Pope to Visit Synagogue

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I really don’t want to open Pandora’s Box - after the Good Friday prayer is being heavily/heatedly discussed - but it’s been announced that the Pope’s trip will coincide with Passover. He’s going to make a 30-minute visit to a synagogue because of that.

Any thoughts on this? I think Pope John Paul II had visited synagogue in Rome. But am I being touchy here? Wouldn’t it be nice if the Pope had added another Catholic Church to his agenda instead? Wouldn’t it have been nice - in light of Moto Proprio, etc. - for him to have visited a traditional Church to emphasize it? And, yes, I know schedules are tight. But couldn’t Passover wishes be extended during one of his speeches while visiting here whenever the holiday begins? I don’t mean to split hairs but if we’re told how to pray to appease another religion - then don’t I have a voice in appeasing my own? :confused:
 
Gee this is great news to hear!

Pope John Paul visited Synagogues and a Mosque as well.

Jim
 
Please post a link to a news article containing this information.
 
Walt_Oliver said:
Please post a link to a news article containing this information.
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I will research it online for you - but I just heard it on either last night’s - or this morning’s TV news reports. I watch various networks, so I can’t recall which one.
 
John Allen sees the visit to a synagogue as directly related to the Good Friday prayer controversy.

Efforts to mute criticism of a Good Friday prayer for the conversion of the Jews in the old Latin liturgy of the Catholic Church, which have escalated ever since Pope Benedict XVI announced the revival of the Latin Mass last July, intensified this week.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced two additions to the program of Pope Benedict while he’s in the United States in mid-April, both directed at Jews. After a general April 17 session with 200 leaders of other faiths in Washington, D.C., the pope will also meet briefly in private with the Jewish delegation. On April 18, Benedict will make a stop at New York’s Park East Synagogue, located near the Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations.

While the official motive is for the pope to offer greetings for Passover, which begins on April 19, the clear subtext would seem to be a desire to reassure Jews that the pope remains committed to Catholic/Jewish dialogue, despite recent turbulence.

Today, the Vatican released the text of a statement from the Secretariat of State, its central administrative authority, asserting that the Good Friday prayer does not signal any change in the church’s commitment to better relations with Jews.

The statement was released in both Italian and English, in part so that it would be readily understood by Jewish readers, but in part, too, suggesting that the timing is related to the pope’s upcoming trip to the United States.

More]
 
Conservative said:
I really don’t want to open Pandora’s Box - after the Good Friday prayer is being heavily/heatedly discussed - but it’s been announced that the Pope’s trip will coincide with Passover. He’s going to make a 30-minute visit to a synagogue because of that.

Any thoughts on this? I think Pope John Paul II had visited synagogue in Rome. But am I being touchy here? Wouldn’t it be nice if the Pope had added another Catholic Church to his agenda instead? **Wouldn’t it have been nice - in light of Moto Proprio, etc. - for him to have visited a traditional Church to emphasize it? ** And, yes, I know schedules are tight. But couldn’t Passover wishes be extended during one of his speeches while visiting here whenever the holiday begins? I don’t mean to split hairs but if we’re told how to pray to appease another religion - then don’t I have a voice in appeasing my own? :confused:
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The bold subscript is mine.

I believe there are many reasons for not visiting a traditional parish on this visit.
  1. This visit is really to focus on international affairs. It’s more of a diplomatic visit than a pastoral visit.
  2. In light of the misunderstanding on both sides, regarding the change in the prayer at Good Friday services, it is diplomatically appropriate for the Pope to meet with Jewish leaders and to assure them that the Catholic Church is not promoting antisemitism and will not tolerate any form of anti-semitism. Jews and some Catholics need to hear this message loud and clear.
  3. Finally, the Motu Propio makes it clear that TLM is an extraordinary form of the Latin Rite liturgy and the Novus Ordo will continue to be the ordinary form. To visit a traditional parish and not an NO parish would be like visiting a Byzantine parish. Observe that Popes have never visited American Byzantine parishes either, even though they are Catholic. In fact, the only parishes that the popes have visited when they come to the USA have been cathedral parishes. Other than that, John Paul II did visit the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC which is not a parish, but serves as the main chapel of the Pontifical University (which the Vatican owns) and the National Shrine.
Again, diplomacy is key. If the Pope visited a TLM parish and not an NO or a Byzantine parish, there would be many hard feelings, as the TLM is, by his own words, extraordinary. In fact, the Byzantine rites are not extraordinary. They are ordinary for the eastern Catholics. However, American Byzantines have also had to attend western NO liturgy if they wanted to pray with the Pope when he visits the USA.

