Part One can be read here.
Part Two can be read here.
III How does the transition from a traditional Catholic to a Jewish conception occur?
We are dealing here with an undertaking having as its object a radical change in Catholic theology regarding the Jews and Judaism (which has as a consequence the rejection of the dogma, ‘Outside the Church there is no Salvation’. It is a lengthy process which began in the 1950s and which is described in the two preceding documents: the book by Gerhart M. Riegner, Ne jamais désespérer, (Never despair), and the brochure by Michel Laurigan, L’Église et la Synagogue depuis Vatican II (The Church and the Synagogue since Vatican II),
We have outlined below the principal stages then we will indicate what seems to have been attained and what is in progress.
The principal stages of the process: dates, facts and documents
1946: The Seelisburg Conference in Switzerland brought together around sixty Protestant, Catholic and Jewish experts ( Jules Isaac being (55) one of the last). It drafted a charter called ‘The ten points of Seelisburg’, the fifth point of which was : ‘To avoid belittling biblical or post-biblical Judaism with the aim of exalting Christianity.’ (56)
One can see here the beginning of the effort to rehabilitate post-biblical Judaism (Mosaic or Talmudic).
1948: Jules Isaac founded L’amitié judéo-chrétienne (Judeo-Christian Friendship)
13th June 1960: Jules Isaac gave John XXIII a memo entitled De la nécessite d’une reforme de l’enseignement chrétien a l’égard d’Israël. (‘Regarding the necessity for a reform of Christian teaching about Israel’).
1962-65: The Conciliar period: G. M. Riegner also voiced interest in the Second Vatican Council (op. cit., p.361.) ‘I was fascinated (…) At a stroke the Church began to re-examine its structures, its foundations, its action in every field of life.’ Various Jewish associations made themselves heard at Rome, their action being coordinated by G M Riegner (according to his evidence).
February 1962: The delivery to Cardinal Bea (57) of a memorandum emanating from The World Council of Jewish Organisations, setting forth Jewish requests on the occasion of the Second Vatican Council. ‘The fact that for the first time organized Judaism was to address itself to the Catholic Church was in itself very important.’ (G. M. Riegner op. cit., p.366)
3rd September 1964: A draft of the Conciliar text on ecumenism, making reference to the conversion of the Jews, is published in the New York Herald Tribune leading to a massive protest by the principal Jewish organisations. A new draft is presented to the Council Fathers on 18th September 1964. All reference to the conversion of Jews is eliminated.
Commentary by G M Riegner:
This whole story is astounding. It proves that not only persons but also great assemblies are judged in the manner by which one or the other behave towards the Jews’ (op.cit., p.382).
20th November 1964: The adoption by the Council Fathers of a schema concerning the position and attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Jews and Judaism:
Under the innocent appearance of ecumenical unity, of Christian charity, of a common spiritual filiation, and of reconciliation of Churches this vote had a very grave import because it amounted to saying that for two thousand years the Church was wrong, that it must make honourable amends and revise entirely its attitude to the Jews. This vote gave satisfaction to those supporting the tenacious campaigns undertaken in these previous years by the spokesmen of the large international Jewish organisations (the Bnaï Brith, the World Jewish Congress, etc.) with the purpose of ‘addressing and purification of Christian teaching towards Judaism.’ (58)
21st November 1964: The promulgation of the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, Lumen Gentium. It stated in paragraph 16:
Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God. In the first place there is the people to whom the covenants and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh (cf. Rom. 9:4-5). On account of their fathers, this people remains most dear to God, for God does nor repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues (cf. Rom. II:28-29). (59)
At the beginning of 1965: Leon de Poncins arranged to have the aforesaid brochure, ‘The Jewish problem in terms of the Council’, distributed to all the Council Fathers. He recalled in it the characteristics of Judaism’s struggle against Catholic tradition and the objectives of the campaign being undertaken by the Jewish organisations:
The condemnation and suppression of all discrimination, racial, religious or national concerning the Jews.
The modification or the suppression of the liturgical prayers concerning the Jews, those of Good Friday in particular.
The affirmation that the Jews are not in any way responsible for the death of Christ, the fault of which rests upon the whole of humanity.
