The Pope addressed the topic of the moment – the Holocaust – in his General Audience today. The full text will not be available for a good while, but AsiaNews reports:
The Holocaust remains a warning against the power of evil and all forms of oblivion and negationism, Benedict XVI said today as he expressed his “full and unquestionable solidarity” with Jews. The Pope who mentioned his visit to Auschwitz also referred to his decision to lift the excommunication on bishops consecrated by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, urging them to accept the Second Vatican Council.“Whilst I renew with affection the expression of my full and unquestionable solidarity with our (Jewish) brothers, I hope the memory of the Shoah (Holocaust) will induce humanity to reflect on the unpredictable power of hate when it conquers the heart of man,” the Holy Father said. The Holocaust, he added must be “a warning against oblivion, negation or reductionism because violence against even one human being is violence against all.”
Benedict XVI’s remarks come in response to the controversy caused by a traditionalist bishop, Mgr Richard Williamson, who has denied the gas chambers ever existed, cutting the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust to at best 300,000.
The Pope’s words also coincide with the decision by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate to cut ties with the Vatican, this according to The Jerusalem Post, following the lifting of the excommunication of the Lefebvre-consecrated Holocaust-denying bishop.
The Chief Rabbinate also cancelled a meeting scheduled for 2-4 March in Rome with the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.
As for relations with the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre, the Pope mentioned the parable of the Miraculous Draught of Fish to illustrate the constant quest for Church unity, saying he granted “the remission of the excommunication pronounced on four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without pontifical mandate in 1988 [. . .] in compliance with this service of unity.”
“I performed this act of paternal mercy because the prelates expressed to me their heart-felt suffering over the situation in which they found themselves,” the pope said.
“I hope that my gesture will be followed by a considerate commitment on their part to take the necessary steps to realise full communion with the Church, thus showing true faithfulness to and recognition of the magisterium and authority of the Pope and the Second Vatican Council.
As AsiaNews reports elsewhere, Benedict XVI also invoked the Holy Spirit for the new Patriarch of Moscow Kirill.
The catechetical portion of the Audience centered on the pastoral letters of Paul.
Related: Teresa Benedetta has an interview with Bishop Fellay published in Libero (scroll down)
I think it is terribly sad that Israel’s Chief Rabbinate is cutting ties with the Vatican and canceled a meeting scheduled for 2-4 March in Rome with the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.
I think that underscores the very deep offense taken on the Jewish side.
It isn’t just the SSPX thing.
It’s a whole string of decisions and actions taken by Benedict XVI which are offending Jews: the new Good Friday prayer; the comment that interreligious dialogue was essentially impossible; the desire to beatify Pius XII; the apparant desire to roll back Vatican II.
I really think that the Holy Father needs to be more careful to work with others and not offend them, to take advice and to consult more; to see the good in other faiths and not insist that Catholicism has all the answers.
God Bless
But it is the teaching of Catholic Church that Catholicism *does* have all the answers, at least where faith and morals are concerned.
It never ceases to amaze and amuse me that people are constantly surprised to discover that — the old joke aside — the pope is, indeed, Catholic.
As for the “new Good Friday prayer”, Benedict revised it to take out the phrases that Jews particularly objected to. About all that’s left is a prayer for the conversion of the Jews. If they object to that — and many of them do — too bad. On Good Friday (and at all other times) we pray for the conversion of *everyone* (including ourselves). Jews don’t get some kind of special pass on that.
Sometimes if other people are going to be offended by your actions, that’s their problem, not yours.
I also don’t see why the Jews should get some kind of a veto over the beatification of Pius XII, esp. since it is demonstrable that many of the criticisms that have been leveled against him in this area are false.
But it is the teaching of Catholic Church that Catholicism *does* have all the answers, at least where faith and morals are concerned.
Sorry, but that just isn’t true.
No Pope has ever proclaimed that Catholicism has all the answers.
We don’t.
Only Christ does.
And what was wrong with the prayer for Jews in the 1970 missal ? The one said in the ordinary rite. We ought to ditch Benedict XVI’s new Good Friday prayer for Jews and mandate that the extraordinary rite use the same prayer as in the ordinary rite.
We never had these problems with interfaith relations under John Paul II, Paul VI or John XIII.
I think we need to start asking ourselves why.
God Bless
John Allen did a good job putting it all into perspective on tonight’s PBS Newshour
I’m not sure anyone can accuse this scholar Pope – the most scholarly Pope in modern times arguably – of somehow being unaware of other faiths and traditions. His encyclicals and homilies make reference to people all over the religious spectrum from the Protestant Bonhoeffer to strongly atheistic thinkers such as Nietzsche and Marx and crossing over from the religous spectrum to the popular, I remember especially how he used literary imagery of Nathaniel Hawthorne as a teaching point to describe the mystery of the Church in his homily in St Patrick’s in New York.
I suspect the Pope is far more knowledgable about Jewish traditions (and the traditions and beliefs of other cultures) than many commenting that he should be more aware of them. After all, Ratzinger is one of the brightest intellects of this generation.