In my opinion, that would cause too many problems. You can’t call something extraodinary and give them special attention when you have two ordinary groups (NO and Byzantine) and you’re not visiting their parishes and have never done so.

It would be nice and may happen, that he may celebrate a Tridentine liturgy at the Vatican for the world community who may want to attend. That’s just speculation on my part.

JR 🙂
 
JReducation said:
The bold subscript is mine.

I believe there are many reasons for not visiting a traditional parish on this visit.
  1. This visit is really to focus on international affairs. It’s more of a diplomatic visit than a pastoral visit.
  2. In light of the misunderstanding on both sides, regarding the change in the prayer at Good Friday services, it is diplomatically appropriate for the Pope to meet with Jewish leaders and to assure them that the Catholic Church is not promoting antisemitism and will not tolerate any form of anti-semitism. Jews and some Catholics need to hear this message loud and clear.
  3. Finally, the Motu Propio makes it clear that TLM is an extraordinary form of the Latin Rite liturgy and the Novus Ordo will continue to be the ordinary form. To visit a traditional parish and not an NO parish would be like visiting a Byzantine parish. Observe that Popes have never visited American Byzantine parishes either, even though they are Catholic. In fact, the only parishes that the popes have visited when they come to the USA have been cathedral parishes. Other than that, John Paul II did visit the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC which is not a parish, but serves as the main chapel of the Pontifical University (which the Vatican owns) and the National Shrine.
Again, diplomacy is key. If the Pope visited a TLM parish and not an NO or a Byzantine parish, there would be many hard feelings, as the TLM is, by his own words, extraordinary. In fact, the Byzantine rites are not extraordinary. They are ordinary for the eastern Catholics. However, American Byzantines have also had to attend western NO liturgy if they wanted to pray with the Pope when he visits the USA.

In my opinion, that would cause too many problems. You can’t call something extraodinary and give them special attention when you have two ordinary groups (NO and Byzantine) and you’re not visiting their parishes and have never done so.

It would be nice and may happen, that he may celebrate a Tridentine liturgy at the Vatican for the world community who may want to attend. That’s just speculation on my part.

JR 🙂
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Dear JR -
I understand your points - but Churches / Basilicas you’ve mentioned are already NO. I was speaking in terms of a parish where TLM is the predominant. Byzantine is a rite - a tad different, to my mind, in comparison to the Roman. Roman rite includes either NO or Tridentine. I’m no theologian but that’s how I see it. I’m sure if there were a diplomatic reason, the Pope’s schedule would include Byzantine - perhaps should - would be nice.

As to the politics of visiting a synagogue, I understand diplomacy full well, particularly in light of the recent Good Friday Prayer issue - which I still feel is not an “up-for-grabs” change issue by people outside our Faith. Just feel there are so many Catholics who won’t ever get to see a Pontiff in person (I’ve been lucky in that regard seeing several) - guess I’m looking for first dibs ! 😛
 
Conservative said:
Dear JR -
I understand your points - but Churches / Basilicas you’ve mentioned are already NO. I was speaking in terms of a parish where TLM is the predominant. Byzantine is a rite - a tad different, to my mind, in comparison to the Roman. Roman rite includes either NO or Tridentine. I’m no theologian but that’s how I see it. I’m sure if there were a diplomatic reason, the Pope’s schedule would include Byzantine - perhaps should - would be nice.