Putting into abeyance or quashing of the gospel passages relating to that crucial episode of the Passion, principally that of St Matthew whom Jules Isaac coldly treats as a liar and forger.
The confession that the Church bears full responsibility for this latent war which has persisted for 2000 years between Jews, Christians and the rest of the world.
The promise that the Church will definitively modify its attitude concerning the Jews in a spirit of humility, contrition and pardon, and finally that it will make every effort to make good the wrong that she has caused by rectifying and purifying its traditional teaching according to the directives of M. Jules Isaac. (60)
28th October 1965: The promulgation of the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to non-Christian religions, Nostrae aetate. The passage on the Jewish religion (paragraph 4) is far from satisfying all of the preceding requests but constitutes an advance in their spirit. (61)
One cannot find any reference to the traditional teachings of the Church. For the first time in a text of this importance the unfaithful Jews are presented in a positive fashion: it speaks of ‘mutual friendship and esteem’ of ‘fraternal dialogue’ and there is no mention of conversion. Here is the phrase which denotes this: ‘The Jews still remain most dear to God because of their fathers, for He does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues. (Cf. Rom. II:28-29)’. This phrase will subsequently be that which is used most often to justify the continued existence of the Old Covenant.
Moreover, G. M. Riegner posits:
The affirmation of the Declaration that God does not take back the gifts and the promises that he makes to men is extremely important in theological terms. When one knows Christian and Pauline theology, that is to say what the Christians call the Old Covenant with the Jews is not abolished and remains in force. This is based upon St Paul and his epistle to the Romans in which we note that the Old Covenant remains valid and that the Jews ‘remain very dear to God’ (op. cit., p.417) (62)
25th January 1966: In an article, ‘How the Jews have changed Catholic thinking’, in the American review, Look, (with a circulation of 7 million) Joseph Roddy gave a synthesis of the results which appeared to him to have accrued from the Jewish campaign. The article was reproduced in Sel de la Terre No. 34 (Autumn 2000).
20-22 December 1970 There was a meeting at Rome of a Catholic delegation (composed of representatives of several dicasteries) and a Jewish delegation (representing the International Jewish Committee for Inter-Religious consultations – the IJCIC) under the presidency of Cardinal Willebrands.
The memorandum adopted at the conclusion of this meeting addressed among other things, the elimination of anti-Semitism in religious and historical teaching manuals and an examination of Catholic liturgical texts to avoid all offensive references or representations concerning Judaism.
16th April 1973 The French Episcopal Committee for relations with Judaism distributed a document entitled, ‘Pastoral guidelines designed to bring into operation in France the guidelines of the declaration, “Nostrae aetate” of the Second Vatican Council’.
It states:
The Old Covenant has not indeed been made obsolete by the New (…)
The Jewish people are aware of having received, through its particular vocation, a universal mission to the nations. (63)
22nd October 1974 The Creation of The Commission for religious relations between the Catholic Church and Judaism attached to The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
3rd January 1975: The publication by the latter Commission of guidelines and suggestions for the application of the Conciliar Declaration, Nostrae aetate (para.4). In the chapter concerning dialogue with the Jews it states:
Dialogue demands respect for the other as he is, above all, respect for his faith and his religious convictions. (64)
And in the chapter, ‘Teaching and Education’:
The history of Judaism did not end with the destruction of Jerusalem, but rather went on to develop a religious tradition. And although we believe that the importance and meaning of that tradition were deeply affected by the coming of Christ, it is still nonetheless rich in religious values.’
Commentary by G.M. Riegner:
The guidelines and suggestions for implementing the conciliar declaration, ‘Nostrae aetate’, No IV constitutes the most significant document, in a sense being the culmination of this period. (…)
The guidelines reaffirm and extend the teachings of Nostrae aetate. At the same time they set out a programme of action concerning dialogue, the liturgy, teaching and education as well as common social activities (…).
Personally, I consider that these guidelines contain four fundamental points which go beyond ‘Nostrae aetate’.
