[HANASHIR:16926] Passion

[J Bielan <jbielan...>]

Two things: 

1) As I wrote to Robbie privately, in my opinion, the light of her life will 
never shine more brightly than it does right now.  I am simply in awe of hers 
and her colleague's endeavors in this regard.

2) You may find comfort in the following statement written by Cardinal Roger M. 
Mahony this month.  It was forwarded by my rabbi to me, and features a prologue 
by Rabbi Mark S. Diamond.

Dear Colleagues,

Amidst the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," 
let me share a timely statement issued by Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the 
Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  Cardinal Mahony's article on Catholic-Jewish 
relations was printed in last Friday's edition of "The Tidings," Southern 
California's Catholic Weekly.  Please note in particular the Cardinal's pledge 
to work with the Board of Rabbis, the American Jewish Committee and other 
Jewish organizations to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate.  

In these challenging times, we do well to remind Jews and Christians alike of 
the tangible progress we have made in relations between our respective faith 
communities.  I plan to redouble my efforts in interfaith outreach and 
education, and encourage you to do the same.  I welcome your own reflections on 
"The Passion," information on what you and your congregation/institution are 
doing in the interfaith arena, and your thoughts on the Board's role in this 
critical endeavor.

Warmest wishes from house to house for a Shabbat Shalom,

Mark

Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
Executive Vice President
The Board of Rabbis of Southern California
                                                    Statement on 40th 
Anniversary of Nostra Aetate

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony

February 2004

We are approaching the 40th Anniversary of a unique event - the 1965 
promulgation of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II Declaration on the Relationship 
of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. There had been nothing like it in the 
history of the Catholic Church, clearly proclaiming that "The Catholic Church 
rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions," and mandating a 
change in our relationship with these faiths, especially with Judaism. I will 
be working with the American Jewish Committee, the Board of Rabbis, and other 
Jewish groups in commemorating the upcoming 40th Anniversary of this document 
in a significant way. 

Since Nostra Aetate's promulgation, important guidelines have been issued for 
its implementation. It might be well for us to reflect upon them prior to the 
anniversary.

On June 24, 1985, the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews 
issued Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching 
and Catechesis of the Roman Catholic Church. That document, like its 
predecessor, Guidelines and Suggestions of Implementing the Conciliar 
Declaration "Nostra Aetate"(December 1, 1974) drew its inspiration from the 
Second Vatican Council and was intended to be an offering on the part of the 
Holy See to Catholics on how the Conciliar mandate can be properly fulfilled 
"in our time."

Nostra Aetate decries anti-Semitism as contrary to the spirit of the Gospel: 
"In her rejection of every persecution against any person, the Church, mindful 
of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons 
but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, and displays 
of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews at any time and by anyone." Going a 
step further, the 1974 Guidelines more strongly condemn anti-Semitism, linking 
this condemnation to the Holocaust.

The accusation of deicide has for centuries plagued the Jewish people, creating 
a popular climate for hatred and serving as a favorite subject for passion 
plays and catechetical teaching. Nostra Aetate addresses this thorny issue: 
"True, Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the 
death of Christ; still what happened in his passion cannot be charged against 
all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today."

A particularly useful and detailed discussion of the theological and historical 
principles involved in presentations of the passion narratives can be found in 
Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion issued by the 
Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs in March 1988: 
"The overall aim of any depiction of the passion should be the unambiguous 
presentation of the doctrinal understanding of the event in the light of faith, 
that is, of the Church's traditional interpretation of the meaning of Christ's 
death for all humanity. Nostra Aetate states this central gospel truth quite 
clearly: 'Christ in his boundless love freely underwent his passion and death 
because of the sins of all, so that all might attain salvation'. Therefore, any 
presentations that explicitly or implicitly seek to shift responsibility from 
human sin onto this or that historical group, such as the Jews, can only be 
said to obscure a core gospel truth." 

This message is reiterated in God's Mercy Endures Forever: Guidelines on the 
Presentation of Jews and Judaism in Catholic Preaching, published in 1989 by 
the Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy: "The message of the liturgy in 
proclaiming the passion narratives in full is to enable the assembly to see 
vividly the love of Christ for each person, despite their sins, a love that 
even death could not vanquish.....To the extent that Christians over the 
centuries made Jews the scapegoat for Christ's death, they drew themselves away 
from the paschal mystery. For it is only by dying to one's sins that we can 
hope to rise with Christ to a new life."

These guidelines provide an excellent means of educating all of us as we once 
again anticipate the season of Christ's Passion and Death. They denounce an 
accusation that has provoked contempt for Judaism and persecutions of the 
Jewish people for centuries. Their implementation will enable all of us to 
celebrate the anniversary of Nostra Atetae more fully and enhance the 
historically positive relationship the Jewish and Catholic communities have 
enjoyed in Los Angeles over the past forty years.