Posted on 11/13/2013 3:34:41 PM PST by NYer
Ultra-traditionalist Catholics have openly challenged Pope Francis by disrupting one of his favorite events, a ceremony that he and Jewish leaders led in the Metropolitan Cathedral each year to promote religious harmony on the anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust.
The annual ceremony brings together Catholics, Jews and Protestants to mark Kristallnacht, the Nazi-led mob violence in 1938 when about 1,000 Jewish synagogues were burned and thousands of Jews were forced into concentration camps, launching the genocide that killed 6 million Jews.
A small group disrupted Tuesday night’s ceremony by shouting the rosary and the “Our Father” prayer, and spreading pamphlets saying “followers of false gods must be kept out of the sacred temple.”
Buenos Aires Archbishop Mario Poli, named by Francis to replace him as Argentina’s top church official, appealed for calm as others in the audience rose up to repudiate them, and the protesters were soon escorted out by police.
“Let there be peace. Shalom,” Poli then said, urging everyone to take their seats for a ceremony that was also led by Rabbi Abraham Skorka, a close friend of the pope who co-wrote a book of dialogue seeking common ground between Judaism and Catholicism.
“Dear Jewish brothers, please feel at home, because that’s the way Christians want it, despite these signs of intolerance,” Poli said. “Your presence here doesn’t desecrate a temple of God. We will continue in peace this encounter that Pope Francis always promoted, valued and appreciated so much.”
The Rev. Christian Bouchacourt, the South America leader of the Society of Saint Pius X, said Wednesday that the protesters belong to his organization and that they have a right to feel outraged when rabbis preside over a ceremony in a cathedral. “I recognize the authority of the pope, but he is not infallible and in this case, does things we cannot accept,” Bouchacourt said in an interview with Radio La Red.
“This wasn’t a desire to make a rebellion, but to show our love to the Catholic Church, which was made for the Catholic faith,” Bouchacourt added. “A Mass isn’t celebrated in a synagogue, nor in a mosque. The Muslims don’t accept it. In the same way, we who are Catholics cannot accept the presence of another faith in our church.”
The Buenos Aires Herald has this account:
“A group of them attempted to spill their poison on the victims of the Holocaust,” said DAIA Jewish community group head Julio Schlosser, who was present at the meeting. “It’s very dangerous if we do not all publicly condemn acts like these, everyone, Jews, Catholics and Muslims.”
As the incident developed and the Lefebvrists, mainly youths, were insulted for their actions, Father Fernando Giannetti requested they leave in the name of Buenos Aires Archbishop Mario Poli, calling for those in attendance not to submit to “an act of provocation.”
After some minutes of tension, police officials arrived at the Cathedral, although they did not intervene, while Giannetti prayed Saint Francis of Assisi’s Prayer for Peace.
Ping!
Sounds pretty nasty and stupid to me.
This is not a Mass. It’s a ceremony of religious understanding between Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, who differ on some points but who have a great deal in common and all of whom can gain by working together.
There is nothing wrong with meeting occasionally in a Cathedral with people of other faiths. There is no pretense that this is a Mass or a replacement for the Mass.
We avoid and reject all forms of unionism and syncretism.
-LCMS
(well, since YS 9/11 anyway..)
Since when is praying the rosary in a Catholic cathedral, "spill(ing) poison"?
Sounds pretty nasty and stupid to me.
***
I agree.
These goofballs did much more harm than good.
The protestors would be well to pray on the fact that Jesus and nearly all of his earliest followers were Jews.
God has chosen to reveal Himself and His law or moral code to the Jews. Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22) Jesus chose to live his earthly life as a Jew, and God has chosen to invite the nations of the world into a salvational covenant with Him by means of Jesus the Jew and by “grafting” the gentiles into the Jewish people (Romans 9-11 inclusive).
It is a mystery. The Church cannot fully explain it, neither can the Jews. And we are all still discussing and even debating the details of all this. But, this is how God has decided to deal with the world.
Inviting Jews and Protestant Christians into a cathedral or church to discuss matters of common concern does not mean the Church is abandoning its principles or teachings or faith. Indeed, would the protestors wish that no non-Catholics be invited to step foot into Catholic churches? Where would they find THAT kind of instruction or teaching in Scripture?
