Friday, April 27, 2007 at 2:02am
A blessing to each other
Column: God Said What?
In November of 1996 something extraordinary happened. It was unprecedented in American history and very likely unprecedented in the long history of Western civilization.
A Jewish memorial service was conducted in Holy Name Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. That means that Reform rabbis held a Jewish prayer service in the heart of the Chicago Catholic Church. It was a service co-led by Rabbi Herman Schaalman, who at the time pointed out, "Never in the history of our world has an observance such as this taken place." Especially with Christianity's long, bloody history of Jewish persecution and anti-Jewish polemics that began not too long after the time of Jesus.
To say the least, it was a special occasion. And the reason for the memorial was the death of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, the archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until 1996. This was the way that certain leaders of Chicago's Jewish community wanted to show their respect and friendship for the man who had done so much for improving Christian-Jewish relations in the city of Chicago and elsewhere.
Their decision was controversial, and it is said that the rabbis lost face within some parts of the Chicago Jewish community for their actions. But they wanted to commemorate Cardinal Bernardin's life and work, and theirs was a courageous sign of friendship. Their extraordinary action also speaks volumes about the impact that Cardinal Bernardin had on Jewish-Catholic relations.
From the moment that Bernardin was installed as archbishop of Chicago in 1982 he indicated that the improvement of Catholic-Jewish relations was an issue of central importance. He even introduced himself to the Jewish leaders of Chicago by saying that "I come to you as your brother Joseph." More importantly, he meant it. And he backed it up with action.
During the next 14 years he helped to create strong relationships between the Catholic Church and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, the Chicago Board of Rabbis, the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies and the American Jewish Committee. He would frequently speak about the prospects and challenges for improved Catholic-Jewish relations and continually spoke out against Christian and Catholic anti-Judaism. He called upon Catholics in all walks of life to recognize the scourge of anti-Judaism that endured in their thinking, theology, Scriptures and tradition and to concretely work in opposition to it. He wrote newspaper columns on the roots of Christian anti-Judaism that went back to the earliest Church, and he began a program to educate Catholic schoolchildren about Judaism. He also published a book on Catholic-Jewish relations entitled "A Blessing to Each Other."
In 1995, Cardinal Bernardin even helped to lead a Catholic-Jewish delegation to the Holy Land. This delegation was composed of members of the archdiocese of Chicago and local Jewish organizations, and during this trip members of each faith participated in ceremonies at the other's holy places. It was an experience that was challenging and transformative for all who participated.
Bernardin, however, couldn't make centuries of Christian persecution of Jews just disappear. Not in Chicago and not anywhere else. And he didn't try to cover up its ugliness or pretend its legacy wasn't still an undercurrent within Christianity. But as the head of the archdiocese of Chicago and as a bishop and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, he extended his friendship to the Jewish community and his intention to combat Christian anti-Judaism.
In step with Pope John Paul the II, Bernardin looked at Christians and Jews as siblings of sorts who were together on pilgrimage to encounter and serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And he called for a theological cleansing of anti-Judaism from all levels of Church teaching and for the Church's public repentance for its sins against the Jewish people.
He also pointed out the necessity for constructing new theologies that were grounded in a sense of the bond between Jews and Christians instead of continuing to develop a long theological tradition that defined Christianity over and against the Jews. To this end Cardinal Bernardin laid out three main points of departure for theology of Catholic-Jewish relations in the Church: the recognition of the continued existence of a deep spiritual bond between the Christians and Jews; the acknowledgement of a "living heritage" of Judaism that Christian theology must take seriously and from which Christian theology must learn; and the realization that the Holocaust must inform Christian theology and that Christians must mourn and repent their culpability in it.
The work of strengthening Christian-Jewish relations wasn't easy. It demanded risks on both sides. And it wasn't always clear what should be done or exactly how to go about doing it. But the hard work of building bridges between Catholics and Jews bore fruit. And the Church continues to make it a priority to honor, respect and offer true friendship to the Jewish people. Not too long ago that would have been a pipe dream.
Jewish-Christian relations today in Chicago and elsewhere have improved, yet remain far from perfect. Still, the future is more hopeful because of the hard work of Chicago's Jewish community and Chicago's Catholic Church. There were countless people involved on both sides to make this project work. But on the Catholic side it fell to Cardinal Bernardin to embody the leadership, humbleness and friendship necessary to bring the Church to the table of repentance and friendship.
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin indeed worked to become a brother to the Jewish people of Chicago. And we Christians can look to him, his advisers, collaborators and those who carry on the work of improving Jewish-Christian relations, as examples of how to be genuinely Christian while atoning for our anti-Jewish past. We can look to them for models of how to honor and respect our Jewish brothers and sisters while we as a Church deal with the problems of the 21st century. And we can see in their example an assurance for the continued vitality of our Christian faith.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Recently he was married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and reads his columns to see if they make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at {email considkp@yahoo.com}considkp@yahoo.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Kevin Considine.