Here are the second and fourth of these fundamental points (they are linked to the directives quoted above):
The second principle is that dialogue demands respect for the other and above all respect for his faith and religious convictions (…)
The fourth new concept contained in the directives proclaims that the history of Judaism did not end with the destruction of Jerusalem but has continued and has even developed a religious tradition rich in values. In reference to traditional Christian theology this principle is truly revolutionary (…)
In traditional Christian teaching, the Jews, were represented as the ‘accursed people’ and their dispersion as punishment for the rejection of Christ, and here all of a sudden, it is said, ‘The Jews are spiritually rich. The history has continued and you will continue to develop your tradition’. This is the recognition of the continued tradition of the Jewish people as a living community throughout the centuries, with its own mission. It is a very important forward step in the Christian concept of Judaism (op. cit., p.420-421)
17th November 1980: The meeting took place between John Paul II and the Jewish community of Mainz. The pope declared:
The depth and the richness of our common heredity finds itself in particular in friendly dialogue and confident collaboration…
The first dimension of this dialogue, that is to say the meeting between the people of God of the Old Covenant which God has never revoked (Cf. Rom.II:29) (65) and that of the New Covenant is at the same time a dialogue within our church, and in this way may be said to be between the first and the second part of the Bible.
24th June 1985: The publication by the Commission for religious relations with Judaism of Notes on the correct way to present the Jews and Judaism in preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church (Cf. Documentation Catholique No. 1900, 21st July 1985)
Here are two extracts:
Chapter 1. Religious Teaching and Judaism, paragraph 3.
(…) As the Holy Father said in his speech [of 6th March 1982], after he had again mentioned the ‘common patrimony’ of the Church and Judaism, which is ‘considerable’: ‘To assess it carefully in itself, but also taking into account the faith and religious life of the Jewish people, as they are professed and practiced still today, can greatly help us to understand better certain aspects of the life of the Church.’ It is a question then of pastoral concern for a still living reality closely related to the Church. The Holy Father has stated this permanent reality of the Jewish people in a remarkable theological formula, in his allocution to the Jewish community of West Germany at Mainz, on November 17th, 1980: ‘the people of God of the Old Covenant, which has never been revoked.’
Chapter 1V - The Jews in the New Testament
A. The gospels are the outcome of long and complicated editorial work (…)
Hence it cannot be ruled out that some references which are hostile or less favourable to the Jews have their historical context in conflicts between the nascent Church and the Jewish community. Certain controversies reflect Christian-Jewish-relations long after the time of Jesus. To note this is of capital importance if we wish to bring out the meaning of certain Gospel texts for the Christians of today.
Commentary on the last passage by G. M. Riegner :
Another point invested with extreme importance which explains how the text of the Gospels must be understood. As we know there are numerous passages in the Gospel which are very negative, sometimes even hostile to the Jews. These passages are the origin of numerous anti-Semitic works. Several current books address this problem.
On this subject the 1985 Vatican Document is firm and courageous. It declares that these texts were not written at the time of Jesus but much later. In addition they must be read in the context of the conflict then taking place between the adepts of the new religion and the Jewish communities. Thus these controversies reflect the conflicting relations between Jews and Christians long after the time of Jesus. This observation is of paramount importance if one wishes to bring out for the Christians of today the sense of certain Gospel passages. (op. cit., p.428)
One must recognize that the Roman text to which G M Riegner refers, and which he makes say more than it actually does, again calls into question the historicity of the Gospels.
13th April 1986: Visit of John Paul II to the Roman Synagogue.
On this occasion the Pope had indicated his esteem for the unfaithful Jews who had neither recognized Our Lord nor His Church:
The Jewish religion is not extrinsic to us, but in a certain sense it is ‘intrinsic’ to our religion. We have therefore relationships with it which we do not have with any other religion. You are our favourite brothers and in a certain sense, we could say our elder brothers’. (66) [Note from Editor, The Eye-Witness: That the Holy Father could use this expression, "our favorite brothers" to those of the Jewish faith who have rejected Christ, rather than to our closest brothers, the Orthodox, is one of the more damaging statements to come from Christ's Vicar.]
14th June 1987: An extract from the speech of John Paul II to the representatives of the Jewish community of Poland:
I think that the nation of Israel today, perhaps more than ever before, finds itself at the centre of attention of the nations of the world. Through it you have become a great voice warning all of humanity, all the nations, all the powers of this world, all systems and every man. More than anyone you have become this saving warning. And I think that in this manner you have progressed your particular vocation, you revealed yourselves as still the heirs to that election to which God is faithful. This is your mission in the contemporary world before the peoples, the nations and all humanity. (67)
11th October 1992: Publication of The Catechism of the Catholic Church. It states:
Paragraph 121: The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value, for the Old Covenant has never been revoked.
