Posted on 05/15/2005 10:33:10 AM PDT by Alouette
Pope Benedict XVI has told the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican he intends to visit the main synagogue in Cologne, Germany, in August, becoming the second pontiff in history to visit a Jewish place of worship.
Ambassador Oded Ben-Hur said the pope told him of his intention following an audience with diplomats assigned to the Vatican on Thursday.
Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, made a groundbreaking visit to Rome's synagogue in 1986. The new pope has said he intends to continue John Paul's work toward improving relations between Roman Catholics and Jews.
"We're very happy, and this is a gesture that goes in line with the latest declarations" from the pope, Ben-Hur told The Associated Press by telephone Friday.
He said the intended visit showed Benedict's "desire to enhance and widen the dialogue with the Jewish people." One of Benedict's first acts in office was to invite Rome's chief rabbi to his April 24 installation Mass. During his homily that day, the pope made specific mention of "a great shared spiritual heritage" with Jews.
On Sunday, he sent a letter of birthday greetings to the former chief rabbi of Rome who received John Paul during his 1986 visit, saying Catholics and Jews can continue dialogue and look with "confidence" toward the future.
The pope is planning to make the synagogue visit during a planned trip to Cologne for World Youth Day, Ben-Hur said. The August 16-21 event is expected to draw tens of thousands of young people to the city.
Ben-Hur said he didn't know at what stage plans were for the visit.
Jews widely admired John Paul for his unstinting efforts to promote Jewish-Catholic reconciliation, including his 1986 synagogue visit and his 2000 visit to Israel. On the 2000 trip, John Paul won many Israeli hearts by apologizing for Roman Catholic wrongdoing over the centuries.
The path toward improved Catholic-Jewish ties was set before John Paul was elected – in the 1965 declaration Nostra Aetate, or "In our Age," from the Second Vatican Council. The document rejected the notion that Jews were collectively responsible for the death of Christ. It promoted dialogue between the faiths and rejected anti-Semitism.
"All in all there is a series of declarations that brings us to believe that the pope will follow in the footsteps of the position that was set by the church in the last few years and ever since the Second Vatican Council, and especially during the papacy of Pope John Paul," Ben-Hur said Friday.
Benedict's effort to reach out to Jews carries an added dimension because of his membership in the Hitler Youth and later as a conscript in the German army during World War II. He said he was forced into both roles.
"Everything that the new pope has said and done since achieving the papacy demonstrates his intention to continue in the path set by his predecessor and forge even closer relations between Israel and the Vatican, between the Jewish people and the Catholic Church," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Friday, commenting on Ben-Hur's conversation with the pope.
Rome's current chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, was unable to attend Benedict's installation Mass as the ceremony fell on the first day of Passover, but Jewish officials said they were surprised and pleased by Benedict's gesture in inviting him.
The Jews are which? Pagans or heretics?
If I have to choose between either of them and St. Thomas Aquinas, I'm going with the Angelic Doctor.
Let's see, 260+ Popes and almost 2000 years of Tradition vs. the misinterpretation of a Council that was not dogmatic. Someone around here may be a heretic, but it isn't me.
May you and yours as well receive every blessing.
" Judaism, rightly understood, and Christianity, rightly understood are PROFOUNDLY at odds, not just a little bit.
For some odd reason, this was followed by much heat and little light. What follows is widely considered a foundational statement of Christian belief:
We believe (I believe) in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. (God of God) light of light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose Kingdom there shall be no end. And (I believe) in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who together with the Father and the Son is to be adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess (I confess) one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for (I look for) the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."
How much of this can is in conformity with Jewish belief?
See post 36.
This much:
We believe (I believe) in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible... And we look for (I look for) the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
So its just that stuff in the middle that's a problem. ;o)
LPC: You would feign siding with St. Thomas Aquinas only because the Angelic Doctor never met SSPX and is now too long dead to definitively obliterate its schismatic pretensions and wiles and works and pomps. In actuality, John Paul II and Benedict XVI are popes. The Angelic Doctor unlike the fallen angelic schism would have had proper regard for these popes and proper disregard for the "Non Serviam" crowd and its justly excommunicated leaders.
Sosapixer? Does that have something to do with Sammy Sosa? I will confess that I have him on my fantasy baseball team, but he's on the DL at the moment. I picked up Mike cameron, who's filling in nicely, thanks for asking.
If adhering to the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas makes you schismatic, I guess I'm guilty. I don't have any connection to anyone who's been formally excommunicated from the Church, if that's what you're implying.
Sincere congratulations on diagnosing LPC as SSPX. Neither you nor I have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing! Thank you for understanding!
k thanx.
How about latae sententiae excommunication?
I'm pretty sure you're supposed to buy into that "stuff in the middle", even in the current Catholic Cafeteria.
Thank you! ANd the same to you as well.
If you're a Catholic, sure. If you're a Jew, no.
Of course, JPII and Benedict XVI believe all that, and still have no problem fellowshipping with Jews. So there would seem to be something missing in your understanding of Catholicism.
Nope, not me. I have assisted at SSPX Masses, and I believe that many (if not most) of their positions are correct and in accordance with Catholic teachings, but I'm not comfortable with their "irregular" Ecclesiastical status to the point that I am ready to "sign up". Given his positions on interpreting VII and his views of the Liturgy, I believe that B16 will bring them back into the fold before too long. At that point, I'm in.
Fellowship, bring it on. Worship, I have a problem with.
LPC: Marcel's minions routinely deny that he and his Econe bishops were excommunicated by a labyrinthine system of dishonest rationalization. Your post should be read through that prism as well as your remarkable fantasy that St. Thomas Aquinas would have anything whatsoever to do with the nasty little Marcellian schism. The schismatic tail will not wag the Church dog.
LPC: If you confess that you are not in until the Holy Father satisfies your pretentious demands, necessarily that amounts to an admission tha you are out, which seems quite likely. It is NOT all about you. The cafeteria is CLOSED.
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