Thursday, April 10, 2008
MORE ECUMENICAL DIALOGUE
At 80, Pope Benedict XVI has limited his coming trip to the United States to 13 public events, but the church made a surprise announcement on Thursday that he had added two brief meetings — both with Jewish leaders.
One is a quick stopover at the Park East Synagogue in New York on April 18. It will be the first time a pope has ever visited a synagogue in the United States, and only the third visit by a pope to any synagogue.
The other is scheduled for the previous day, immediately after Benedict holds a major meeting in the rotunda of the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington with about 150 leaders representing a variety of faiths.
About 50 Jewish attendees from that event will then be ushered into the nearby Polish Heritage Room, where the pope will offer greetings for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins two days later, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The meetings with Jews are not a matter of favoritism, said the Rev. James Massa, executive director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the bishops' conference.
"The relationship between the church and the Jewish people is theologically significant, and not simply a matter of intercultural exchange or trying to find common ground on issues of justice and peace," Father Massa said. "Judaism is internal to Catholicism. It's different from any other kind of relationship with another religion."
Some Jewish leaders have expressed hope that the pope might use either of these occasions to announce a change to the prayer for the conversion of the Jews, which many Jews find objectionable, that is part of the Good Friday liturgy in Latin. Father Massa said that is unlikely. He said an "interpretation" of that prayer could be issued before or after the Pope's trip, but there are no assurances.
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