New York City, N.Y., Jul 2, 2009 / 23:07 pm
Representatives of the U.S. bishops and two Orthodox Jewish associations met last week to discuss a recent bishops’ document on the theological and practical relationships between the two religions. Jewish participants expressed concern that the document encourages Catholic proselytism of Jews and “apostasy” from Judaism.
The discussion was part of the regular consultation between the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Rabbinical Council of America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the USCCB reports.
On June 18, the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine and Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs issued “A Note on Ambiguities Contained in Reflections on Covenant and Mission.” The note concerned a 2002 statement by a group of Catholic and Jewish scholars who were part of a standing dialogue between the USCCB and the National Council of Synagogues.
The clarifying note explained that the 2002 statement was not an official statement of the USCCB and contained “insufficiently precise and potentially misleading” statements. While praising the document for rightly acknowledging Judaism’s origins in divine revelation, the statement was declared “incomplete” in not addressing Israel’s “unsurpassable culmination” in Jesus Christ.