US bishops issue statement on Catholic-Jewish dialogue, will alter ‘Doctrinal Ambiguities’ text

October 07, 2009

Responding to “misunderstanding and feelings of hurt among members of the Jewish community,” five leading US bishops have pledged to excise two sentences from the June 18 document “A Note on Ambiguities Contained in ‘Reflections on Covenant and Mission.’”

The two sentences slated for removal are italicized:

Reflections on Covenant and Mission maintains that a definition of evangelization as the "invitation to a commitment of faith in Jesus Christ and to entry through baptism into the community of believers which is the Church" is a "very narrow construal" of her mission. In its effort to present a broader and fuller conception of evangelization, however, the document develops a vision of it in which the core elements of proclamation and invitation to life in Christ seem virtually to disappear. For example, Reflections on Covenant and Mission proposes interreligious dialogue as a form of evangelization that is "a mutually enriching sharing of gifts devoid of any intention whatsoever to invite the dialogue partner to baptism." Though Christian participation in interreligious dialogue would not normally include an explicit invitation to baptism and entrance into the Church, the Christian dialogue partner is always giving witness to the following of Christ, to which all are implicitly invited.

The signatories of the new “Statement of Principles for Catholic-Jewish Dialogue,” dated October 2 and released October 6, are Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); Cardinal William Keeler, archbishop emeritus of Baltimore and USCCB Liaison to the Jewish Community; Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, chairman of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Committee; Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, chairman of the Doctrine Committee; and Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, co-chair of the USCCB-Orthodox Union/Rabbinical Council of America Consultation.

The committees led by Bishop Lori and Archbishop Gregory jointly issued “A Note on Ambiguities Contained in ‘Reflections on Covenant and Mission,’” while Cardinal Keeler authored the 2002 “Reflections on Covenant and Mission.”

Emphasizing that God has not revoked the Old Covenant and that “Jesus Christ is the unique savior of all humankind, who fulfills in himself all of God’s promises and covenants with the people of Israel,” the bishops note in their new statement that “Catholics have a sacred responsibility to bear witness to Christ at every moment of their lives.” At the same time, Catholic-Jewish dialogue “has never been and will never be used by the Catholic Church as a means of proselytism-- nor is it intended as a disguised invitation to baptism.”

For the benefit of Jewish leaders, the bishops also pledged to distinguish the teaching of the Church from the opinions of theologians in future dialogue sessions.

 

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Further information:

• Bishops Clarify Statement On Dialogue With Jewish Community, Plan To Excise Two Lines From Earlier Statement On ‘Doctrinal Ambiguities’ (USCCB)
• Statement of Principles for Catholic-Jewish Dialogue (USCCB)
• Letter accompanying statement (USCCB)
• A Note on Ambiguities Contained in “Reflections on Covenant and Mission” (USCCB)
• Dr. Jeff Mirus: A Significant USCCB Self-Correction (Catholic Culture, 06/23)