Do the protestors plan to continue to live on Rock Three, or do they wish to blast themselves off to some asteroid somewhere where they can live free of any contact or discourse or cooperation with people who happen to not be members of the RC Church and, perhaps, their unique little order?
uh, this wasn’t a “talk”; it was a ceremony.
I concur that a joint “service” COULD be problematical..
but I have attended several which were not any problem at all.
It all depends on how they are conducted, what is said of course.
There is SO much overlap (for obvious reasons) between Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism.... especially in that much of the scriptures are shared..... that it is not really very difficult to conduct a shared service which does not undermine Catholic faith.
I have to assume that the local Bishop and priests down there did a competent job of conducting or preparing this event or service in the Cathedral. If that’s wrong, then I would have to stand corrected, but just holding a shared service or event in a Cathedral would certainly not be grounds for somebody to protest or disrupt it, presuming there were no preachings against the Catholic faith, etc.
I gathered from the article (and this could be a misunderstanding) that the protests were against the mere holding of a shared service or event, and not against any particular violation of faith or creed in the course.
Again, there could possibly have been something wrong happen, I just didn’t pick up on that
Like them or not, these SSPX folks really know how to make their point on solid doctrinal grounds.
There is nothing wrong with meeting occasionally in a Cathedral with people of other faiths. There is no pretense that this is a Mass or a replacement for the Mass.
That's exactly the rationale bishops all over the U.S. use when they invite radical pro-abortion "Catholics" into a church for some political grandstanding.
ps: for instance, the quotation of the protestor was something against a rabbi presiding or praying in the cathedral. As long as the rabbi did not preach against the Church, and there is NO reason to suppose that he did anything like that, none at all...........then what’s the beef? Jesus was recognized as a Jewish teacher or rabbi, as Scripture makes abundantly clear (St. Peter addressed Jesus as rabbi, Mark 9:5; Nicodemus did likewise, John 3:2, etc.), and Jesus’ entire method or style of teaching was fully consistent with the other rabbis (his methods of discourse, debate, example, parable, etc.)
We can only assume that this protestor would have make a ruckus if Jesus had appeared and participated in this Cathedral prayer or event.
Methinks the protestor should pray on it awhile.
I, for one, pray he can discover a truer faith as God has provided it for us.
To quote Benjamin Franklin, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
1. Would you feel the same way if this was a Muslim presiding at the service?
2. If it's no big deal, then why not hold the event in a synagogue and invite all the participants there?
Such events have often been held in synagogues and with RC Priests at the head of the invitation list.
A Muslim is different.
That is because the Islamic scriptures teach explicitly against Jesus Christ, and because those scriptures also teach subjugation of Christians and Jews (or their murder).
I have no problem with any legitimate, decent priest, rabbi, or minister of the Bible sharing a prayer in any RC Church, Protestant Church, or Synagogue. It happens all the time and it works out just fine, too.
Acknowledging differences, we are still all praying to the same God.
Moslems do not appear to pray to the same God as do Christians or Jews. I realize that the RC Church and other Biblical faith groups have tried to reach out to Moslems.
This can be accomplished sometimes in non-Islamic countries, and so long as we stick to secular cooperation.
However, yes to answer your question I would not attend a shared service with a Moslem, as I have read their Koran and studied many of their statements and am convinced that they pray to someone very, very different indeed than the One True God of the Bible.
Very different.
(By their fruits, ye shall know them...)
This “Spirit of Assisi” thinking was condemned by past popes. You would never have had a pre-Vatican II pope/priest sharing services with non-Catholics. Period.
Up is down and down is up.
HEY Nyer have you troll UK papers for Thursday cycle
Because try reform teh Cathoic church
Italian Mafia may Pope Francis offer he can’t refuse LOL!
I’m guessing Jews don’t do joint services in synagogues.
But Vatican II states that Muslims worship the same God!
This is not merely semantics, either. The distinction between Jews and Christians is absolutely, irreconcilably at the very root of what defines Christianity.
I probably have no religious objection to this sort of ceremony at all, but it ought to be held in a public park or a VFW hall.
I think it's statements such as this, which are being called "poison." It is based on false assumptions, since the plural ('gods') indicates polytheism, but religious Jews are monotheistic; is also implies that the God they follow is false, when in fact He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" -- identified by Jesus as the One True God.
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