Friday December 11, 2015

I've Been Thinking:

The Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with Jews released an official statement which is now the official policy of the Catholic Church and is endorsed by the Pope. The new policy is very clear. Do not try to convert Jews.

The statement reads: "The Church is therefore obliged to view evangelization to Jews, who believe in the one God, in a different manner from that to people of other religions and world views."
The Church is asking Catholics: "to do all that is possible with our Jewish friends to repel anti-Semitic tendencies".

"A Christian can never be an anti-Semite, especially because of the Jewish roots of Christianity," it said.

The document called on Catholics to: "bear witness to their faith in Jesus Christ also to Jews" but that they should do so in "a humble and sensitive manner, acknowledging that Jews are bearers of God's word."

This is the most direct statement the Church has made. They are saying hands off.

This is a follow up to Vatican II which made it clear that Jews today do not bear responsibility for the death of Jesus.

This new statement says that Judaism is not some pagan, it is not a foreign tradition. It is saying that Judaism is the original tradition upon which Christianity is based and it is saying that Jesus was, unequivocally, a Jew.

The Vatican has taken a major step forward.

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