Posted on 01/05/2007 10:10:00 PM PST by Coleus
Jewish Rabbi: If Catholic Leaders Rally, Jews and Evangelicals Would Follow
“We need bishops and cardinals to be out there, leading the flock” in “moral counterattack”
JERUSALEM, January 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Wednesday, January 3, LifeSiteNews.com published a press release from Rabbi Yehuda Levin preceding his emergency meeting with Vatican officials. The meeting was to discuss how the Orthodox Jewish community could unite with the Catholic Church to combat the widespread ‘homosexualization’ of the Holy Land and of Western Civilization.
Today LifeSiteNews.com interviewed Rabbi Levin in Jerusalem who related in detail what was discussed in the meeting and the proposal he made to Rome. Levin stated he met with Bishop Karl Josef Romer, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family and ‘right-hand man’ to Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo; Bishop Brian Farrell of the Commission for the Religious Rapport with Judaism and vice president to Cardinal Walter Kaspar, head of the Office of Christian Unity; and Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, director of Human Life International in Italy.
Rabbi Levin summarized for LifeSiteNews the progress the Church has made in solidifying a living relationship with the Jewish community. “The Church has moved toward the Jews in an unbelievable way in the last half a century since Vatican II. They’ve made changes in the Liturgy vis-à-vis the Jews; two popes have visited concentration camps . . . there was Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Holy Wall in Jerusalem, and his asking for forgiveness, and so much more.”
With all that, Rabbi Levin insisted, something is yet lacking. “There remains a tremendous, glaring paradox: namely, of these people with whom the Church is dialoguing, 90% are opposed to some of the most crucial tenets of the Catholic and the Christian Faith. Instead they hold to abortion-on-demand, internet pornography, radical homosexuality, and no-fault divorce. It is paradoxical that you can talk with these people about the Holocaust and saving the whales, but you cannot talk about the homosexualization of the Holy Land, or about what is going to happen next month in New York. You cannot dialogue about Mayor Bloomberg.”
“Who the Church wants to dialogue with, and what about, far be it from me to say. The Catholic hierarchy knows best, and I salute them. But I suggest here another, a new channel of dialogue: and not high-falutin’ dialogue, in meetings, but a dialogue of activism.”
It is sad, Rabbi Levin noted, how in the last several decades the majority of pro-life and pro-family groups are operated by the laity. Religious leaders have shied away from their leadership, “holding their fingers up to their ears, wondering, ‘Can I speak about this political legislation? Will I lose the flock if I do?’” Politicians, on the other hand, “have asserted themselves as de facto leaders.” They are the ones taking their action to the streets. Rabbi Levin argued that decent people have a right to hear from their religious leadership first, in sermons and in the news, about impending legislation that will affect themselves and their families.
Hence, the Rabbi has addressed himself to the Catholic Church. “I might seem now to be speaking in almost a prophetic way. I have the blood of prophets in my veins. I am saying with certitude—with a logical certitude—that the group in Western Civilization and perhaps in World Civilization with the most potential to act as a catalyst for a moral counterattack, pushing back the barbarians who stand against the gates of Rome and Jerusalem . . . are Catholics. You don’t have to be a prophet to understand that.
“And the personality whom God has placed at the top: I couldn’t have prayed, as an Orthodox Jew, for a better person.” Indeed, Rabbi Levin had nothing but praise for Pope Benedict XVI. One of the great themes of this pontificate that has been prominent since day one has been the Pope’s unwavering enthusiasm for just such a ‘new ecumenism.’
“Pope Benedict XVI is, I believe, the man of the moment. If he decides that he is willing to gear his attention and his followers’ in reasserting the primacy of leadership, of hands-on pro-life leadership—then we, as junior partners, the Orthodox Jews as junior partners—would be very happy to provide the Jewish flavor in that alliance.” “But we need an activist papacy . . . And if an activist papacy doesn’t translate into the local churches and the streets, we’re lost.”
Rabbi gave a series of examples of his idea of activist religious leadership. “Very specifically, if the Catholic Church were to have, just four Sundays in a row, every church and Catholic school send out newsletters on homosexuality, what it is and who is advancing it, and what legislation there is to combat . . . I know as a New Yorker that Evangelical and Latino churches would be happy to follow this example. If ‘the big boy on the block’, the Catholic Church, would follow this example, the buzz on the street would be phenomenal. “That is the new ecumenism: to get this vitality out to the churches, in the straightest possible way, and from the churches out to the streets.
“As another example: what about a massive, massive rally for family values? The reverberations would be felt across America. Hilary Clinton would stop and swear on a Holy Bible that she was for marriage between one man and one woman.” If there were such massive rallies, “believe me,” said Rabbi Levin, “the media also would take notice. If 50 million Americans would sign such pledges, if Catholic leaders and priests would rally, believe me, Jews and Evangelicals would follow. This would be a revolution in the finest tradition.”
Rabbi Levin concluded by citing the example of the Orthodox Jewish community late last Fall. “On November 9, 2006, some twenty thousand Orthodox, Hasidic Jews took to the streets of Manhattan, outside the Israeli Consulate, filling several blocks to protest the homosexualization of the Holy Land. If the Church had come out in large numbers, we would have had forty to fifty thousand Jews. The Catholic Church would bring out five times as many. “We need bishops and cardinals to be out there, leading the flock. This is the martyrdom required in 2007: just to come out into the streets.”