Paragraph 840: And when one considers the future, God’s people of the Old Covenant and the new people of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time, and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.
12th March 2000: John Paul II makes an act of repentance at St Peters Rome.
26th March 2000: On pilgrimage to the Holy Land the Pope himself slid the text of this act of repentance into a crack in the Wailing Wall at Jerusalem.
17th January 2002 The Chief Rabbi of Rome
On the 17th January 2002 a meeting took place in Rome. It was organised by the Diocese of Rome within the framework of a day for Judeo-Christian dialogue. Cardinal Jorge Maria Mejia and Mgr. Rino Fisichella were present on the Catholic side and Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome on the Jewish side. The Chief Rabbi’s speech during this meeting was published in issue No. 2 (2002) of the Italian monthly Shalom.
Before an audience, for the greater part Catholic, the Rabbi explained the theory on the Noachide laws and the Noachide religion. (68) He recalled the doctrine of the double law (Mosaic and Noachide) and of double salvation about which he made the following declaration:
Christians must come to admit that the Jews by virtue of their original and irrevocable election, as well as their possession and observance of the Torah, possess a path towards salvation which is their own, a full and special way which has no need of Jesus. (69)
2nd August 2002: Under the title ‘Reflections on Covenant and Mission’ The American Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs and The National Council of Synagogues and Delegates published a common declaration of which the principal editors were William Keeler and Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal. This text (from which we already took a passage below) comprises a preface and two chapters entitled ‘Roman Catholic Reflections’ and ‘Jewish Reflections’ (70)
Here is an extract from the preface:
The Roman Catholic reflections describe the growing respect for Jewish tradition that has unfolded since the Second Vatican Council. A deepening Catholic appreciation of the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people, together with a recognition of a divinely-given mission to Jews to witness God’s faithful love, lead to the conclusion that campaigns that target Jews for conversion to Christianity are no longer theologically acceptable in the Catholic Church. (71)
Extract from the Chapter, Roman Catholic Reflections
‘Therefore Church believes that Judaism, i.e. the faithful response of the Jewish people to God’s irrevocable covenant is salvific for them, because God is faithful to his promises’. (72) (…) Thus, while the Catholic Church regards the saving act of Christ as central to the process of human salvation for all, it also acknowledges that Jews already dwell in a saving covenant with God. (73) (…) However it now recognizes that the Jews are also called by God to prepare the world for God’s kingdom. Their witness to the kingdom, which did not originate with the Church’s experience of Christ crucified and raised, must not be curtailed by seeking the conversion of the Jewish people to Christianity. (74)
56 years have passed between the Seelisburg Conference (1946) and the Judeo-Catholic ‘Reflections on Covenant and Mission’ (2002). One can only be struck by the continuity and efficacy of Jewish action during this period ‘to change Catholic thinking’ as Joseph Roddy said in Look (23rd January 1966).
What seems to have been attained
The following points seem to have been accepted in papal and Episcopal teaching:
a) The Old Covenant has never been revoked (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 121); it is therefore still in force.
b) The Jewish people (the people of God of the Old Covenant) is charged by God today as they were before with a particular mission to all peoples of the world. (Cf. the speech by John Paul II, July 1987).
c) It is not necessary to seek the conversion of the Jewish people which possesses its own path to salvation (not through Jesus Christ). This point logically follows from point a.
As was remarked above the Conciliar declaration Nostrae aetate in its sub-chapter on the Jewish religion while regretting that the majority of Jews had not accepted the Gospel does not speak of conversion. And the document of 2nd August 2002 ‘Reflections on Covenant and Mission’ clearly affirms that one must not seek the conversion of the Jewish people: this will no longer be ‘theologically acceptable’.
What remains to be attained
Principally all that relates to the Noachide laws. This is something which has not been attained but concerning which still remains an issue. As is demonstrated in the extract from ‘The Jewish Reflections’ from the American Judeo-Catholic Declaration of 13th August 2002 which is reproduced above.