As to the politics of visiting a synagogue, I understand diplomacy full well, particularly in light of the recent Good Friday Prayer issue - which I still feel is not an “up-for-grabs” change issue by people outside our Faith. Just feel there are so many Catholics who won’t ever get to see a Pontiff in person (I’ve been lucky in that regard seeing several) - guess I’m looking for first dibs ! 😛
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The subscript is mine

I understood what you meant the first time. But can you imagine the contraversy that would cause if the Pope visited a TLM parish, which is a relatively “new” model, new in the sense that it just came back, when a Pope has never honoured the American Byzantines or any other parish with a visit.

I’m just speculating. The NO parishes may not feel slighted, because as you said, the NO is celebrated in every major church in the country. But the Byzantines would have a good reason to feel hurt, precisely because they are a different rite that dates back to the Apostles and they would love to have the recognition of the Pope and let the world know that they too are Catholics. Hardly anyone knows this, even many Catholics don’t know the difference between the Byzantines and the Eastern Orthodox.

Personally, I would like to see a pope spend time with the Byzantine Catholics in the USA and give them special attention. It has never been done here. I’m not Byzantine, but would like to see them be recognized at bonifide Catholics. I think they deserve that honour more than TLM or NO. We have always had the attention of the papacy and there has not been an Eastern Pope rite in more than 1000 years. We have always felt that the Pope belongs to us.

As to the Jewish issue. I don’t think they’re trying to tell us how to pray. I believe they have an honest question in mind. The Pope is aware of this concern and that’s why he wants to spend time with them, to mitigate or erase this concern. This is not diplomacy, this is ecumenism at its best. It’s evangelization through charity and concern.

Whether we are subscribers to TLM or NO we are already part of the Church. As the Vatican has said, this is not a pastoral visit.

Cardinal Sean, OFM, Cap. invited the Pope to visit Boston to help the healing process due to the sexual abuse scandal. The Vatican declined the invitation, because this was not a pastoral visit. It’s a diplomatic visit. The Pope wants to speak to the President, the UN and the Jewish leadership and leave. He’s going to be here a week and is celebrating only two public liturgies.

John Paul II used to come for a week and celebrate several public liturgies, stations of the cross, prayer meetings with youth, meetings with bishops, etc. These were pastoral visits.

JR 🙂
 
Well, the one parish around here that has the TLM, is small and could hardly accommodate the Pope.

Besides, like has been mentioned already, the TLM is the extraordinary form of the Mass. Those who are staunch supporters of this form of Mass are the fringe Catholics, not the norm.

Jim
 
Holiness in action. Let’s pray for the Holy Father.

The original AP article from April 4th:

Pope to visit New York synagogue on eve of Passover

April 4, 2008

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK---- When Pope Benedict XVI enters a U.S. synagogue for the first time, there likely will be an emotional encounter between a Holocaust survivor and the German pontiff who both suffered in the same war.

‘‘Both of us experienced the tragedy of World War II,’’ said Arthur Schneier, senior rabbi of Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue, which the pope is to visit on April 18.

The Vienna-born rabbi told The Associated Press in an interview at his office that he and the pope have the same mother tongue, German. ‘‘So we have a common language – at least in terms of meine Muttersprache, my mother tongue,’’ he said.

Schneier, 78, fled Adolf Hitler’s forces in Austria for Budapest in 1939 with his mother and worked in a labor camp before Hungary was liberated by the Red Army. He said most of his family had been deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and died there. He moved to the U.S. in 1947.

The rabbi said sharing the war experience with the pope brings the two men closer.

‘‘When you emerge from that kind of tragedy with all the human lives lost,’’ he said, ‘‘it does something in terms of shaping your outlook and what you need to do to make sure that this becomes a better world and we don’t repeat the mistakes of history.’’

The 80-year-old pontiff is a native of Bavaria, whose father was anti-Nazi. He said he enrolled in the Hitler Youth against his will and was then drafted into the German army in the last months of the war. He wrote in his memoirs that he deserted in the war’s last days.

Schneier said the pope’s scheduled visit to the synagogue on the eve of Passover, which begins at sundown April 19, ‘‘is another tangible expression of his outreach to the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel.’’ He added that ‘‘the very clear message is that Jews and Catholics and Christians, we are in the same boat, we have common concerns for humanity.’’

