John L. Allen Jr.
Pope Francis meets Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, the chief rabbi of Rome On any list of the biggest religion stories of the 20th Century, the positive revolution in Catholic-Jewish relations that unfolded post-World War II, accelerating after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, would have to finish near the top.
Sunday brought a reminder of this, as Pope Francis visited the Great Synagogue of Rome, becoming the third Pontiff to do so after St John Paul II in 1986 and Benedict XVI in 2010. Where the synagogue stands today was once inside a papally-imposed ghetto; today, Popes arrive as invited friends.
These visits are always special, given that arguably no Jewish community has felt the sting of Catholic opprobrium more than the one in Rome.
It’s enough to recall that in the Middle Ages, the rabbi of Rome was required to present a tribute to the chief of the city councilors each year, and in return got a ceremonial kick to the rump.
Though most experts say this is now a friendship nothing can derail, there are still flashpoints. In the aftermath of Francis’s visit to the synagogue, here’s a run-down of six issues in Catholic/Jewish relations.
Given how Jewish “refusal” to accept Christ long has been a staple of anti-Semitic propaganda, one priority for Jews in dialogue with Catholicism has been an acknowledgement that their covenant with God is still valid, so they shouldn’t be asked to convert.
Covenant
The first part of that formula basically has been accomplished, as St John Paul II declared that the Jewish covenant with God has “never been revoked.”
Operationally, Catholics don’t really have much problem with the second point, either. As a recent Vatican document put it, “the Catholic Church neither conducts nor supports any specific institutional mission work directed towards Jews.”
Yet Christianity is a missionary religion, convinced that Christ came for all. How to square that belief with restraint toward Jews remains a bit of a theological conundrum.
Theologically, some Jews would like Catholicism formally to endorse Judaism’s claim to the land of Israel. Politically, they’d often settle for more sympathy in Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians.
Francis’ visit to the region in May 2014 was seen by some as a propaganda coup for the Palestinians, including an unscheduled stop at the Israeli security barrier under a bit of graffiti reading “Free Palestine!” Last June, the Vatican signed a treaty with what it formally recognised as the “State of Palestine”.
The sociological reality is that the vast majority of Christians in Israel and Palestine are Palestinians, and most of the bishops are Arabs, meaning the strongest influence on any pope in thinking about the conflict will never be pro-Israeli.
In the Francis era, too, not allowing Catholic/Jewish ties to be hijacked by politics remains a challenge.
Israel and the Vatican have had diplomatic relations since 1993, and ever since, they’ve been working on a deal on the tax and legal status of Church properties. Every few months someone predicts a breakthrough, but so far no dice.
On the Vatican side, some suspect Israel is dragging things out in order to create “facts on the ground”; on the Israeli side, some believe the Vatican is trying to use its muscle to extort privileges not afforded to other religious minorities.
Most Catholics and Jews involved in dialogue would say the stalemate is just an irritant within a healthy relationship — but an irritant it would be good to remove quickly.
Debates over whether the wartime Pope Pius XII was sufficiently outspoken on the Holocaust — including a 1943 Nazi round-up of Jews from the Roman community Francis is visiting on Sunday — still swirl, especially in terms of whether Pius will be proclaimed a saint.
One shoe waiting to drop is the full opening of the Vatican’s archives from the war years, allowing researchers better to assess Pius’ record. In November 2014, Francis said he would like to see the archives opened “the moment we sort out legal and bureaucratic matters”.
Francis has also insisted that Pius can’t be judged according to today’s standards, and that “it really gets my goat when I see that everyone is against the Church, against Pius XII — all those detractors.”
Francis has designated 2016 as a jubilee Year of Mercy, and in the abstract it’s hard to see who could oppose mercy. Yet Riccardo di Segni, the chief rabbi of Rome, has expressed concern that jubilee rhetoric could revive anti-Semitic stereotypes, principally that the Old Testament God is harsh and vindictive while Christianity is loving and merciful.
“It’s an antique theological aberration, which has remained a sort of childhood disease of Christianity,” he said.
Di Segni stressed he doesn’t believe that’s how Francis intends it, but worries it could come off that way to an “unprepared public”.
While Jewish leaders say the revolution in official Catholic attitudes has been remarkable, many worry it hasn’t fully reached the parish level – especially outside the West, where one can still find openly anti-Semitic prejudices in some Catholic circles.
In Israel, Catholics sometimes complain that the new spirit doesn’t have an echo in the popular media or school curricula, where depictions of Christianity can pivot on the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Holocaust, without noting recent progress.
Both sides, then, need to ensure their friendship reaches the people.
John L. Allen Jr is Associate Editor of CruxNow.com