The effort to reintegrate the
traditionalist Society of St. Pius X into the Catholic Church
"absolutely does not mean" that the Catholic Church will accept or
support the anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic positions espoused by some
members of the society, said Cardinal Kurt Koch.
The cardinal, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious
Relations with the Jews, said many Jews "fear that through the eventual
reintegration of a series of priests and faithful with anti-Jewish
tendencies and who fundamentally reject 'Nostra Aetate,'" the Second
Vatican Council document on relations with Jews and with other
religions, "the Catholic Church could give a new direction to its
dialogue with Judaism."
Addressing members of the commission, which oversees and promotes a
variety of Vatican dialogues with Jews, Cardinal Koch said, "The Holy
Father has charged me with presenting the question in the correct way:
'Nostra Aetate' is not being questioned in any way by the magisterium of
the church as the pope himself has demonstrated repeatedly in his
speeches, his writings and his personal gestures regarding Judaism."
"The Catholic Church is moving firmly on the basis of the principles
affirmed in 'Nostra Aetate,'" and Pope Benedict XVI intends to continue
the church's dialogue with the Jewish people, the cardinal said in his
speech, which was published Nov. 7 in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican
newspaper.
"Nostra Aetate" described Christians and Jews as having a common
heritage and a profound spiritual bond; it denounced any form of
contempt of the Jews; it said the Jews could not be held responsible for
the death of Jesus; and "it explicitly highlighted the Jewish roots of
Christianity," Cardinal Koch said.
In discussions about the SSPX and the Second Vatican Council, the
cardinal said, questions also have been raised about the level of
teaching authority in various council documents; the idea has been
raised that because "Nostra Aetate" was a declaration and not a
constitution, its content has less weight.
"On a formal level, a distinction certainly can be made" between the
council's declarations and constitutions, he said. "Nevertheless, from
the point of view of their content, they cannot be separated from each
other or placed in opposition to each other."
"Nostra Aetate," he said, was not "an isolated meteorite that fell from
heaven," but it flowed from the other teachings of the council,
particularly the council's reflections on the mystery of the church.
Cardinal Koch said Pope Benedict's full support of the teaching on
Judaism adopted by the council was evident even before the council began
meeting in 1962. As a student of the Scriptures, the then-Joseph
Ratzinger had "a considerable familiarity with Judaism," he said.
"The foundation of the vision of Ratzinger the theologian is that holy
Scripture can be understood only as one book," in which the history of
salvation begins with God's covenant with the Jewish people, he said.
"In the light of these theological convictions, one cannot be surprised
that Pope Benedict is continuing the work of reconciliation begun by his
predecessors in Jewish-Catholic dialogue."