Some Jewish groups expressed concern on Friday that the 40 years of progress in Catholic-Jewish relations could be brought into jeopardy by the Vatican’s outreach to traditionalist Catholics.
The Vatican told the Society of St. Pius X that they must accept some core church teachings if they want to be fully reintegrated into the church. But the Holy See said some expressions contained in documents from the Second Vatican Council could be left open for “legitimate discussion.”
A key Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate, revolutionized the Catholic Church’s relations with Jews by declaring that Christ’s death couldn’t be attributed to Jews as a whole. Other Vatican II teachings to which the society objects concern religious freedom and ecumenical relations.
The uncertainty over what is being required of the society provoked unease among some Jewish groups.
The Swiss-based Society of St. Pius X was formed in 1969, opposed to many of Vatican II’s reforms.
The Vatican refused to say which core teachings the society must accept to be reintegrated, and which elements of Vatican II documents could be left open for discussion.
Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League’s U.S. director, said he was confident that Pope Benedict XVI would require the society to accept the church’s “positive teachings” about Jews before being fully reconciled with the church.
“It would be unthinkable for the Vatican to allow a Catholic breakaway sect that includes a Holocaust-denying bishop, Richard Williamson, to be reintegrated into the church while still being allowed to promote anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism,” he said in a statement.
Even Rabbi David Rosen, who heads the American Jewish Committee’s interreligious affairs office and is a veteran of Catholic-Jewish dialogue, said he was worried about the Vatican’s gesture and awaited further clarification.
“If ‘Nostra Aetate’ and ‘Lumen Gentium’ (another Vatican II document) are not considered fundamental doctrines of the Church, and it is possible to question them without challenging the authority of the church, then we (and not just Jewish-Catholic relations) are in for a very rough ride ahead,” he said in an email.
The society’s superior, Bishop Bernard Fellay, has said he would study the two-page document of core church teachings handed over to him by the Vatican and respond.
Source: Associated Press