Important Gesture by Pope Benedict
Stops beatification of French priest seen as anti-Semitic; Jews hint at new level in relations with Church.
by James Besser, Washington correspondent
In what is being seen as a dramatic gesture to the Jewish community, Pope Benedict XVI has put a hold on the fast-track beatification of a French priest accused of rabid anti-Semitism.
That freezes the decision by Pope John Paul II, and now an official Catholic Church inquiry will review whether Father Leon Dehon is worthy of beatification, a step on the path to sainthood.
“This is exceedingly important,” Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, interfaith director for the Anti-Defamation League, told The Jewish Week.
Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor was part of a 25-member Jewish delegation who met with the new pope last week.
“This gesture is much appreciated and bodes well for the future,” the rabbi said.
Earlier this year, historians in France uncovered anti-Semitic writings by Father Dehon, who died in 1925, including his contention that Jews are “united in their hatred of Christ” and that the Talmud is a “manual for the bandit, the corrupter, the social destroyer.”
The hold on beatification — which was not a result of last week’s meeting with the Jewish delegation — also could point to a new Vatican sensitivity on other outstanding issues between the two communities, including the drive to elevate Pope Pius XII, the Holocaust-era pontiff, to sainthood.
“If this means they would consider slowing down the process on Pius XII until all the records are made available and analyzed, that would be a very good thing,” Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor said. “That is an issue we have raised repeatedly. We will have more opportunities to raise it again when we are there in September and October.”
The decision to reconsider the beatification of Father Dehon added to the warm feelings produced by last week’s meeting, which took place in the papal apartments. According to several participants, it included little substantive discussion of longstanding issues between the two communities, but was rich in symbolism and personal connections.
“You can’t separate the symbolism and the substance,” said Mark Pelavin, director of the Commission on Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism. “The fact that it occurred so early in Pope Benedict’s pontificate, and that he touched all the right bases in his remarks, were important signs.”
Pope Benedict promised to build on the foundation of dialogue with the Jewish community built by his predecessor, John Paul II, Pelavin said, but suggested the nature of that relationship could change.
“He’s a different person,” Pelavin said of Pope Benedict. “He’s a theologian by training and practice. That will color the dialogue. I think it will be more theological in nature. There will be a greater exploration of the idea of the Jews’ covenant with God, and how that relates to Catholic covenantal thinking. Those are things that will have an impact not so much in the political arena but in the teachings the Church uses.”
Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor said the meeting suggested Catholic-Jewish relations are poised to jump to a new level.
“After 40 years, the time has come for us to engage in mature theological dialogue,” he said. “It’s time for us to recognize that we have very different ways of looking at texts; basic concepts like covenant and mission mean different things. This meeting signaled that it’s time to start unpacking those issues. We have to learn to celebrate our differences, not try to sweep them away.”
Several participants commented on Pope Benedict’s demeanor at the meeting.
“At the beginning he seemed as taciturn and as sharp in his bearing as I would have expected,” said one. “But as soon as we were finished with the formalities and he stepped down to greet each of us individually, the warmth and kindness were unmistakable.”
Many of the Jewish participants had met with the new pope when, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he headed the Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a body that deals with core Catholic doctrines. In that position, Cardinal Ratzinger had emphasized the role of the Jewish Scriptures in providing a foundation for the Christian faith and the fallacy of blaming the Jews for Christ’s crucifixion.
“John Paul was a philosopher,” Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor said. “This pope, when he talks to you, you think you’re the only person in the universe. This will be a thoughtful, circumspect and very focused papacy, and that bodes very well for the dialogue.”
“Certainly John Paul took Jewish-Catholic relations to new heights, but in all my meetings with him — some 15, including eight or nine private audiences — I never saw such a degree of relaxed intimacy and friendship,” said Rabbi David Rosen, international director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee.
That personal connection, Rabbi Rosen said, will alter Jewish-Catholic dialogue.
“Obviously we realize that we need to move now to a new phase of our relationship with the Church,” he said, “not so much focused on the past as on the future, and what we can say and do together for our world based on our shared values while respecting our profound differences.
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