Having grown up in a pretty diverse environment with a heavily Jewish segment I do not consider myself to be anti-semetic. Actually, having experienced it myself, I find any kind of discrimination to be intolerable. While I may not, and most often do not, agree with other religious views, I strongly believe in religious freedom: that every person has the right to choose and practice their faith. That being said, I must say I find the Jewish position on Pope Benedict's liberalization of the use of the Traditional Latin Mass highly insulting and anti-Catholic.
At issue is the fact that in the older form of the rites celebrated on Good Friday there is a prayer for the conversion of the Jews. It reads: "Let us pray also for the Jews, that the Lord our God may take the veil from their hearts and that they also may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ..." This prayer itself is a revised from that which was used before the changes in the Holy Week liturgies made by Pius XII which referred to the Jews as "perfidious." The Church, on her own initiative changed the terminology. Once again, with the publication of the new Missal of Paul VI in 1970 the language was changed agan, but, as they have for centuries, Catholics have continued to pray for the conversion of the Jews. Indeed, Catholics pray for the conversion of all people.
Some sectors and leaders of the current Jewish world have demanded that this prayer be changed as they find it offensive. However, no one has raised the issue that the Talmud speaks of Jesus in highly offensive ways, calling him "bastard," "sorcerer," "blasphemer." The Talmud also says it was right to kill Jesus, that he deserved it and that he was the son of a whore. This language more offensive than the prayer in the Catholic Holy Week rites yet no Catholic or Christian is demanding a change. No one from the Antidefamation League or the Jewish Defense League is offering to make changes in the Talmud or apologize for it's contents, yet that is what they demand of the Catholic Church. This is highly offensive and one sided. It is blatent anti-Catholicism. Yet the issue is never raised.
The way to improve relations between peoples of different faiths is not conciliation or watering down. It is not by apologizing for beliefs as if they were wrong (if they were they wouldn't be believed). It is not by changing our religious beliefs or asking others to change their religious beliefs resulting in some homogenized humanistic pseudo religion. The way to improve relations between peoples of different faiths is to understand why they believe what they believe and respect their freedom and rights to do so. And, perhaps most importantly, for each of us to take seriously what we believe and live it in our daily lives.
At issue is the fact that in the older form of the rites celebrated on Good Friday there is a prayer for the conversion of the Jews. It reads: "Let us pray also for the Jews, that the Lord our God may take the veil from their hearts and that they also may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ..." This prayer itself is a revised from that which was used before the changes in the Holy Week liturgies made by Pius XII which referred to the Jews as "perfidious." The Church, on her own initiative changed the terminology. Once again, with the publication of the new Missal of Paul VI in 1970 the language was changed agan, but, as they have for centuries, Catholics have continued to pray for the conversion of the Jews. Indeed, Catholics pray for the conversion of all people.
Some sectors and leaders of the current Jewish world have demanded that this prayer be changed as they find it offensive. However, no one has raised the issue that the Talmud speaks of Jesus in highly offensive ways, calling him "bastard," "sorcerer," "blasphemer." The Talmud also says it was right to kill Jesus, that he deserved it and that he was the son of a whore. This language more offensive than the prayer in the Catholic Holy Week rites yet no Catholic or Christian is demanding a change. No one from the Antidefamation League or the Jewish Defense League is offering to make changes in the Talmud or apologize for it's contents, yet that is what they demand of the Catholic Church. This is highly offensive and one sided. It is blatent anti-Catholicism. Yet the issue is never raised.
The way to improve relations between peoples of different faiths is not conciliation or watering down. It is not by apologizing for beliefs as if they were wrong (if they were they wouldn't be believed). It is not by changing our religious beliefs or asking others to change their religious beliefs resulting in some homogenized humanistic pseudo religion. The way to improve relations between peoples of different faiths is to understand why they believe what they believe and respect their freedom and rights to do so. And, perhaps most importantly, for each of us to take seriously what we believe and live it in our daily lives.
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