing?,
Mary C. Boys enters into the highly challeng
ing arena of Jewish-Christian relations, bringing
with her years of personal and professional
experience.
A professor at Union Theological Seminary in
New York, Ms. Boys presents a brief but reveal
ing survey of the reality of the oppression of the
Jews by Christians, Catholic and non-Catholic,
throughout the last 20 centuries. Beginning with
the polemics employed by the writers of scrip
ture and ending with a call to on-going educa
tion and conversion among Christians of today,
she aims to help her readers adopt a less politi
cized and, therefore, a more accurate under
standing of the unique place held by the Jewish
community in salvation history. Subtitled
“Judaism as a Source of Christian Self-Under
standing,” the book also intends to help Chris
tians find greater self-awareness and understand
ing of who we are as a body of believers “graft
ed on to” the good root that is Judaism (see
Romans 11:17-24).
Near the end of her book, Ms. Boys notes that
a great deal of education is needed in both the
Christian and the Jewish communities to elicit
greater appreciation for the enormous changes
that have taken place in Jewish-Catholic rela
tions in the last 40 or 50 years. In 1959 Pope
John XXIII ordered that the prayers for the Jews
in the Good Friday Liturgy be rewritten, and that
the reference to the “perfidious” (“treacherous”)
Jews be dropped. In 1965 the Second Vatican
Council published Nostra Aetate, the Decla
ration on the Relations of the Catholic Church to
Non-Christian Religions, which included the
brief but powerful statement, “Indeed, the
Church reproves every form of persecution
against whomsoever it may be directed. Remem
bering, then, her common heritage with the Jews
and moved not by any political consideration,
but solely by the religious motivation of
Christian charity, she deplores all hatreds, perse
cutions, displays of antisemitism leveled at any
time or from any source against the Jews”
(Nostra Aetate, 4). This was an extraordinary
repudiation of not only the hatred shown toward
the Jews from without the Church, but also the
cruel and unjust persecutions and condemnations
that began within the Church.
Since the Second Vatican Council, the Catho
lic Church has been engaged in dialogue with
the Jewish people on the local, national, and
international level. We have been a leader
among the Christian churches in this dialogue,
especially here in the United States where reli
gious pluralism, established and guaranteed by
the Constitution, allows people of all faiths to
(Continued on page I I)
601 E. Liberty St.
Savannah, GA 31401-5196
Savannah 2000
Dear Editor:
Several years ago I faced a parental dilemma
— my 13-year-old daughter did not want to be
confirmed because she said that she really did
n’t believe all that the Church taught. I applau
ded her integrity for not receiving a sacrament
by rote and invited her friends to attend a Youth
2000 retreat in Atlanta that I had just read
about. The weekend proved to be as spiritually
powerful for the adult chaperones as for the
young adults present. Retreatants changed from
indifferent, even mildly disruptive, on Friday
night to truly engrossed in prayer and filled
with holy joy by Sunday. What made the differ
ence? The presence of the Living God poured
out through the sacraments of the Church. Jesus
in the Eucharist was enthroned and processed.
Youth and adults were washed clean in Con
fession. Radiant, holy priests spoke the truth in
love. The Mother of God was invoked and hon
ored. Youth testified to the power of God in
their lives. The retreat did not use the cutesy
games and psychological ploys of some
retreats. Rather, it proclaimed the Gospel
unabashedly and bore much fruit.
Well, my daughter was confirmed and my
family has attended many Youth 2000s since
then. Youth 2000 is designed to be a spring
board for dioceses and parishes to have their
own Eucharistic retreats and prayer groups. I
am very happy that the Diocese of Savannah
Vocations Office will be sponsoring just such a
retreat called Savannah 2000 to be held in
Augusta at Saint Teresa’s on November 17, 18,
19. [The fee is $20, including lunch and dinner
on Saturday ] Among the priests who will be
speaking are: Father Ted Hochstetter, spiritual
director for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of
Charity; the Diocesan Director of Vocations,
Father Brett Brannen; and Father Ken Molley
of Saint Petersburg, Florida. I would urge par
ents, teachers, youth ministers, and coaches to
Letters
make the sacrifice and use their influence to
bring as many youth as possible to this graced
event. In the end they will discover it wasn’t a
sacrifice at all—it was a gift.
For more information about Savannah 2000,
call Aaron Killips at 912-743-1454.
Kathy Edry
Augusta
***
Chewing gum in Church
Dear Editor:
I recently had an occasion to go to Mass at
Sacred Heart [in Savannah] on Sunday after
noon at 6:00 p.m. There was a lady sitting in
front of me chewing gum and another a few
pews up chewing gum also. Now this lady went
to Communion, and when she came back she
was still chewing gum. I cannot say for sure
that she took the gum out and returned it when
she returned to her pew. To me this borders on
scandal. Also I have observed some men going
to communion with their hands in their pockets.
To treat the receiving of Jesus into the body
and soul in this manner is wrong, wrong,
wrong. This is the central act of our celebration
and it should be carried out in a holy and digni
fied manner.
Would you consider writing an article in The
Southern Cross on this matter? Not all will lis
ten, but maybe some will and in doing so they
will become better Catholics and closer to
Jesus.
LaVeme South, Jr.
Tybee Island
More comments on Dominus Iesus
Dear Editor:
Many evidently learned and knowledgeable
people have written about the recent Vatican
document Dominus Iesus. I’m neither. But this
I believe absolutely—Jesus welcomed and
loved all people. He asked them to follow him.
He taught about God, his Father. He didn’t stip-
FAX: (912) 238-2339
E-mail:
DClark5735@aol.com
ulate any particular denomination. God is a
God of love, mercy, justice and compasion. All
people who try to please God and do his will
will be welcome in his Kingdom.
Margot Bradley
Columbus
Dear Editor:
The letters in The Southern Cross (21 and 28
September) either attacking Cardinal Ratzinger
or rejecting the Vatican declaration, need to be
responded [to]... Here is my view on this mat
ter: one must be aware that there are pseudo-
Catholics in the Catholic Church...
Having said this, let me come to some points
in the letters: Why attack the messenger? Is it
because they cannot attack the pope directly—
Cardinal Ratzinger is merely fulfilling his duty,
entrusted to him by the pope, as guardian of
Catholic doctrine? The Vatican statement was
issued with the approval of the pope. The state
ment, far from being an insult to anyone, is a
reassertion of the teaching of Lumen Gentium
5, II: “This Church, constituted and organized
in the world as a society, subsists in the
Catholic Church, which is governed by the suc
cessor of Peter and by the bishops in union
with that successor, although many elements of
sanctification and truths can be found outside
of her visible structure.” Please read all the
chapters of the above document before criticiz
ing Cardinal Ratzinger. How does Pansy Bird
know that Cardinal Ratzinger hates anyone? It
is unjust to falsely impute “hate” to him for the
declaration that does not hate anyone.
“Inspired word came before the Church”: So
what? As for the New Testament, historians say
the oral tradition came first and then only by
a.d. 50. Saint Paul wrote his letters and later by
a.d. 70 the Gospels and the rest of the N.T.
were written. Here lies the difference between
Catholics and Protestants: unlike Protestants:
(Continued on page I I)