That is all besides the point though. Those who go around looking for offense will find it, even when there is none to be found. We saw how the BBC orchestrated the Regensburg fiasco, and we see again how the MSM are pitting orthodox Jews against orthodox Catholics. The Rabbis share some responsibilty – by virtue of their experience and position they really ought to know better. But the bulk of the culpability has to lie with the mainstream media who would do anything to discredit religion in general and Catholicism in particular.
The Pope is the innocent blameless lamb in this. He comes out looking like Christ. Perhaps one good outcome from this MSM ravaging of the Holy Father’s decision is that it may soften the hearts of the leaders of the SSPX – seeing the flak that Papa is taking for bringing them back into the fold. This kind of personal sacrifice may in the end do more good for their openness to dialogue and eventual reconciliation. God bless our Pope. This whole thing must hurt him so.
V. Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto.
R. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius.
“Chris Sullivan wrote:
No Pope has ever proclaimed that Catholicism has all the answers. We don’t. Only Christ does.”
Anyone who reads the catechism will tell you that within the church subsists the fulness of faith and truth and contains all that is necessary for salvation. Read Vatican II funnily enough. How does the Church know that? Because Christ has promised to us that he would send us his Holy Spirit – “when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13) All truth, not some truth, or half-truths, but all truth. To deny the work of the Holy Spirit in guiding the Church into all truth is to deny Christ’s promise – it is to label him as a false prophet.
Does this consequently deny that there is no revealed truth in the other religions? Of course not. But Catholics do believe that the truth present in other religions, just like the natural law which is written into the hearts of each individual person, is a result of the mercy of God and wrought by the sacrifice on Calvary. What we do believe though is that while there may be elements of the truth present in other religions, they do not contain the fulness of truth.
As far as your statement above which attempts to place an artifical distinction between Christ and his church – that is misguided. The Church is the body of Christ, and is the prophetic voice of Christ in the world today. What the Church teaches, and what the Church says – these are the teachings of our Lord himself. There is no distinction between the two in that respect. The unity between Christ and his Church is described by our Lord himself in his famous Ut Unum Sint prayer as akin to that between the Everlasting Father and the Son – “as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us.” (John 17:21)
Hey, CHRIS SULLIVAN, speaking of “strings of decisions and actions” that are “offensive”, how about the stalling on the Fundamental Agreement which would allow Catholic institutions to survive in Israel? Pope John Paul II of dear memory did his part back in, what was it 1994?, trusting the Israelis – against the advice of those who thought that would be a serious mistake – to do their part promptly. H-m-m, 15 years or so and counting and they are still stalling…they have even taken it to the Israeli Supreme Court to get out of it and thus doublecross (hate to say it thats how it looks) Pope John Paul of dear memory. How’s that for a “string” of “actions” that is “offensive”?
How about the plaque at Yad Veshem that falsely characterizes Pope Pius XII? You know Yad Veshem – the place where all diplomatic visitors are taken – even Vatican officials. Is that “offensive”?
How about the Catholic priests and nuns who can’t get visas back into Israel if they have to leave for family emergencies? “Offensive”?
How about the Catholic facilities on the West Bank riven by the “security wall” so the Catholic staff can’t teach or nurse? “Offensive”?
As for that Good Friday prayer, it’s right out of 1st Corinthians…is St. Paul “offensive”? You realize, of course, that “perfidious” meant “partially” or “up to a point” back in the day centuries ago when the prayer was written…as in, faithful to the Old but not the New Testament. Is the New Testament “offensive”?
How about the grotesque and wicked things Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, don’tcha know, has said about Pope Benedict XVI? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5125853.ece
“Offensive”?
Hey, CHRIS SULLIVAN, you observe originally: “We never had these problems with interfaith relations under John Paul II, Paul VI or John XIII”. But you know we did. We’ve had constant problems with rabbis from wherever declaring how outrageous this or that is. You know when the rabbis were grateful and felt indebted? Guess. During Pope Pius XII’s reign and for 5 or 6 years after his death. It’s all on the record however “offensive” that may be to you.
Does Chris Sullivan have a mouse in his pocket? I’ll take “we oughts” from him after the next conclave elects him, and not a moment more.
What on earth could “the fullness of Truth” possibly mean?
Amen, Justin. Beautifully said.
Chris Sullivan,
Do you mean the 1970 Good Friday prayer, which says: “Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant. (Prayer in silence. Then the priest says:) Almighty and eternal God, long ago you gave your promise to Abraham and his posterity. Listen to your Church as we pray that the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
In other words, it prays for their conversion.
As for splitting hairs over whether the Catholic Church has all the answers–you are correct, only God does. However, I am pretty sure that the Church teaches that no Truth exists in other faiths that does not exist in the Catholic Church. Or, as the Catechism (830) says, only the Catholic Church “receives from Him [Christ] the fullness of the means of salvation.” “She proclaims the fullness of the faith.” (868)
Oh yes, the Catechism also calls us still to missionize (849-856).