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Judaism Teams with Vatican to Counter Worldwide Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Push http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jan/07010307.html
In a move that Orthodox Jews assert marks a “new ecumenism” with Rome, a special emissary of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, representing over 850 Orthodox Rabbis, gathered in an emergency meeting with Vatican officials in Rome January 2 to discuss ways of blocking the worldwide push for homosexual “marriage.” In particular they wanted to coordinate with Rome to stop the Italian government’s proposed homosexual civil union legislation, which could appear as a bill in the Italian Senate by the end of this month. In a recent press release Rabbi Yehuda Levin, a leading representative of the Rabbinical Alliance, declared that this proposed legislation marks “the latest attempt by the worldwide Homosexual network to impose their amoral values on normative society. We can no longer respond to these pressures in a piecemeal manner. A reenergized religious leadership needs to reassert its role in protecting the family—24/7.
“We support the Pope’s call for the defeat of the Homosexual Civil Union legislation now pending in the Italian legislature. This is just ‘Gay Marriage,’ by another name. Like ‘Gay Marriage,’ it undermines the special place of marriage in the life of decent family people.” Indeed, though the Italian government is pushing to legalize homosexual civil unions, it seems that the average Italian would not support their government in doing so. A late 2005 Ipso Ltd. poll revealed that 70% of Italians would not condone homosexual “marriage.” An even more recent poll asked 30,000 citizens of the European Union if they would condone homosexual “marriage”; 49% said they would not.
That so many Europeans remain opposed to homosexual marriage and civil unions indicates that the homosexual lifestyle runs counter to beliefs even more fundamental than religious differences. Rabbi Levin addressed the surprise of some that Orthodox Jews should undertake to work so closely with the Vatican. “It is well known that we, as Orthodox Jews, are not permitted to engage in inter-religious theological discussion. However, we must join together with the Vatican, and with all others, who defend the family, lest we end up as Sodom and Gomorrah. “We must join together and go on the offensive against those who seek to undermine the G-D-given values that form the basis of our civilization—the Abortionists, the Internet Pornographers, and the Radical Homosexuals.” Pope Benedict XVI has likewise stated that the Italian government’s wish to grant legal recognition to homosexual couples is an issue over which he “cannot remain silent.” In a December 22 year-end address to Vatican bureaucracy, Pope Benedict XVI rejected the criticisms of those Italian politicians who say the Church should not get involved in what they claim is a political issue. The Pope insisted, “If one says the Church should not interfere in these matters, then we can only respond: should mankind not interest us?”
Vatican Says Italian Government Wants to “Eradicate” Traditional Family
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/dec/06121102.html
New Italian Government in Clash with Vatican over Homosexual Civil Unions
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/may/06052409.html
70% of Italians Oppose Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Says Latest Poll
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/oct/05101201.html
EU Poll Shows Europeans Divided on Homosexual Marriage, But Reject Homosexual Adoptions
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/dec/06122207.html
Let's DO it!!
Homosexuality is the one thing Evangelicals, Catholics, Orthodox Jews, and Muslism agree on.
If it is to be done, it will be done by the folks that Jesus left in charge of His church. They just need those of us of the faith, the evangelicals, the Jews, and, well, everyone of strong moral character to help push these wimpy bishops and quaking cardinals to act.
WWJD?
We know. He's spelled it out pretty well. Now we need to ask: What Will the Bishops Do? If it ain't the same, we all need to go out and lend some moral support.
They are so blind. They don't see an ounce of inconsistency in every pound of pure hypocrisy they display.
Challenge them on some issue, and they will get upset. First tearful and confused, then angry and annoyed with you - as if you are being rude to politely question their views.
Ping for an interesting idea. Maybe we can get together and counter protest all the Israel haters while we're at it...
They also assume you're some sort of religious kook! They like their Catholicism nice and polite, with nothing to make them feel uncomfortable.
Trouble is, Catholics don't really have a lot of reason in their religious dogmas to be passionate about the moral state of the Jews in the historic Holy Land. That's an evangelical (chiefly, a pre-trib pre-milleniallist) thing.
I wish I could agree with you. However, there are to many divisions among those who call themselves religious. Until they stand for the truth and make absolutely NO COMPROMISES on the truth, than maybe the "gay agenda" will disappear.
We need to respect those who are gay to have their opinions, but that doesn't mean we need to compromise what it is we believe. They in turn should respect those of faith to voice their opinions.
We need to debate with them in a civil manner. I'm not sure the Muslims would agree with that. If I'm not mistaken they still hang those that they find guilty of homosexual activiity. Christians offer forgiveness in the man of Jesus Christ. That to me is two different stories, with the only commonality being that we both don't approve of homosexual behavioral choices.
I think how it would work if the Sanhedrin had any legal authority these days is that some emmisary of the Sanhedrin would warn the homosexual offenders to desist in his practices. If the offender didn't, then he/they would be put to death.
We don't quite operate that way these days, however.
Isn't that like asking bears how to quit deficating in the woods???
************
There is much that can be done by all of us, if we begin speaking out about this and other important moral issues.
In Massachusetts Catholic Charities had to get out of the adoption business, because the "law" forced them to adopt to gay couples, so since it was against their religion, they are no longer handling adoptions. That is a shame.
Of course, the gays would call it "discrimination," but discrimation is a good thing, if we want to discriminate against perversion which we should.
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