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Conservative Rabbis to Vote on Resolution Criticizing Pope’s Revision of Prayer

Published: February 9, 2008

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The revision of a contentious Good Friday prayer approved this week by Pope Benedict XVI could set back Jewish-Catholic relations, Conservative Judaism’s international assembly of rabbis says in a resolution to be voted on next week.

The prayer calls for God to enlighten the hearts of Jews “so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men.�?/P>

The draft resolution states the prayer would “cast a harsh shadow over the spirit of mutual respect and collaboration that has marked these past four decades, making it more difficult for Jews to engage constructively in dialogue with Catholics.�?/P>

On Tuesday, the pope released new wording for the prayer, part of the traditional Latin, or Tridentine, Mass.

Before the Second Vatican Council, also known as Vatican II, the Good Friday Mass in Latin prayed for the conversion of Jews, referring to their “blindness�?and calling upon God to “lift a veil from their hearts.�?/P>

An unofficial translation of the new prayer reads: “Let us pray for the Jews. May the Lord Our God enlighten their hearts so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men.�?/P>

Lay Jewish groups this week called the change insufficient.

Rabbi Joel H. Meyers, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the Conservative rabbis�?group, said leaders from the Reform and Reconstructionist movements had also been in touch with him about issuing a joint statement on the papal revision.

“We have been very much involved in interfaith activities and dialogue for years, and relationships with the Catholic Church are really quite good,�?the rabbi said. “I think it really turns back the clock a bit and reverts to some sense that the church is pulling back from the positions it took in Vatican II.�?/P>

Most Catholics worship in the vernacular, and their prayers will not be affected. But last year, the pope made it easier for traditionalists to celebrate the Latin Mass that was the norm before Vatican II.

At a meeting in Washington from Sunday to Thursday, the Rabbinical Assembly will vote on a draft resolution, which, while subject to revision, says the group is “dismayed and deeply disturbed to learn that Pope Benedict XVI has revised the 1962 text of the Latin Mass, retaining the rubric, ‘For the Conversion of The Jews.�?nbsp;�?/P>

The Rev. James Massa, executive director of the secretariat of ecumenical and interreligious affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Friday that the prayer would be heard by “a tiny minority of Catholics and they will hear it in Latin.�?

“The publication of the prayer and its interpretation by some of our partners in the Jewish community does lower the temperature a bit,�?Father Massa said, “but we have persevered other controversies in the past and at the end of the day we are all at the table of dialogue.�?/P>

2008 New York Times

Mark: Although a Catholic myself, I found this particular papal pontification offensive inasmuch as it smacks of hyprocrisy as far as the Church's "prayer" for tolerance is concerned. What in God's name is meant by "enlightening" the "hearts of Jews?" Tolerance and inclusion, hell! This reeks of divisiveness. On the matter of your antiquated computer, there's gotta be a way to replace it without severe hardship. Let's give it some thought. As for my sister, I didn't expect the wallop it landed because, after all, ain't I experienced? This loss, though, has thrown me for a loop. An acquaintance who has no reason to know I lost her asked me a few days ago that I "look sad," don't "smile as much" and am "quiet" a lot. If this is grieving, the grief might be why I didn't realize when she was here what a truly beautiful soul I'd been gifted with and that I took it for granted. I'm truly not risking a "slip" or "relapse" here because, thank God, experience has taught me time and again the Canadian Club will make it - and everything else - worse! But I don't think I've ever before felt such a sense of loss! I guess give it time, huh?

As for your siter's death packing a wallop greater than you expected despite all of your previous experiences with deaths in your family . . . I recall your having said that she was you last remaining relative . . . If that was the case, in this loss and grief, you have no other family member who can empathize with you . . . no one who recalls the good times and can swap stories that arouse happy memories to offset the sadness of the present. So, it makes sense that this one hit you the hardest of all.

When my partner died, my therapist reminded me on numerfous occasions that I had to go through the grieving . . . and that atempts to go around or supress it wpuild only cause matters to grow worse. I'm sure you have been counseled in a similar way.

I was given and eventually (for a while I just couldn't face the idea of reading the subject matter) read a book called The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. It has since been made into a one-woman Broadway show starring Vaanessa Redgrave. It describes the year leading up to and following her husband's death during which their adopted daughter was suddenly stricken ill and went into a coma for an extended period of time. At the end of the book, the daughter has recovered. However, the daughter subsequently relapsed and died. The play reflects the total sequence of events.

When I finally got to the point that I could read the book, it proved a very useful experience . . . not because it gave me any answers or upbeat way of looking at things . . . but it did help me see my own process more objectively . . . and in so doing, it helped me crystalize thoughts and outlooks that proved helpful. It was a sort of support group between two covers.

If you have trouble finding a copy, please let me know and I'll be glad to send you my copy.

PS The Clinic is closed for the three-day holiday weekend. So, I will not have access to the internet again until Tuesday.

I got so caught up in addressing the grief that you are feeling following your siter's death . . . which I see as the absolute priority topic in your message . . . that I forgot to mention the Pope.

Christians who persit in following the doctrine of their chuch in a strict "always was, must always be" sort of interpretation are not capable of any ecuminical or mutuall-respectful view of other faiths or points of view.

The Catholic church and fundamentlist Christians believe that only "accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior" and "being saved" will get you into heaven. Those who fail to do so, no matter how moral or decent, are damned to an etrnity in Hell.

They beleive that Jesus was the Messiah promised to the Jews in the Old Testament, but that the Jews failed to see and accept Him as such.

There is some special "last chance escape clause" for the Jews . . . "God's chosen people" as fundamentalists believe . . . that is outlined in the book of Revelations. It allows Jews one last chance to escape Hell for all eternity if they will "asccpt Jesus" after he returns to Earth for the "Second Coming."

ANYHOO! The "enlightenment" that is prayed for means that Jews should see the light ASAP and avoid the eternal barbecue pit.

Catholics and fundamentalists start out with "good intnetions" . . . no matter how egotistical and arrrogant they may seem to others . . . but as their zeal increases . . . their self-righteousness and arrogance soars.

So, while I recognize that they start of with comendable (sort-of) intentions . . . I still hold them responsible for the grossly offensive behavior they exhibit . . . and believe that if they used the brains God gave them . . . instead of the foolishness crammed into their heads by human ego-maniacs posing as "religious wise men" . . . they would know better!

One can believe strongly without imposing it on others. That is what needs to be done!

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