For a Catholic to adhere the Noachide laws would entail renouncing the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation and the Redemption. All weakening in the explanation and affirmation of these mysteries brings Catholics closer to this religion. Examples of such weakening are frequent today particularly regarding the Holy Trinity. (75)
Conclusion
After having recalled the traditional Catholic doctrine on the Jewish people and Jewish religions, and having shown on which points several Jewish authorities wish this doctrine to be modified, we have described the stages of the process which will ensure transition from a Catholic to a Jewish conception. The Jews would like to make Catholics admit two essential points:
1) that the Old Covenant has not been revoked – this seems to have been attained;
2) the obligation to practice the Noachide laws – which is beginning to be presented here and there.
The operation thus far aims to bring about these changes in Catholic theology through the agency of Churchmen themselves. It is a matter of an aspect of that ‘revolution in tiara and cope’ announced in 1819, by Italian High Masonry known as the Alta Vendita, in its ‘Secret Instructions’ (76)
One must see where this point (the continued existence of the Old Covenant) which appears to be accepted, leads to.(77)
On the logical plane:
For Catholics, to admit that the Old Covenant has not been revoked leads to admitting the existence, in parallel, of two religions, both salvific, one rejecting the Divinity of Christ, the other founded upon it. (78) For Jews to admit that the Old Covenant has not been revoked, leads to admitting the existence in parallel of two religions, the Jewish religion for the Jewish people, a priestly people, the Catholic religion reformed on the Hebraic ideal (thus abandoning the three mysteries: the Trinity, the Incarnation and the Redemption) for non-Jews.
On the practical plane:
Believing that the old Covenant endures leads to the belief that one may be saved by by-passing the Mysteries of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation and the Redemption. Such an error risks pushing many Catholics to accept the Noachide solution which will soon be proposed to them in a variety of ways.
Another more immediate consequence is that Catholic truth not being intended for the Jews will not be presented to them. But, as Judith Cabaud remarks: ‘True anti-Semitism consists in not speaking the truth to them.’ (79)
To avoid being culpable of such anti-Semitism, to avoid being tempted by the apostasy of the Noachide variety and very simply so as to avoid being obliged to accept a position which is logically untenable, it is absolutely necessary to reject this false idea which proposes that the Old Covenant has not been revoked.
This false idea is easy to explain and those who recognise its falsity have a responsibility to make those around them aware of it.
In conclusion let us end with this beautiful prayer which received an indulgence from both Leo XIII and St Pius X:
O Bountiful God, Father of Mercy, we pray to Thee through the Immaculate Heart of Mary and through the Intercession of the Patriarchs and the Holy Apostles to look with compassion on the remnant of Israel so that they may know Our only Saviour, Jesus Christ and that they may share in the precious Graces of His Redemption. Lord forgive them for they know not what they do.
Appendix 1
The Current Organisation of the Noachide Movement and Religion
The re-establishment of the Sanhedrin (80)
An attempt to re-establish the Sanhedrin, which had been done away with at the beginning of the 5th century, was effected on the 13th October 2004 at Tiberias.
The new Sanhedrin comprises 71 members, as of old. It was presided over by Rabbi Adin Evan-Israel Steinsalz. Since its creation, it has engaged in a certain number of activities details of which may be found on the web site: http://www.israelnationalnews.com (81)
During the summer of 2005, the new Sanhedrin sent Rabbi Michael Bar-Ron to the United States to select, from among Noachide communities, (82) members of a management committee for the Noachide religion. Ten prominent persons were named to that end. It was expected that they would bring themselves to Jerusalem to be ordained by the Sanhedrin.
In an article which appeared in www.Israelnationnews.com on 29th September 2005, Ezra Halevi explained that the aim of the management committee was to organize the different Noachide communites throughout the world and to make it a single body under the direct authority of the Sanhedrin.
Another aim was defined thus by Rabbi Bar-Ron and quoted by Ezra Halevi:
To transform the Noachide movement (…) into a powerful international movement which can vie with all religious movements which do not have the pure authentic faith given to humanity by Noah, our father of all, and which, with the help of God, can contribute to their disappearance.
