Monday, March 31, 2008
SEVERING RELATIONS OVER AN OBSCURE LITTLE PRAYER
The German tabloid Bild splashed its broadsheet with "We Are the Pope" to announce the selection of the Bavarian-born Joseph Ratzinger as the successor to Pope John Paul II in 2005.
Three years later, the feel-good headline has turned into a disappointment for many Catholics and Jews. A theological row over the pope's decision to use a rare Latin prayer for Good Friday, which urges Jews to convert to Catholicism, has prompted the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, to sever relations with the Catholic Church.
"As long as Pope Benedict does not return to the previous wording, I assume that there will not be any further dialogue [such as we had] in the past," said Knobloch.
The Vatican press office in Rome could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Read it here.
If this sort of activity took place on a grade school playground, I would label it "spoiling for a fight". When it takes place in international religious politics, I still call it "spoiling for a fight."
This petty attitude is the work of "the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch" according to the article. A woman rabbi?--meaning that this is coming from the Reform/Conservative side of Judaism, not the Orthodox?
Who will be served when and if this woman's fight develops into a reality?
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UPDATE
Here is the Wikipedia entry for Charlotte Knobloch. It does not say that she is a Rabbi. It does say:
Knobloch was born into a well-to-do Jewish family of lawyers. She is the daughter of Munich lawyer and Bavarian senator Fritz Neuland. Her mother Margarethe was born a Christian, but converted to Judaism upon marrying Neuland. However, her parents divorced in 1936. She was subsequently raised by her grandmother Albertine Neuland. Upon the arrest of her father, Knobloch recalls being saved by a stranger, a woman who took her in her hand and walked away. From 1942 onward, she lived with Catholic farmers in Franconia, who pretended she was their own illegitimate daughter.
There is a picture of her at the website as well.
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It appears that the Central Council of Jews in Germany began welcoming Reform Jews to the organization in May, 2004 according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency U.S.A.
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Knobloch was Vice President of the Central Council in 2005. She was elected President in 2006.
