Motherhouse of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary in Darmstadt, Germany. derbrauni, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The visit of Pope St. John Paul II to the Holy Land, especially his days in Jerusalem, made a profound impression on Christians throughout Europe. This became the stimulant for the Evangelische (Protestant) Sisters of Darmstadt to organize a Protestant convention, “Changing the Future by Confronting the Past,” in Jerusalem from April 17-22, 2001.

During the Pope’s visit to Israel, ordinary Jewish citizens were asking, “Where are the Protestants?” So we were thankful that more than 700 Christians from over 25 countries, especially throughout the Protestant tradition, joined us in April. ‘We were astonished by the harmony of purpose experienced between people from different nations, different cultures, yet all drawn together by a common purpose- a desire to repent for what his or her country had done to the Jews,’ to quote one delegate. The wider the spectrum of Christians represented at this act of repentance in Jerusalem, the more meaningful it would be to the Jewish people.  Though not necessarily sharing the same theological views, we were united in repentance and in our desire to demonstrate our support for the Jewish people.*

I was privileged to be the Catholic speaker at the conference that reviewed the history of Christian-Jewish relations over the centuries. The text of my presentation is here.

How did I receive the invitation? A Brother in the Community working with the Darmstadt Sisters is from Millburn, N.J. When he visited his father, he came to see me, and we discussed our common hope for positive developments in Christian-Jewish relations.  Shortly before the Convention dates, the Catholic speaker was no longer available so Brother Sylvestro contacted me. It was a memorable privilege to join with this large group of pilgrims for those days.

The most solemn part of the Convention is described by the Sisters:

The climax was the repentance service on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, led by an international team of clergy.  A hush fell on the gathering as Bishop Christian Zippert of Germany opened with a prayer to the Eternal Father, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘Following the example of Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel, who confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers at crucial times in their nation’s history, we want to begin this new millennium with a public confession of sin before God and the Jewish people here in Jerusalem, where the Church began.’*

In attendance were over 1200, including 200 members of the Jewish community.  A declaration repudiating anstisemitism and signed by over 32,500 Christians in 36 countries was received by Rabbi Paul Laderman on behalf of the Jewish community with the assurance it would be permanently stored in the National Archive of the State of Israel.

Twenty years have passed, and the prayerful work of repentance and peacemaking continues. May the goodwill and hope of this and many other encounters dispose us, Jews and Christians, to be recipients and vehicles of divine blessings!

*Taken from the letter of thanks to those who supported “Jerusalem 2001 Convention: Changing the Future by Confronting the Past.” © The Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary  Darmstadt, Germany.

Recently the Cardinal Bea Centre of the Gregorian University (Rome) has announced that a two-year interdisciplinary graduate program will lead to a Licentiate in Judaic Studies and Jewish-Christian Relations. A licentiate is the ecclesiastical degree equivalent to a Master’s degree in other settings.

In a webinar on April 21, 2021, Father Etienne Veto, the Director of the Bea Centre, presented the program. Sixty to seventy percent of the courses will be in Judaic Studies on a range of topics, including art and literature, leading to a deep understanding of Judaism. The second facet of the program will be Catholic-Jewish relations, leading to a Christian self-perception in the light of Judaism. Following the Second Vatican Council, Catholics will understand that the Jewish people have not been replaced by the Church. Rather, the Church “draws nourishment from the good olive tree onto which the wild olive branch of the Gentiles have been grafted (see Romans 11:17-24)” (Declaration Nostra aetate no. 4)

Graduates of this program will be equipped to pursue interfaith collaboration and peace-building through research and teaching.

The guest speaker in the webinar was Father Norbert Hofmann, of the Salesians and the long-time Secretary of the Pontifical Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews. He drew attention to the words of Pope Francis in an audience with members of the American Jewish Committee. The Pope presented three goals for Catholic-Jewish encounters:

1. Collaboration in works of charity on behalf of the poor and suffering.
2. Building on the heritage of the Second Vatican Council for mutual esteem and friendship.
3. Deepening the Christian theology of Judaism on the basis of the statement for the fiftieth anniversary of the Vatican II Declaration in 2015, “The Gifts and the Calling of God are Irrevocable” (Romans 11:29).

Father Hofmann drew attention to the need for involvement of young people in Catholic-Jewish relations. The Commission has promoted this through biennial international “Emerging Leadership Conference,” which brings fifty young people together for several days of study.

Seton Hall University’s M.A. Program in Jewish-Christian Studies welcomes this new development of the Gregorian University’s Cardinal Bea Centre!  As our program enters its 45^th year we look forward to opportunities for collaboration!

Father Kurt Hruby

The centennial of a birth is a good time to remember the life of a benefactor. Kurt Hruby was born in Austria in 1921, the son of an Austrian Christian who divorced his Jewish wife after the Nazis took over Austria in March 1938. Kurt joined his mother in her flight to Palestine. There he acquired a fluency in modern Hebrew and a profound knowledge of the Ashkenazi (eastern European) rabbinic tradition. His survey of “Post Biblical History of the Jews” is published in The New Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement 2010.

On visits to Paris in the 1960s and 70s I would spend time in the library of the Fathers of Sion. There I met Father Hruby and benefited from his erudition and sense of humor. On occasion we met at international gatherings of those promoting Christian-Jewish relations. He was editor of the Swiss journal Judaica from the early 1970s until his death.

Father Hruby was a younger member of the generation of pioneers who prepared the Church for the Second Vatican Council and the new encounter between Christians and Jews. May they rest in peace and may our work build upon the foundation that they set in place!