The Catholic Church and the Jewish People: Recent Reflections from Rome / Edition 2

by Philip A Cunningham, Norbert J. Hofmann, Joseph Sievers

Overview

This book makes available in English important essays that mark the fortieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate). Surveying Vatican dialogues and documents, the essays explore challenging theological questions posed by the Shoah and the Catholic recognition of the Jewish people's covenantal life with God.Featuring essays by Vatican officials, leading rabbis, diplomats, and Catholic and Jewish scholars, the book discusses the nature of Christian-Jewish relations and the need to remember their conflicted and often tragichistory, aspects of a Christian theology of Judaism, the Catholic-Jewish dialogue since the Shoah, and the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel. The book includes an essayby Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, and documents on the rapprochement between the Church and the Jewish people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823228058
Publisher:	Fordham University Press
Publication date:	11/15/2007
Series:	Abrahamic Dialogues
Edition description:	2
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

PHILIP A. CUNNINGHAM, a member of the Advisory Committee on Catholic-Jewish Relations for the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, was the founding Executive Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Relations at Boston College.

NORBERT J. HOFMANN, S.D.B., is Secretary of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.

JOSEPH SIEVERS is former Director of the Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome.

Table of Contents

Preface   Cardinal Walter Kasper     ix
Introduction$dThe Editors     xi
Reflections on the Relationship between Jews and Christians
Paths Taken and Enduring Questions in Jewish-Christian Relations Today: Thirty Years of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews     3
Progress and Issues of the Dialogue from a Jewish Viewpoint     12
Jewish Perspectives on Christianity     23
Reflections toward Christian-Jewish Dialogue     29
The Need to Remember
The Difficult Apprenticeship of Diversity     41
The Shoah as a Shadow upon and a Stimulus to Christian-Jewish Dialogue     54
Toward a Christian Theology of Judaism
Israel and the Church-The Two Explorers of the Promised Land: Toward a Christian Theology of Judaism     73
The Covenant That Was Never Revoked: The Foundations of a Christian Theology of Judaism     92
Jewish-Christian Relations: A Conciliar Discovery and Its Methodological Consequences for Dogmatic Theology     113
The Post-Shoah Catholic-Jewish Dialogue
Nostra Aetate and the Discovery of the Sacrament of Otherness     129
The Creation and Work of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews     152
The Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee     159
A Sign of Great Hope: The Beginningof the Dialogue between the Holy See and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel     167
The New Relationship between the Holy See and the State of Israel
The Vatican and Israel     179
The State of Israel and the Holy See     186
Appendixes
Drafts Leading to the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate     191
Joint Declarations of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC)     201
Joint Statements of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel's Delegation for Relations with the Catholic Church     223
Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel, December 30, 1993     233
About the Contributors     257
About the Editors     259
Notes     241
Index     261
Index of Scriptural Passages     269

Editorial Reviews

"This volume offers of treasure of information for anyone seriously interested in the changing relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. In a series of articles Christian and Jewish authors examine the evolution of the Church’s new teaching at Vatican Council II, the subsequent official dialogues between Catholics and Jews, and the as yet unsolved theological questions raised for the Church by its recognition of the abiding validity of the Mosaic covenant with the Jews. Invaluable is the appendix with the various draft documents that preceded the final text of the conciliar declaration." (WE MAY MODIFY AS WE WISH)——Gregory Baum, Professor Emeritus, McGill University

From the Publisher

This helpful collection makes available important essays presented at a conference marking the forty year anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.

Jewish Book World

This volume will be welcomed by people wrestling with how those involved in dialogue maintain distinctive and nonnegotiable faith commitments....

Journal of Ecumenical Studies

This book contains a galaxy of senior Roman Catholic prelates and also distinguished Rabbis and academics mainly from the Italian World.

Modern Theology

The Catholic Church and the Jewish People is an extraordinarily useful commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the Vatican Council
Declaration on the Jews. Outstanding authorities provide historical perspective, an account of the evolution of the document itself, and analyses of its impact on Jewish-Catholic relations both in the immediate aftermath of the Council and in the long term. An invaluable collection for academics, interfaith activists, and all Jews and Christians interested in the historic transformation in their mutual relations inaugurated by Vatican II.

Yeshiva University - David Berger

This book offers its readers rich fare: a candid account of the Catholic Church’s troubled history with Jews, a behind-the-scenes look at the deliberations of Vatican II, and an analysis of the politics and theologies essential to the Church’s reconciliation with the Jewish People. This collection of essays, developed from lectures at Rome’s Gregorian University, contributes a significant resource for understanding the dramatic changes in relations between Jews and Catholics.

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York - Mary C. Boys

Anyone seeking a volume that tells an authoritative and up-to-date account of the relations between Jews and Christians, especially Roman Catholics, need looking no further. This is (italics) the one. History, theology, dialogue, politics—all these areas are discussed in highly readable essays by acknowledged experts in the field of Jewish-Christian relations. We are owe a debt of gratitude to the authors and editors for showing us the enormous progress that has been made in the mutual understanding and reconciliation between two estranged siblings as well as for erecting helpful signposts to guide us on the still long journey ahead.

Georgetown University - Dr. Peter C. Phan

This highly significant book should be in every theological library, Jewish or Catholic. It presents the history, present status and likely future of Catholic Jewish relations as uderstood by many of its leading practitioners. It is a "must" read for anyone seeking to understand the dialogue, certainly the most important work in the field to be published this year.

former Director of the Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relations, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops - Dr. Eugene J. Fisher

Provocative but not polemical, cutting-edge and constructive, The Catholic Church and the Jewish People introduces exciting new theological paths into the Jewish-Christian relationship. Contributions from both scholars and religious leaders provide complementary insights on method, imaging the relationship, the Holocaust and dialogue, and the continuing, critical influence of Vatican II for Jewish-Christian reconciliation. This ground-breaking work featuring some of the best European scholars in the field will benefit many audiences and spark fresh, productive exchanges between American and European scholars.

Iona College - Elena G. Procario-Foley

This is an indispensable collection of official Catholic documents and thoughtful essays from key Vatican officials and important
European scholars. It provides a solid foundation for understanding the theological dimensions of the Church's relationship with the Jewish People in our time. No one interested in the contemporary Catholic-Jewish relationship can afford to be without it.

Catholic Theological Union; President, International Council of Christians & Jews - John T. Pawlikowski

"This volume offers of treasure of information for anyone seriously interested in the changing relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. In a series of articles Christian and Jewish authors examine the evolution of the Church’s new teaching at Vatican Council II, the subsequent official dialogues between Catholics and Jews, and the as yet unsolved theological questions raised for the Church by its recognition of the abiding validity of the Mosaic covenant with the Jews. Invaluable is the appendix with the various draft documents that preceded the final text of the conciliar declaration." (WE MAY MODIFY AS WE WISH)

Professor Emeritus, McGill University - Gregory Baum