Catholic-Jewish relations have come a long way in the last century, advancing markedly during the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, says Lisa Palmieri-Billig, American Jewish Committee liaison to the Vatican.
Meeting with The Tidings recently near the end of a speaking tour of AJC chapters in the U.S., Billig said Catholics and Jews "have excellent relations on all levels," despite recent controversy stemming from Pope Benedict's loosening of restrictions on the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.
Jewish religious leaders have objected to the inclusion of a revised prayer for the conversion of the Jews in the Good Friday General Intercessions in the 1962 Roman Missal, the earlier of two editions of the Roman Missal approved for use in Catholic liturgy. The missal of Paul VI (1970), referred to as the "ordinary form" of the liturgy, has an updated Good Friday General Intercession that reflects current church teaching that the Jewish people were "the first to hear the word of God."
Even before Pope Benedict issued the Motu Proprio, "Summorum Pontificum," expanding usage of the Tridentine Mass, Billig explained, AJC officials were in touch with the Vatican about their concerns with the 1962 missal's Good Friday General Intercessions. They have requested that the Vatican replace the Good Friday prayer with the contemporary Latin version in Paul VI's missal.
"I have faith. I have confidence that it will come about. I know the Vatican works very slowly," said Billig, who, in addition to her AJC work, has been the Rome and Vatican correspondent for "The Jerusalem Post" for over 25 years. She is an accredited member of the Holy See's Press Room corps and is currently working towards a PhD in Social Sciences/Media at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Born in Vienna, Austria, Billig grew up in New York City where she earned an M.A. from Columbia University Teachers College. She moved to Rome in the '60s to teach at the American Overseas School of Rome where she met her Italian husband. Before joining the AJC in 2005, she worked for 18 years representing the Anti-Defamation League in its Rome office.
According to Billig, Catholic-Jewish relations "have moved a great deal" since 1903 when Pope Pius X told Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement, that the church could never sanction a Jewish state in Palestine because the Jews never recognized Christ.
Since the Second Vatican Council's 1965 "Nostra Aetate" document encouraging Christian-Jewish mutual respect, the Vatican's recognition of Israel and, especially, since Pope John Paul II's "incredible and beautiful acts [including the placing of his prayer into a crack at the Western Wall], things have moved forward," said Billig.
She sees "great continuity" in Catholic-Jewish relations in Pope John Paul's successor, Pope Benedict XVI, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger previously headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith. Billig noted one of Pope Benedict's first papal acts was to send telegrams to Jewish leaders saying he intended to continue on the path of Catholic-Jewish dialogue and respect forged by John Paul II.
She added the recent installation of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran as the new head of the Council for Interreligious Dialogue --- which had temporarily been under the leadership of the Pontifical Council for Culture's president --- is another indication Pope Benedict is serious about interreligious and ecumenical dialogue, especially concerning common values and common action among the world's religions.
Billig --- also vice moderator of the European section of the World Conference on Religions for Peace and moderator of an interreligious group in Rome that includes Jewish, Christian and Muslim participants --- says interfaith dialogue is critical to peace, especially in pluralistic Europe which has seen a steady increase in Muslim immigrants. "The future is a Muslim presence in Europe," said Billig.
She noted AJC's international director of interreligious affairs, Rabbi David Rosen, has ongoing relations with Muslim religious leaders, and recently helped form the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, an organization of Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious leaders dedicated to ending violence in the region.
Billig recently organized an interreligious conference in Rome sponsored by the mayor of Rome, the Austrian Foreign Ministry and Religions for Peace on "Media and Truth: an Interreligous Approach to Ethical Reporting." She said the whole world needs to know that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East isn't a "black and white" situation. "Both sides have to be helped and supported in finding a compromise.
"It's very important to give the context and background of the situation and not just a close-up to help people understand what's going on and to support both sides," said Billig. She said interreligious leaders are hopeful about U.S. participation in an upcoming Middle East peace conference expected to draw Israeli and Arab representatives from several countries in the region.
"There is a realization among the nations in the Middle East that something does need to be done, that Israel is here to stay. There is [also] much concern about the current situation in Iraq and Iran and [the possibility] of the whole Middle East devolving into violence," said Billig.
"We're all hopeful about the future of Israel. Sometimes good things come about when you least expect them, there's a turnabout. That's the Middle East. You never can predict anything." |