Cardinal Kasper discusses excommunications, Jewish-Catholic relations
January 29, 2009
In an interview with Vatican Radio yesterday, President Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that dialogue with Jews “should go on in the best interests of both sides.” The lifting of the excommunications of four Society of St. Pius X bishops, he said, was a separate issue from remarks made by one of them denying the existence of gas chambers and the extent of the Holocaust.
“We have to distinguish between two aspects of the whole thing,” Cardinal Kasper said. “One aspect is the lifting of the excommunication of the four bishops … This does not mean that we are already in full communion with them; it’s the first step to remove the juridical and psychological obstacles to dialogue with them on several points. This will not be an easy dialogue, but we are willing to go on. Our office is in favor of the unity of the Church and therefore also in favor of unity with this association.”
He continued, “And it was a very sad and unfortunate coincidence this interview with Bishop Williamson. The Catholic Church of course does not agree with his statements. We can only distance ourselves from this statement and the Society [of St. Pius X] has also distanced itself from this statement. So we have to distinguish the two things and not mix them up. My vision, my hope is that also our Jewish partners will understand that this is an unfortunate coincidence of two things that have absolutely nothing to do with each other whatsoever. And [our dialogue] should go on in the best interests of both sides.”
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