It will be the first visit by a pope to a synagogue in the United States and Benedict’s second as pontiff to a Jewish house of worship. On his first papal trip abroad in 2005, Benedict entered a synagogue in Cologne, Germany, that had been destroyed by the Nazis and rebuilt.

Monsignor David Malloy, general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the upcoming visit to the Park East Synagogue ‘‘personal and informal.’’

Schneier has met Benedict twice before, at the Vatican.

When the pope and his Vatican entourage arrive in the late afternoon at ‘‘my home’’ – as the rabbi calls the synagogue – they’ll be welcomed in the main sanctuary by children of the Park East Day School and synagogue officials.

In what Schneier called ‘‘one significant, symbolic act,’’ the rabbi and the pope are to sit side by side as greetings are exchanged and psalms are chanted in Hebrew.

Separately, the pope has scheduled a meeting with U.S. Jewish leaders, including Schneier, and representatives of other faiths for April 17 in Washington.

Park East Synagogue is a modern Orthodox congregation founded in 1888 and located a short walk from the United Nations, which Benedict will address earlier in the day.

Schneier has led the synagogue since 1962, while promoting religious tolerance worldwide – including protecting persecuted Catholics – as founder of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation. He received the 2001 U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal for service to the nation.

The efforts of the pope to reach out to Jews follow those of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who became the first pope to set foot in a synagogue in 1986, when he visited Rome’s main synagogue.

‘‘It’s an evolving relationship,’’ Schneier said of Catholics and Jews.

Some tensions arose recently over a Good Friday prayer Benedict revived from the old Latin rite that had historically been used as an excuse for violence and discrimination against Jews. Benedict revised the prayer to address Jewish fears, but some Jewish leaders worried that the changes did not go far enough.

Benedict is visiting the United States for the first time as pontiff from April 15-20, stopping in Washington and New York. He will meet with President Bush at the White House, address the presidents of Roman Catholic colleges and universities and hold Masses at Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium.
 
Conservative said:
I really don’t want to open Pandora’s Box - after the Good Friday prayer is being heavily/heatedly discussed - but it’s been announced that the Pope’s trip will coincide with Passover. He’s going to make a 30-minute visit to a synagogue because of that.

Any thoughts on this? I think Pope John Paul II had visited synagogue in Rome. But am I being touchy here? Wouldn’t it be nice if the Pope had added another Catholic Church to his agenda instead? Wouldn’t it have been nice - in light of Moto Proprio, etc. - for him to have visited a traditional Church to emphasize it? And, yes, I know schedules are tight. But couldn’t Passover wishes be extended during one of his speeches while visiting here whenever the holiday begins? I don’t mean to split hairs but if we’re told how to pray to appease another religion - then don’t I have a voice in appeasing my own? :confused:
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I think you’re being very touchy.

What is our duty but to pray for the Holy Father?
He is acting as Peter and we need to learn to applaud his choices.

Peter never lost his love of the Jewish community. Why would he? A whole lot of Christians, including Catholics, don’t seem to understand that our Faith grew from Jewish roots.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Well, the one parish around here that has the TLM, is small and could hardly accommodate the Pope.

Besides, like has been mentioned already, the TLM is the extraordinary form of the Mass. Those who are staunch supporters of this form of Mass are the fringe Catholics, not the norm.

Jim
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“Fringe Catholics.” Was that really necessary? Those who staunchly support the TLM, as long as they’re in communion with Rome, are as Catholic as you and me. To call them “Fringe Catholics” is no better and no different than those who might look down at the current Mass with a sneer on their face.
 
LRThunder said:
“Fringe Catholics.” Was that really necessary? Those who staunchly support the TLM, as long as they’re in communion with Rome, are as Catholic as you and me. To call them “Fringe Catholics” is no better and no different than those who might look down at the current Mass with a sneer on their face.
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I agree with you, Thunder, the choice of word “fringe” can be taken offensively. From the context of the sentence, I believe the word that belonged there was exceptionThat’s the word that one usually uses when making comparisons among populations, the majority and minority, or the norm and the exception.

I hope I’ve understood this setence correctly.

