Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, expressed confidence that the concerns of Jewish leaders and Catholics about certain prayers in the Tridentine Mass "can be resolved." The cardinal spoke at a press conference July 18 in Pieve di Cadore, near where Pope Benedict is vacationing in the northern Italian Alps.

After Pope Benedict issued his letter allowing greater use of the Tridentine Mass according to the 1962 missal, several Jewish leaders and Catholics involved in dialogue expressed concern over the missal's prayer for the conversion of the Jews, which asks God to remove "the veil from their hearts" and help them overcome their "blindness."

Since the Second Vatican Council, in the Good Friday prayer approved by Pope Paul VI in 1970, the Jews are referred to as "the first to hear the word of God" and the prayer asks that "they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant."

Cardinal Bertone, said "the problem can be resolved" either by closely following Pope Benedict's limits on using the 1962 Missal during Holy Week "or through a reflection that would lead to a decision valid for everyone --- for the traditionalists and for those who want to celebrate the Mass according to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council" --- that only the 1970 prayer be used at any Good Friday liturgy.

The Good Friday prayer for the Jews is one of a long set of prayers for various intentions, including prayers for the church, its ministers, other Christians, other believers in God and those who do not believe in God.

"It is a formula," Cardinal Bertone said. "The problem can be studied, and it could be decided that all those celebrating the Mass in the Catholic Church, according to the old missal or the new missal, recite the same formula of the Good Friday prayers, which were approved by (Pope) Paul VI; this can be decided, and it would resolve all the problems."

Cardinal Bertone also said the exact meaning of the limits Pope Benedict put on using the 1962 missal may need to be clarified. The papal document said, "In Masses celebrated without the people, any priest of Latin rite, whether secular or religious, can use the Roman Missal published by Pope Blessed John XXIII in 1962 or the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970, on any day except in the sacred triduum," which includes Good Friday.

"We appreciate Cardinal Bertone's clarification," said Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, U.S. Director of Interreligious Afffairs for the American Jewish Committee. "We at the American Jewish Committee had sought further clarification from Pope Benedict XVI through Cardinal Bertone, and we are pleased with his response.

"In trying to make the Tridentine Mass available to a wider audience, a secondary issue arose which is in the Good Friday prayer regarding the Jews," added Rabbi Greenebaum. "Now it appears that this problem can be resolved as well."