2nd Thought

The article which I'll be discussing, from the Jerusalem Post:
Here

Thomas Cahill (A Christian) in "The Gift of the Jews" writes that Christian anti-Semitism often configures the Jew in the same way it configures the "Old Testament" G-d. Therefore, he says, perhaps it comes not just from a hatred of Jews, but a hatred of G-d. I found that argument quite startling. The history of Christian anti-Semitism plays an odd role with Israel. On the one hand, many have argued that the Shoah prompted the West into supporting Israel's existance. On the other hand, many die-hard support in America stems from a branch of Christianity that only wants to see Israel exist so she can be destroyed in a fiery Apocolypse. (Daniel Radosh's "Rapture Ready" has a good analysis of this phenomenon.) This isn't the most pro-Jewish epistemology, really.

So this article in the Post about Pope Benedict really surprised me. I had heard that some of his views were pre-Vatican II, especially in sexual matters. This made me wonder if that same judgement extended to his views on Judaism. I thought my suspicion had been confirmed when I read about Richard Williamson. A Bishop of the Society of Saint Pius X, he was excommunicated by the last Pope for his anti-Semitic views - Holocaust denial among them. Benedict lifted that ban.

However, that does not mean Williamson is being reinstated. (Note: I'm not well-educated in what excommunication versus reinstation ectera all mean, so I'm not sure what the justification for lifting the ban is.) Benedict's statements on the matter really impressed me. While I still disagree with the Church's views on homosexuality and women, I do think that just in the category of Jewish relations they're taking a huge step forward.

His history as Pope has included many welcoming gestures. I was especially impressed with this comment from 'The Heritage of Abraham: The Gift of Christmas" published in L'Osservatore Romano:

"Abraham, father of the people of Israel, father of faith, has become the source of blessing, for in him 'all the families of the earth shall call themselves blessed.' The task of the Chosen People is therefore to make a gift of their God - the one true God - to every other people. In reality, as Christians we are the inheritors of their faith in the one God. Our gratitude therefore must be extended to our Jewish brothers and sisters who, despite the hardships of their own history, have held on to faith in this God right up to the present and who witness to it..."

Williamson is being required to affirm the teachings of Vatican II before he can be reinstated. On the subject of the Shoah (and I'm also impressed that he used that term), Benedict wrote:

"Even if the most recent loathsome experience of the Shoah was perpetuated in the name of an anti-Christian ideology which tried to strike the Christian faith at its Abrahamic roots in the people of Israel, it cannot be denied that a certain insufficient resistance to this atrocity on the part of Christians can be explained by an inherited anti-Judaism present in the hearts of not a few Christians."

I really think this signifies that even within a very conservative environment, major relationship building is occuring. The idea of a Pope visiting a Jewish homeland and apologizing for anti-Semitism would have been mind-blowing to my Grandmother. Today, it's one article amongst many. This gives me hope.