Posted on 01/18/2006 9:34:49 AM PST by Sabramerican
Pope tells Rabbi of Church's love for Jews
Pope Benedict XVI talked of the Church's love for the Jewish people when he received the chief rabbi of Rome in audience.
Zenit reports that "Shalom!" was the greeting the Pope expressed on Monday when welcoming Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni and a Jewish delegation, on the eve of Italy's national day to further Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
"The Catholic Church is close to you and is your friend," the Holy Father told the rabbi. "Yes, we love you and cannot but love you, 'through the Fathers.'"
Benedict XVI said: "We cannot fail to denounce and fight firmly against the hatred and misunderstanding, the injustice and violence that continue to worry the soul of men and women of good will."
He added: "How can we not be pained and concerned over the renewal of manifestations of anti-Semitism?"
For his part, the Jewish representative invited Benedict XVI to visit Rome's main synagogue, on the 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's historic visit to that temple, on April 13, 1986.
In the audience, Benedict XVI observed: "Many are the needs and challenges of Rome and the world, which invite us to unite our hands and hearts in concrete initiatives of solidarity, 'tzede' [justice] and 'tzedekah' [charity]."
"Together, we can work to transmit the torch of the Ten Commandments and of hope to the young generations," he said.
The chief rabbi thanked the Pope for his public commitment against anti-Semitism and fundamentalist terrorism.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Fruitcakes like you need a reminder now and then.
Let's start with the Catholics favorite Jew:
Jesus Christ.
How about our favorite Heavenly Father?
We worship the same GOD.
Read and comprehend before you leap.
Ping! Sadly, it is liikely some elements have already started saying ZOV, even if not in that particular acronym. I don't see anything in Pope Benedict's words that conflicts with orthodox Christianity. For Christians, it seems Benedict XVI has a good awareness of Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11.
I'm sorry, but that title reads like a lead-in for an old joke.
We have so much to gain by working together. It's a blasphamy to recall how much death and prejudice have been perpetrated in the name of religion. Thank God for this Pope trying to forcefully remind us all that Christianity owes it's roots (and 75% of it's Bible) to the Jews.
The racialist demented already hate the Vatican, so nothing changes there. Just more grist for the mill.
Date: 2006-01-16
Benedict XVI's Address to Chief Rabbi of Rome
"The Catholic Church Is Close to You and Is Your Friend"
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 16, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today at an audience attended by Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni of Rome and a delegation from the Jewish community.
* * *
Illustrious Chief Rabbi,
Dear Friends: "Shalom!"
"The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation" (Exodus 15:2): This was the song of Moses and of the children of Israel, when the Lord saved his people as they crossed the sea. Isaiah sang in the same way: "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation" (12:2).
Your visit fills me with joy, and it motivates me to renew with you this song of thanksgiving for salvation. The people of Israel have been liberated many times from the hands of their enemies and, in times of anti-Semitism, in the dramatic moments of the Shoah, the hand of the Almighty guided and sustained them. The favor of the God of the Covenant has always accompanied them, giving them the strength to overcome trials. Your Jewish community, present in the city of Rome for more than 2,000 years, can also bear witness to this divine loving attention.
The Catholic Church is close to you and is your friend. Yes, we love you and cannot but love you, "through the Fathers": Because of them you are very dear to us and favorite brothers (cf. Romans 11:28b). Following the Second Vatican Council the reciprocal esteem and trust between us has increased. Ever more fraternal and cordial contacts have developed, becoming even more intense during the pontificate of my venerated predecessor, John Paul II.
In Christ we partake in your heritage of the Fathers, in order to serve the Almighty, "with one accord" (Zephaniah 3:9), grafted onto the one "holy tree" of the people of God. As Christians, this fact makes us aware that, with you, we share in the responsibility of cooperating for the good of all people, in justice and peace, in truth and freedom, in holiness and love.
Keeping in mind this shared mission, we cannot fail to denounce and fight firmly against the hatred and misunderstanding, the injustice and violence that continue to worry the soul of men and women of good will. In this context, how can we not be pained and concerned over the renewal of manifestations of anti-Semitism?
Esteemed Lord Chief Rabbi, a short time ago you were entrusted with the spiritual guidance of the Roman Jewish community; you have assumed this responsibility with the wealth of your experience as scholar and doctor, who have shared the joys and sorrows of so many people. To you I express my heartfelt best wishes for your mission and assure you of both my and my collaborators' esteem and cordial friendship. Many are the needs and challenges of Rome and the world, which invite us to unite our hands and hearts in concrete initiatives of solidarity, "tzedek" (justice) and "tzedekah" (charity). Together, we can work to transmit the torch of the Ten Commandments and of hope to the young generations."
May the Eternal watch over you and over the whole Jewish community of Rome! In this particular circumstance, I take up the prayer of Pope Clement I, invoking the blessings of Heaven upon all of you. "Give us and all who inhabit the earth concord and peace, as you gave our fathers when they invoked your name in faith and truth" ("To the Corinthians" 60,4). "Shalom!"
Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
While he was Cardinal Ratizinger, Pope Benedict did a lot of the theological work on his predecessor's rapprochment with Israel.
Needless to say, this approach was not well understood by the secular media, such as the New York Times, which entirely misunderstood the importance of this initiative. But Christianity has in its foundations an enduring relationship with Judaism that is far more basic and reliable than any kind of political agreement could be.
Blaise Pascal had a mystical experience, which he wrote down and wrote on a piece of paper that he wore in a pouch fastened to his neck for the rest of his life. In it, he recognizes that his God is not the God of the Philosophers but the God of history and the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Pascal's memorial begins thus:
The year of grace 1654,
Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology.
Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others.
From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,
FIRE.
GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacob
not of the philosophers and of the learned.
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.
GOD of Jesus Christ.
My God and your God.
Your GOD will be my God.
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD.
You musta missed the part in the article about anti-semitism...
Dunce.
Forgive--misread your post... Apologies.
Is it me?
No--it ain't you. People are not getting what you meant and/or are not reading the article. Some people just can't take YES for an answer...
I'm that was meant for me. Ok.
With two similar posts on one thread I wondered if I was going crazy. I thought what I was trying to say was easily understandable.
Uh..no. Jews who reject Christ do NOT worship the same God at all. Jesus himself said "Anyone who rejects Me rejects the one who sent me", and "No one comes to the Father except through Me". Then there is this little gem:
"If anyone rejects Me, I will reject him on the day of judgement in front of the Father and all the angels".
If youre going to say that Jews worship the same God as Christians, you have to include Muslims too.
LOL! Expect to see that phrase on the next mullah attack-list...
No, it's not you. Some people read about two words of a post and assume they know what it's all about. And, of course, fly off the handle. Pity their poor wives (or husbands).
Thanks. I know.
That was really just a rhetorical query to my friend CfE.
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