The Enthronement of the Management Committee of the Noachide Religion
Ezra Halevi in another article on www.Israelnationalnews.com dated 9th January 2006 describes the ceremony of recognition by the Sanhedrin of the Management Committee of the Noachide religion; a ceremony presided over by Rabbi Steinsalz, President of the Sanhedrin and which was held in Jerusalem at the beginning of January 2006.
Rabbi Steinsalz spoke of the role of the Jewish people in bringing the Noachide laws to the world. He explained that this aspect of Judaism had remained moribund during the years, as the Jewish people were preoccupied with remaining alive and keeping the Torah while in exile.
He dealt with the difficulties which the Noachide movement (B’nai Noah) would meet as it developed, ‘When we are speaking in general, almost every human being can more or less accept the laws of Noah, but when we get to particulars we will come to serious points, at which we disagree with Christianity and Islam.’
We can see immediately the difficulties he refers to. The Noachide law on monotheism and the rejection of idolatry (understood in the Jewish sense); that of the Holy Trinity (considered by the Jews as a form of polytheism); that of the Mystery of Redemption (As the Jews do not consider Christ to be God, He cannot save us). These three mysteries are incompatible with the idea that the Jews have of Divine Unity.
Appendix 2
Cardinals Study with Orthodox Students
Such was the headline of an article by Jennifer Siegel in the American, Jewish newspaper Forward on 31st March 2006 from which the following quotation is taken:
When second-year rabbinical student Will Friedman sat down to review a passage of Talmud on Monday, he was greeted by a study partner who wore a scholar’s intent expression and V-neck sweater — along with a clerical collar.
Francis Deniau, archbishop of Montpelier, France, was one of nearly three-dozen Catholic clerics who spent the morning with students of New York’s fledgling, liberal Modern Orthodox rabbinical school, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. There, for the first time, he found himself poring over one the Talmud’s most commonly studied passages, in the tractate Berakhot, or blessings.
Miss Siegel proceeded to advise us that this visit was one stop ‘on a three day visit to New York spearheaded by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris and by officials of the World Jewish Congress’. Accompanying Cardinal Lustiger were Cardinal Peter Erdö of Hungary and Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard of France. In addition to their visit to Chovevei, Miss Siegel informed us that these Catholic clerics:
‘Used the three-day New York trip to tour Jewish sites in Manhattan, pay a visit to the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn and drop in on an advanced Talmud class at the beit midrash at Y.U.’s (Yeshiva University) Stern College for Women.’
Jennifer Siegel also makes reference to a remark made by Rabbi Israël Singer, President of the World Jewish Congress. Alluding to the 20 years of Judeo-Catholic religious dialogue which he said, ‘was like one hand clapping- you couldn’t hear it’, he compared it with the New York meeting stating: ‘This is the most substantive of all these kinds of efforts.’
This was not lost on the journalist who observed: ‘At Chovevei, the room was a sea of head-coverings: the yarmulkes worn by the Jews interspersed with a few flame-red skullcaps worn by Catholic cardinals.’
In her article, Jennifer Siegel gives an account of the third international Judeo-Catholic meeting at New York (27-28th March 2006); a meeting created on the initiative of Cardinal Lustiger [of Paris] and Rabbi Israël Singer, President of The World Jewish Congress, the first two meetings having been held in 2004 and 2005.
No less than 15 French Bishops and Archbishops have gone this year to New York (for the third of these meetings): Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger and Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux; Mgr Bernard-Nicolas Aubertin, Bishop of Tours, Mgr Olivier de Berranger, Bishop of Saint-Denis, Mgr Francis Deniau, Bishop of Nevers, Mgr Maurice Gardès, Bishop of Auch, Mgr Guy de Kérimel, Coadjutor Bishop of Grenoble, Mgr Robert le Gall, Bishop of Mende, Mgr Jean-Christophe Laglaize, Bishop of Valence, Mgr Jean Legrez, Bishop of Saint-Claude, Mgr Gaston Poulain, Emiritus Bishop of Perigueux, Mgr Michel Santier, Bishop of Lucon, Mgr Louis Sankalé, Bishop of Nice, Mgr Guy Thomazeau, Bishop of Montpellier, Mgr André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Stanislas Lalanne, Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference. In addition Cardinal Peter Erdrö, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, and prelates from Spain, Germany, Uruguay and Argentina. (83)
What are we to make of such Judeo-Catholic meetings – which appear to be pilgrimages to the Jewish capital of the USA, New York – are they part of the process of judaisation of Catholicism? One cannot see how they can be seen otherwise.
