The Church disallowed proseletyzing of the Jews and Muslims in 1224 when St. Francis of Assisi presented his case to Pope Honorius. St. Francis had reached an agreement with the Sultan in Egypt that the Franciscans would be allowed to enter the Holy Land to serve the needs of Christians, Muslims and Jews without reprisals, as long as the friars did not attempt to convert the Muslims and Jews. Francis promised that the friars would never SAY anything to converrt a Mulsim or a Jew.
When he returned to Italy the Holy Father authorized the creation of a new branch of the Franciscans called the Commisereate of the Holy Land, which still exists today. These friars are mostly Italian, though there are many Americans there too. Their headquarters are now at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, DC. It was once in Italy. The friars ahve been in Palestine for almost 800 years under this treaty, which was later recognized by the State of Israel in or around 1950.
We have too look very carefully at what Francis and Honorius agreed to and how they understood proselytizing. Francis said that the friars would not SAY a word. He never promised that the friars would turn away anyone who came inquiring about the faith. He never said anything about hiding their Gospel way of lfie. For centuries, not only the Franciscans, who were the first to live among Jews and Muslims, but later other too, there has been a strict policy on the part of the Church to evangelize with charity, good example, compassion, justice and mutual cooperation. We have no idea of how many converts there have been, because record keeping began very recently.
This same idea later spread through Europoe during the Catholic Counter Reformation. The Church made a great effort to correct the heretical teachings that were going around, but she also corrected her own errors in judgment and disciplines.
Much later, Pope John XXIII made a clear distinction between proselytizing and evangelizing. Evangelizing is good, proselytizing is not good. Proselytizing is based on confrontation and negation of everything that another faith stands for. This is unacceptable to the Catholic Church, because many Catholic truths are found in Judaism and Islam.
This is why John XXIII had special comments inserted into the documents of Vatican II about both Jews and Islam having a special place in salvation history. This was later ratified by Paul VI who signed the final draft on Religious Freedom and again by John Paul II and today by B puenedict XVI.
The Cardinal has been working out of a paradigm that dates by to the 13th century. The only time when the Church had confrontations with Jews or Muslims was during aggressions on their part toward Christians. But since the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church has always had rather interesting dealings with both Muslims and Jews. There have been many academic and economic exchanges between the three. There have been tense moments between the three. There has also been a line that they have not crossed. Muslims and Jews have been very careful not to try to convert Catholics and the other way around. The times that this agreement has been broken either by Catholics, Muslims or Jews, it has ended up in bloodshed. Because it’s always broken by people who have another agenda.
The Church tries to be very careful to evangelize without pushing buttons or offending. The Church does believe that the Jewish people will be converted at the end of time. Because she does believe that the covenant has been fulfilled and God has indeed saved Israel. It’s a matter of time before Israel can see what has happened and accept it. The Church does not look at the Jewish people with disregard, disdain or condescension. Actually she has great respect for Jews. That’s why popes have make it a point to go pray in synagogues, to show Jews and Christians that there is a continuity between Judaism and Catholicism, not a competition. That is one form of evangelization.
It allows people to ask questions and get answers without having to get in their faces. They come freely.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
He was no dummy. Pope Honorius agreed to it upon Francis’ reporting it to him. But they had to wait a few years, because not all Muslims were as nice as the Sultan. There were many terrorists on the journey. There were many Catholics who were opposed to the idea as well and they too threatened the friars. Francis never saw the first group of brothers leave for the Holy Land. He died in 1226 and the brothers left on their mission a year later.