JEWISH-CATHOLIC RELATIONS DEEPEN

The Roman Catholic Church does not regard its relationship with Judaism as a part of interreligious dialogue which in fact had its beginning in the issue of the responsibility of "Christians" during the Holocaust:

'Nostra Aetate' at 50: The 'Magna Carta' of interreligious dialogue

Although promulgated by Blessed Paul VI on Oct. 28, 1965, the first draft of "Nostra Aetate" was commissioned by St. John XXIII under the direction of Cardinal Augustin Bea. The draft, originally entitled "Decretum de Iudaeis" ("Decree on the Jews"), "only addressed the issue of the responsibility of Christians" during the Holocaust, Cardinal Tauran said.

In the end, the final two articles of the document addressed the Catholic Church's relationship with the Jewish people while the initial articles of the declaration highlight the church's relations with other world religions.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews, said the document's discussion of Christianity's relationship with Judaism was not only a starting point "but the hinge of the whole council declaration."

"The fourth article of 'Nostra Aetate' should be considered the 'Magna Carta' of Judeo-Catholic dialogue," he said. "For the first time in history, the ecumenical council expressed itself so explicitly and positively with regard to the relationship between the Catholic Church and Judaism."

The Swiss cardinal also noted that "Nostra Aetate" not only mentioned "practical and pragmatic prospects," but placed the relationship between Catholicism and Judaism inside a "theological context" based on "solid biblical foundations."

"Nostra Aetate" marked a decisive change in direction in relations between the Catholic Church and Judaism, Cardinal Koch said, and it "shows itself as a useful compass toward reconciliation between Christians and Jews, valid both for the present and for the future."

Thus, Paragraph 4 of Nostra Aetate begins as follows:

4. As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock.

Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God's saving design, the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets. She professes that all who believe in Christ-Abraham's sons according to faith (6)-are included in the same Patriarch's call, and likewise that the salvation of the Church is mysteriously foreshadowed by the chosen people's exodus from the land of bondage. The Church, therefore, cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom God in His inexpressible mercy concluded the Ancient Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the Gentiles. . .

Is it plausible that the Church of Rome "draws sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree . . .??" Not really!! The Church of Rome draws her sustenance from Babylonian paganism, including sun worship.

Nevertheless, the Church of Rome claims as an "acknowledgement" that "according to God's saving design, the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets." A different picture emerges in the history of Simon Magus. However, Rome's "acknowledgement" led to a "fundamental agreement," followed by ever deepening relations as Rome edges towards her cherished goal, which is but a prelude to Satan's ultimate purpose. It is in this spirit and undoubtedly with an eye to the future that Pope Francis has followed his predecessors John-Paul and Benedict in visiting the Tempio Maggiore, Rome’s Great Synagogue:-

Pope Francis at Rome synagogue: God’s covenant with Jews ‘irrevocable’

ROME (RNS) Pope Francis stressed the “irrevocability” of God’s covenant with the Jews and cited the Holocaust as a reminder of the ongoing need to combat violence as he made his first visit to Rome’s main synagogue on Sunday (Jan. 17) amid tight security.

“Violence by man against man is in contradiction with any religion worthy of that name, and in particular with the three great monotheistic religions,” Francis told a crowd filling the Great Synagogue just down the Tiber River from the Vatican. “Life is sacred, a gift of God.”

“Every human being, as a creature of God, is our brother, regardless of his or her origin or religious affiliation,” he said, calling on Christians and Jews to “put into practice the logic of peace, of reconciliation, of forgiveness” in the Middle East and elsewhere. . .

The pontiff is well-known for his strong ties to the Jewish community of Buenos Aires and in 2010 published a book with Argentine rabbi Abraham Skorka.

Ahead of Francis’ visit to the synagogue, Skorka highlighted the pope’s “special bond” with the Argentine Jewish community, praising the pontiff’s “profound commitment to relations with it and through it with Judaism as a whole.”

The chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, who also greeted the pope on Sunday, said the occasion came “in a very dramatic moment” for the world.

What Pope Francis synagogue visit says about Catholic-Jewish relations

Argentine-born Francis had a close relationship with the Jewish community even before his election to the papacy, when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. Since he became pontiff in March 2013 he has consistently demonstrated attention to Jewish issues and has won over many skeptics with his warmth. He visited Israel, along with Jordan and the West Bank, in 2014.

His visit to the synagogue “will not be marked by a novice stepping foot in an alien place and saying that I need to find my connection, as John Paul II did,” said Bretton-Granatoor. Pope Francis, he told JTA, “is wholly at ease with the Jewish community and Jewish life. His entrance into that synagogue will not be dissimilar to a Jew entering a synagogue in a new place — new, yet familiar.”

In May 2014, Pope Francis defused the Pius issue to some extent by making clear that he had no intention of fast-tracking his sainthood. And a Vatican document released in December to mark the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate reiterated at length how Christianity is rooted in Judaism. It also renewed pledges of cooperation and stated that the Church as an institution should not try to convert Jews.

“Francis’s visit to the synagogue will be far closer to a family reunion precisely because the blessed new positive Catholic-Jewish relationship has become almost normative, and Francis is overwhelmingly seen as a true friend of the Jewish people, which indeed he is,” said Rabbi David Rosen, the American Jewish Committee’s international director for interreligious affairs.

There is still work to be done (As pope visits Rome synagogue, six issues strain Catholic-Jewish ties.) However, Pope Francis appears to be a pontiff uniquely poised to accomplish complete reconciliation between the Roman Catholic Church and Judaism; but there is yet the major obstacle of Zionism, Jewish and Christian, impeding progress towards her desired goal of a presence in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the sands of time are running out. Fulfillment of the prophecy of Dan.11:45 is certain. The ecumenical dialogues are resulting in agreements, religious and political. The process of ecumenical unity seems to be accelerating, and the final movements of earth's history will be rapid ones.

For the Church of Rome to realize her cherished goal, ecumenism must continue on the broadest front. Thus Pope Francis is reported to be about to make another historic visit in harmony with Nostra Aetate:

After Rome’s synagogue, Pope Francis now set to visit mosque

Pope Francis appears set to become the first pope to visit the Great Mosque of Rome, one of the largest Islamic places of worship outside the Arab world, not long after visiting the city’s historic Great Synagogue.

Although the Vatican hasn’t confirmed it, the president of the Union of Italy’s Islamic communities said Tuesday that the visit could happen on Jan. 27. His visit to the city’s historic Great Synagogue came on Jan. 17.

Speaking to the Italian network TV2000, sponsored by Italy’s Catholic bishops, Imam Izzedin Elzir also said a delegation from the community of Rome’s mosque will be in the Vatican Tuesday afternoon to emphasize the importance of the decades-old dialogue with the Catholic Church. . .

The pope has made interreligious dialogue one of the cornerstones of his papacy, and has maintained a close friendship with both Jewish and Islamic leaders, such as Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Muslim leader Omar Abboud, both from Argentina.

When he announced the Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy, Francis noted that both Judaism and Islam “consider mercy to be one of God’s most important attributes” and said he trusted the Jubilee “will foster an encounter” with these religions.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the three major Abrahamic religions; that is, monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him.

The advancing ecumenical dialogues, interfaith (Christian) and interreligious, are highly visible manifestations of the work of the spirits of Rev. 13:13-14, and a major sign of the approaching end of earth's history.