Long Island Catholic Vol. 43 No. 33
November 10, 2004
In Catholic-Jewish relations, Bishop
Murphy is 'friend and partner'
By Mary Gorry Wantagh -
Catholics and
Jews from around Long Island met at the Suburban Temple here on
Sunday, Nov. 7 to hear a panel of Catholic and Jewish leaders,
including Bishop William Murphy, discuss the great strides made in
Catholic-Jewish and Vatican-Israeli relations and the work that
still needs to be done.
"Jews and Catholics, Israel and the Vatican:
Building Bridges," presented by the South East Nassau Synagogue
Enterprise (SENSE), the Pave the Way Foundation, and the Diocese of
Rockville Centre, marked the 10th anniversary of the establishment
of formal diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican.
Bishop William Murphy chats with Oded Ben-Hur, ambassador of Israel
to the Holy See, at a conference Sunday in Wantagh marking the 10th
anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations
between Israel and the Vatican. (TLIC photo by Gregory A. Shemitz)
In addition to Bishop
Murphy, the panelists included Rabbi Jack Bemporad, director of the
Center for Interreligious Understanding and a professor of
Interreligious Studies at the Vatican's Angelicum University in
Rome; Father David-Maria Jaeger, a Francis-can Friar and legal
representative for the Franciscan custody of the Holy Land; Father
Priamo Etzi, associate dean of the Pontifical Athenaeum at the
Franciscan University in Rome; and Oded Ben-Hur, the Israeli
Ambassador to the Vatican."
My first impression as a seminarian, as a
young priest, was of Cardinal Cushing of Boston," said Bishop
Murphy. "Through-out his life he was an unabashed and unapologetic
fighter for changing Catholic-Jewish relations."
"At the second
Vatican Council, he rose onto the floor for only two reasons," said
the bishop. "He spoke with great gusto in favor of religious
freedom. Two weeks later he was on his feet again to give a ringing
endorsement to a declaration on the Jews, to an end to anti-Semitism.
"Since
the opening of dialogue between Catholics and Jews, Catholics have
begun to see Jesus "in the perspective of his Jewish-ness," noted
Bishop Murphy. "We've learned to like each other and we've also
learned that we want to understand each other better."
"Our two
faiths use the same words but often mean very different things,"
said Rabbi Bemporad. Catholics and Jews will never understand the
others' religion "unless we talk to each other theologically," he
said.
It's important to remember, however, that "it's not religions
that communicate. It's human beings that communicate," noted Rabbi
Bemporad. It's also important to remember that the issue is not
whether or not Catholics and Jews agree on matters they are
discussing. "The issue is rather whether we understand one another,"
he said.
The Catholic Church "has had the courage and is the leader
and has established the model" of working with Judaism, noted Rabbi
Bemporad. Because of the Catholic Church, Judaism is viewed as
Christianity's "dearly beloved elder brothers," he said.
"Jesus was
born, raised, and died a Jew," said Mr. Ben-Hur. "We have so much in
common but we were afraid to talk about it. Two thousand years of
unpleasant history between Jews and Christians created a kind of
suspicion, fear, among Jews. It created fear and this fear created
detachment, and this detachment created something that is very sad,
ignorance," ignorance about what it means to be a Christian on the
part of the Jews, and on the part of Christians, what it means to be
a Jew.
Israelis have spent so many years defending the right of
Israel to exist that they never gave much thought to the future,
noted Mr. Ben-Hur, but they are now, and that's what having a
dialogue with the Vatican is about. In a relationship of love and
friendship, "it is important to say 'I love you,'" said Father
Jaeger, but it also important to act in ways that show that love.
"Together we must stand for justice, we must stand for peace which
is the fruit of justice."
"We have come a long way in 40 years,"
noted Bishop Murphy. "Whatever the future is, I pledge to you I will
always be your partner and your friend."