A Jewish memorial service was conducted in Holy Name Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. That means that Reform rabbis held a Jewish prayer service in the heart of the Chicago Catholic Church. It was a service co-led by Rabbi Herman Schaalman, who at the time pointed out, "Never in the history of our world has an observance such as this taken place." Especially with Christianity's long, bloody history of Jewish persecution and anti-Jewish polemics that began not too long after the time of Jesus.
To say the least, it was a special occasion. And the reason for the memorial was the death of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, the archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until 1996. This was the way that certain leaders of Chicago's Jewish community wanted to show their respect and friendship for the man who had done so much for improving Christian-Jewish relations in the city of Chicago and elsewhere.
Their decision was controversial, and it is said that the rabbis lost face within some parts of the Chicago Jewish community for their actions. But they wanted to commemorate Cardinal Bernardin's life and work, and theirs was a courageous sign of friendship. Their extraordinary action also speaks volumes about the impact that Cardinal Bernardin had on Jewish-Catholic relations.
From the moment that Bernardin was installed as archbishop of Chicago in 1982 he indicated that the improvement of Catholic-Jewish relations was an issue of central importance. He even introduced himself to the Jewish leaders of Chicago by saying that "I come to you as your brother Joseph." More importantly, he meant it. And he backed it up with action.
During the next 14 years he helped to create strong relationships between the Catholic Church and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, the Chicago Board of Rabbis, the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies and the American Jewish Committee. He would frequently speak about the prospects and challenges for improved Catholic-Jewish relations and continually spoke out against Christian and Catholic anti-Judaism. He called upon Catholics in all walks of life to recognize the scourge of anti-Judaism that endured in their thinking, theology, Scriptures and tradition and to concretely work in opposition to it. He wrote newspaper columns on the roots of Christian anti-Judaism that went back to the earliest Church, and he began a program to educate Catholic schoolchildren about Judaism. He also published a book on Catholic-Jewish relations entitled "A Blessing to Each Other."
In 1995, Cardinal Bernardin even helped to lead a Catholic-Jewish delegation to the Holy Land. This delegation was composed of members of the archdiocese of Chicago and local Jewish organizations, and during this trip members of each faith participated in ceremonies at the other's holy places. It was an experience that was challenging and transformative for all who participated.
Bernardin, however, couldn't make centuries of Christian persecution of Jews just disappear. Not in Chicago and not anywhere else. And he didn't try to cover up its ugliness or pretend its legacy wasn't still an undercurrent within Christianity. But as the head of the archdiocese of Chicago and as a bishop and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, he extended his friendship to the Jewish community and his intention to combat Christian anti-Judaism.
In step with Pope John Paul the II, Bernardin looked at Christians and Jews as siblings of sorts who were together on pilgrimage to encounter and serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And he called for a theological cleansing of anti-Judaism from all levels of Church teaching and for the Church's public repentance for its sins against the Jewish people.
He also pointed out the necessity for constructing new theologies that were grounded in a sense of the bond between Jews and Christians instead of continuing to develop a long theological tradition that defined Christianity over and against the Jews. To this end Cardinal Bernardin laid out three main points of departure for theology of Catholic-Jewish relations in the Church: the recognition of the continued existence of a deep spiritual bond between the Christians and Jews; the acknowledgement of a "living heritage" of Judaism that Christian theology must take seriously and from which Christian theology must learn; and the realization that the Holocaust must inform Christian theology and that Christians must mourn and repent their culpability in it.
The work of strengthening Christian-Jewish relations wasn't easy. It demanded risks on both sides. And it wasn't always clear what should be done or exactly how to go about doing it. But the hard work of building bridges between Catholics and Jews bore fruit. And the Church continues to make it a priority to honor, respect and offer true friendship to the Jewish people. Not too long ago that would have been a pipe dream.
Jewish-Christian relations today in Chicago and elsewhere have improved, yet remain far from perfect. Still, the future is more hopeful because of the hard work of Chicago's Jewish community and Chicago's Catholic Church. There were countless people involved on both sides to make this project work. But on the Catholic side it fell to Cardinal Bernardin to embody the leadership, humbleness and friendship necessary to bring the Church to the table of repentance and friendship.
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin indeed worked to become a brother to the Jewish people of Chicago. And we Christians can look to him, his advisers, collaborators and those who carry on the work of improving Jewish-Christian relations, as examples of how to be genuinely Christian while atoning for our anti-Jewish past. We can look to them for models of how to honor and respect our Jewish brothers and sisters while we as a Church deal with the problems of the 21st century. And we can see in their example an assurance for the continued vitality of our Christian faith.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Recently he was married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and reads his columns to see if they make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at {email considkp@yahoo.com}considkp@yahoo.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Kevin Considine.