Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

Is Latin Bad for the Jews?
Monday, July 9, 2007

The controversy about the return of Latin to the Catholic mass, which first stirred up controversy at FeilerFaster last week, has now stirred up a much bigger problem, as Jews from New York to Jerusalem got up in arms. Here's a bit of background.

A decree by Pope Benedict allowing priests to say the old Latin Mass more frequently has sparked criticism within both Catholic and Jewish ranks, with one Italian bishop saying he was "in mourning."

The decree, a nod to traditionalists which the Pope said was meant to heal divisions within the Church, was regarded by some as a blow to reforms introduced in the 1960s that promoted mass in local languages and understanding with non-Catholics.

"I can't fight back the tears. This is the saddest moment in my life as a man, priest and bishop," Luca Brandolini, a member of the liturgy commission of the Italian bishops' conference, told the Rome daily La Repubblica in an interview on Sunday.

"It's a day of mourning, not just for me but for the many people who worked for the Second Vatican Council. A reform for which many people worked, with great sacrifice and only inspired by the desire to renew the Church, has now been cancelled."

The Pope, in a letter to bishops on Saturday, rejected criticism that his decree could split Catholics and reverse the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

Some Jewish leaders have sharply criticized the decree, which revives a passage from the old Latin prayer book for Good Friday calling for Jews to be converted.

And more on the prayers.

The old prayer, contained in the 1962 missal of the Tridentine rite, read: "Let us pray also for the Jews that the Lord our God may take the veil from their hearts and that they also may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, you do not refuse your mercy even to the Jews; hear the prayers which we offer for the blindness of that people so that they may acknowledge the light of your truth, which is Christ, and be delivered from their darkness."

The prayer used in the New Mass according to the Pope Paul VI missal reads: "Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant. Almighty and eternal God, long ago you gave your promise to Abraham and his posterity. Listen to your church as we pray that the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption."

But David Rosen, one of the most respected men in interfaith relations, who is a character in ABRAHAM, says Jews should not be alarmist.

In the wake of controversy over the recital of a Catholic prayer concerning the conversion of the Jews, David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee said Sunday that Jewish groups' responses were exaggerated.

Rosen said that while the Pontiff's move demanded clarification, the inclusion for conversion of the Jews contained in the old form of the Latin Mass was an implementation of a decision made by his predecessor pope John Paul II in 1998.

He added that very few worshipers recited the said section on the conversion of the Jews.

Labels: Interfaith Relations

Posted by B Feiler at 7:15 AM
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