VATICAN CITY — A “cold shower,” “not very courteous” and certainly “not very diplomatic” — these were the reactions of one Vatican official to recent comments made by Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, objecting to recent Catholic actions that he viewed as hostile to interfaith dialogue.

Speaking Oct. 20 at the opening of a series of seminars on Jewish-Catholic relations at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, Di Segni said steps taken by the Church to canonize or beatify well-known Jewish converts to Catholicism were unwelcome and urged the Church to make statements disavowing such efforts.

The rabbi also argued against viewing Jewish-Catholic dialogue too optimistically, saying “the ideal is far from the reality.” And he criticized the enthusiasm among Vatican officials for Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ. Many Jews considered the film anti-Semitic.

Vatican officials downplayed Di Segni's remarks. Father Norbert Hofmann, secretary at the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, said the rabbi's comments “didn't come as a surprise” but that he simply brought up “subjects which we have been discussing for some time in the commission.”

Vatican participants also stressed that Di Segni spoke positively at the conference sponsored by the Cardinal Bea Centre for Jewish Studies, mentioning progress in relations and acknowledging a “changed climate.”

Others who were present at the seminar described the rabbi's comments as “frank” and “refreshing.” Yet his criticisms strongly contrasted with remarks by the president of the pontifical commission, Cardinal Walter Kasper, who instead hailed the “immense impact” of advances in Jewish-Catholic relations since the Second Vatican Council.

“It's a case of seeing the glass half full or half empty,” Father Hofmann said. “We've achieved a lot over the past 40 years, and it's a great sign of progress that we can openly speak with each other in this way.”

Nostra Aetate

This coming year will be significant in Jewish-Catholic relations as the Church hosts a series of events to mark 40 years since the promulgation of Nostra Aetate (In our time), the Second Vatican Council document that set the Church on a new course of inter-religious dialogue.

In Nostra Aetate, the council stated, “As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock. … Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues” (no. 4).

No one disputes that, in the intervening years, there has been growing reciprocity, greater understanding and increased cooperation between the two faiths. The fact that a delegation from Israel's Chief Rabbinate was present at this seminar was, according to Father Joseph Sievers, professor of Jewish history at Pontifical Biblical College, “more than symbolic of dramatic recent changes.”

But to some observers, the task still seems impossible: How can significant advances be made in relations between the two faiths until Judaism accepts the truth of Christ as the Messiah? The dialoguing partners approach this vexing question in two ways.

First, there is already a theological unity in that both faiths agree that visible unity is impossible until the eschaton (the end times).

Secondly, until that time, the goal is to improve understanding of each others' theology to find ways of collaborating through common roots and a shared patrimony.

According to Father Sievers, it is important not to overlook “the asymmetry” of the relationship. This means recognizing that Christian influence on Judaism has been more on a sociological and historical level, “often with a heavy hand.”

But it also means recognizing the necessity of the Jewish religion to the Christian faith. “Israel is the root of our faith, as Paul says in Romans, chapter 9 to 11,” explained Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, a leading theologian in the field of Jewish-Christian relations. “The people of hope, the people of the covenant, are always necessary as a witness to the uniqueness of the biblical God for us Christians.”

Speaking to the Register during a break in the fourth seminar sponsored by the Cardinal Bea Centre on Nov. 4, the archbishop said it is vital that Christians are fully conscious of this common patrimony. “Without being conscious of this, there is the risk of promoting, in a sense, forms of anti-Semitism,” a prejudice that “means anti-Christianity because we belong to the same covenant,” he said.

Conversions

Still, as Di Segni pointed out, practical obstacles remain. Jews resent making Edith Stein (a canonized convert from Judaism) and the former chief rabbi of Rome Eugenio Zolli (another convert) models for Christians. Father Sievers noted that Stein was an atheist before she converted, and she was canonized not for her conversion but for her heroic virtues.

Zolli's conversion and possible beatification is understandably troubling to many Jews, Catholic participants in the interreligious dialogue acknowledge. “Undoubtedly,” Father Sievers said, “anyone who changes his or her religious affiliation, especially if representative of the community he or she belonged to, causes great distress in that community, particularly if it is small or otherwise in a difficult situation.”

But the Church continues to see such conversions as entirely legitimate. “It is always possible that a single person can recognize the uniqueness of the Messiah in Jesus Christ,” explained Archbishop Forte, who is also a member of the International Theological Commission. That Jesus' followers were Jews and Jesus “is forever a Jew” means that it is always possible for Jewish people “to recognize the fullness of revelation in Christ,” he said.

Concerning Di Segni's criticism of Vatican officials' enthusiasm for The Passion of the Christ, Archbishop Forte said at the time of the film's release that charges of anti-Semitism in the film were unfounded. While the film showed the responsibility of Jewish leaders for the crucifixion, the archbishop said it also showed “Pilate's ambiguity, the responsibilities of the Romans and, one might even say, the ‘misery’ of Peter.”

Edward Pentin writes from Rome.