Arnaud de Lassus
NOTES:
[55] ‘A well known French historian, Jules Isaac was an assimilated Jew. For thirty years, and until the war, his history manual, known under the name of ‘Mallet and Isaac’ was the most popular school book in France Israel
[56] The text of these ten points was reproduced by Michel Laurigan (op. cit., p.54.
[57] Cardinal Bea was at that time President of The Secretariat for Christian Unity. The negotiations he engaged in with the Jewish authorities were secret and were first brought to light in the article, ‘How the Jews changed Catholic thinking’ in the American review, Look, (
[58] Leon de Poncins, ‘The Jewish Problem vis a vis the Council, p.5
[59] [Abbott version.]
[60] Léon de
Poncins, op. cit., p.20[61] The documents given to the Council Fathers by Léon de Poncins and other authors (in particular Maurice Pinay, author of the book, The plot against the Church, had a certain influence in the good sense.
[62] Regarding this see the quotations
from Denise Judant which appear below.
[63] The complete text of the Pastoral
Directives appears in the aforementioned brochure by Michel Laurigan,
p.85. The references for these quotes
may be found on p.89 & 91 of that work.
[64] One
finds in this definition the liberal principle of respect for error.[65] ‘Die erste Dimension dieses Dialogs, nämlich die Begegnung zwischen dem Gottesvolk des von Gott nie gekundigeten Alten Bundes (…)’
[66] John Paul II at the Roman Synagogue,
13th April 1986
[67] This
quotation is given with every reservation as it is only to be found in G. M.
Riegner’s book and we have no idea of its context.
[68]
Regarding this subject see the article by Fr. Ricossa, ‘Straight talking for better comprehension’ in No. 53 (July 2002)
of Sodalitum which gives numerous
quotations from Rabbi de Segni.
[69] Quoted
in No. 53 of Sodalitum
[70] The complete text can be found in
the aforesaid brochure by Michel Laurigan, p.58
[72] This
initial sentence is a quotation from Cardinal Kasper’s speech to the
International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee in May 2001.
[72] Note the phrase ‘The Jews already
dwell in a saving covenant with God.’
As the Old Covenant is
considered as remaining in force and salvific today as yesterday, the Jewish
people have no need of Jesus Christ to be saved.
[74] http://www.jcrelations.net/en/index.php?item=966
[75] As an example take the suppression
in the Novus Ordo of many of the reminders of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity
which appear in the Traditional Mass (Cf. AFS No. 177, February 2005, ‘How
can a Parish keep the Traditional Mass’. (p.50-51)
[76] Here
is the text from which this expression is taken: ‘You will have stirred up a revolution in Tiara and Cope, marching with
Cross and banner – a revolution which
will only need to be spurred on a
little to put the four corners of the world on fire.’ (Taken from the Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita, see Apropos 22 Elementary Guide to Freemasonry, p. 200.
[77] Cf.
Para. 121 of The Catechism of the
Catholic Church
[78] Cf. AFS, No. 166 (April 2003) ‘Are there two true religions today?’.
[79] L’Homme Nouveau, 2nd
February 2003 .
[80]
[President Moshe Katsav of Israel
at a ceremony marking the dedication of a synagogue in his home in October 16th 2001 had called for the
establishment of a ‘Sanhedrin type
body’. Israelnationalnews.com]
[81] See in particular the following
articles: Sanhedrin launched in Tiberias of
13th October
2004 (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id
=70349 ), Members of the
Re-established Sanhedrin ascend the Temple
Mount 8th December 2004
((http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=73311),
Sanhedrin
project unveiled with Humility, [82] [i.e. non-Jews who wish to live in conformity with the Noachide laws. Many Noachide communities in the
[83] The article ‘United States – Judeo-Catholic meeting at New York 8th April 2006 ). Address: DICI-Presse, Etoile du Matin,
57230 Eguelshardt and www.dici.org
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