Vatican Reassures Jews of its Esteem

Citation:

“Vatican Reassures Jews of its Esteem”

The Jerusalem Post

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207238160415&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Summary:

This article discusses how Pope Benedict XVI allowed Catholics to practice a prayer on Good Friday that for a long time had been banned because of the way that it was negatively interpreted by Jews. Some of the lines of the prayer could be interpreted as “anti-Semitic” according to the Jewish community. The Catholics strongly deny this, and even changed parts of the prayer before it was recited once again, as not to offend any of the Jews. Pope Benedict XVI has tried to reassure the Jewish community that he and the rest of the Catholic community have nothing against the Jews, and want to continue to have a peaceful relationship with them. Jews seem to doubt this, claiming that if this was true, the prayer would not have been recited again, especially with what could be considered anti- Semitic references. On April 18^th, Pope Benedict XVI is planning on making the third visit ever by a Pope to a Synagogue in New York City, this trip being his personal second. It can be inferred that the Jewish community may not be very welcoming to him, as he is the one who reinstated the practice of this prayer by which Jews have been very offended. It can only be assumed that tension between the two groups will increase with Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Synagogue.

Reactions:

A) This article relates to the AP World History theme of impact of interaction among and within major societies, for the Catholic community has changed their tradition, and is practicing a prayer that hasn’t been practiced in many years, which is having a negative impact on their relationship with the Jewish community. The Jews now believe that the Catholics are anti- Semitic, and tension will probably increase as Pope Benedict XVI makes the third recorded trip ever by a Pope to a Synagogue.

B) It can only be expected that there will be tensions between the Jewish and Catholic communities, for Catholicism is a religion that developed from Judaism, and has mainly similar views, but a few very large conflicting beliefs. At a time, Catholics did practice this prayer, but in an even more offensive version, according to the Jews. Due to this, and in effort to keep peace between the two societies, the prayer was not practiced for many years. This year, Pope Benedict XVI reinstated the practice of this prayer (in a more refined version) on Good Friday, and once again, Jews have clearly been offended by it, for through their eyes, they feel as if Catholics make it seem that Judaism should really be nonexistent.

C) The person writing this article is most likely not Jewish (and possibly not Catholic either, for that matter!), for while they do present the views of the Jewish community quite nicely, they do not seem to side with either Catholics or Jews meaning that they are probably an outsider of a different religion.

D) I think that the journalist who wrote this article did a great job of representing both sides equally and fairly, without seeming to favor one side of the argument. For example, if they showed how the Jews viewed the prayer negatively, they also showed how the Catholics did make an effort to make the prayer less offensive to the Jewish community. Since they were able to write without seeming very biased, it is very likely that they do not practice either religion, for if they did they would probably have a more definite view.

E) A point of view missing from the article would be that of a religious leader who was neither Catholic nor Jewish. They might be a good source of information, for they may have had similar experiences of conflicting beliefs and practices between their religion and another religion. While they might not know exactly about the prayer, they might have had similar situations over prayer between their own and another religious group, making them a reliable source on how to handle this type of situation themselves, without being biased to either group, since they are of neither of those religions.

F) In my opinion, I believe that everyone is entitled to have their own religious beliefs and should be able to practice without other religions judging them. I don’t think that anyone, including the Catholic church, should be questioning the Jews about the validity of their religion, but I don’t necessarily think it is wrong of Catholics to encourage Jews to join in a respectful and tasteful manner the religion of Catholicism. I have never personally read the prayer, but if it truly is written offensively to the Jews, I don’t think it should have been revived. All religions need to learn how to respect each other, which includes not making it seem as if other religions besides your own are of less importance. The religion you choose is something personal, and everyone has different connections with different religions. Just because a person observes a particular religion, doesn’t mean that it is wrong for others to practice one of the many other religions of the world.