JR 🙂
 
Well, according the Cardinal Sean O’Maily,
The Holy Father is obviously most concerned about trying to bring about reconciliation in the Church. There are about 600,000 Catholics who are participating in the liturgies of the Society of St. Pius X, along with about 400 priests.
cardinalseansblog.org/?p=1752
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This was the reason for the Pope’s decision to issue the Motu Proprio.

The Pius X Society, are a fringe group.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Well, according the Cardinal Sean O’Maily,

This was the reason for the Pope’s decision to issue the Motu Proprio.

The Pius X Society, are a fringe group.

Jim
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But not all people who go to TLM are SSPX.
 
lucybeebee said:
But not all people who go to TLM are SSPX.
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That’s not what the Cardinal is saying. He’s not saying that everyone who goes to the EF is an SSPX. He said that in his meeting with the Pope, the Holy Father made two things clear.
  1. The NO stays. It is the ordinary form of the mass. No more discussions. If there are problems, the bishops have to fix them. But the Novus Ordo stays.
  2. The most compelling reason from bringing the EF back, besides the tradition, is the Holy Father’s desire to bring back those who fell away to the SSPX because they so desired the Tridentine Mass.
The Cardinal made it clear that in his meeting with the Pope the Holy Father is more concerned about bringing back those folks than the faithful Catholics who like the Tridentine mass, but continue to attend mass the NO, if there is no Tridentine mass.

This makes sense. The faithful Catholic is going to go to mass in NO or Byzantine rites, because he is faithful, period.

The fallen away Catholic are a major concern and should be. We want to bring them back. If they truly left because they wanted the Tridentine form, now they have no excuse to stay away. Those who stay away, have other reasons.

We can’t judge them. All we can do is provide the Tridentine form and say, “Hey folks, here it is. You can come home now.”

If they flick their thumb at us, then they have other problems with the Church and they’ll have to sort those out with God.

The Cardinal is just explaining what he, several other bishops and the Pope discussed.

The Cardinal only mentioned it, because he wants to make it very clear that the ordinary form in his diocese is and will remain the Novus Ordo.

You have to remember, the Cardinal is a Franciscan. Even though he is a Cardinal and his religious superiors do not involve themselves in matters that pertain to his diocese and his office, he remains a member of his Order and his spirituality is going to reflect that of St. Francis. His Order has already accepted that the Tridentine is the extraordinary form and they’re not going to make it ordinary for their friars.

When a person is as much in love with his community as Sean O’Malley is, they’re not going to give up its ideals, simply because the community cannot tell you how to run your diocese. That’s your family. It’s your culture. Those are your roots. And it’s your support system.

As long as it does not interfere with a bishop’s duties and he complies with the Church, there is no reason for any bishop not to follow the spirit and thinking of his religious order.

This only applies to bishops who are religious, obviously. Most bishops in the USA are not religious. They are seculars.

We, the laity, have to learn to respect the rights of religious too and respect the fact that they are not subject to our wants and desires. They have a mission that was given to them by their founders and approved by the Church. Sometimes that mission is not what we would like, but it is what it is.

I recall someone being very upset when a religious order cut back on the number of men they ordained. This was not on CAF. The superior explained that their founder wanted them to have only enough priests to care for the needs of the religious community, not the laity. Some people thought this was horrible. Well that particular community had been founded to run schools, not parishes. They had lent some priests to the bishop who was short and then the laity wanted to demand that they continue the supply.

This is disrespectful of religious charisms.

The Cardinal was speaking to his people in his diocese. He was telling them what the Pope said and he is telling them that this is what he is going to follow. He has several parishes that offer the Tridentine form and has made it public where they are. He may even get some more parishes to have a Tridentine form, but he is not going to make it the ordinary thing in his diocese. The Pope does not require it and this allows him to be both bishop to his diocese and in harmony with his brothers in his community. This is a good thing when a bishop can respond to the wishes of the Holy Father without having a conflict with his religious order.

I wish life were always that simple and that more of us would appreciate the gift that the Church has given us by allowing us to have two forms of the Latin rite.

Remember, they are the same rite. They are not two rites. There is no need to overkill either. They fulfill the same function in the Latin Church.

JR 🙂
 
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