National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council
NJCRAC Joint Program Plan 1994-1995

Guide to Program Planning Of the Constituent Organizations
Jewish Security and the Bill of Rights

Catholic-Jewish Relations

Changing Conditions

Catholic-Jewish relations will move back to an emphasis on public affairs issues on the domestic agenda, following the normalization of relations between the Vatican and the State of Israel and resolution of the Auschwitz-convent issue, together with progress in the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Background

The normalization of relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel concluded at the end of 1993 with the initialing in Rome of the Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel on December 29, and the signing in Jerusalem of the agreement the following day, was reflective of the state of the relationship between Catholics and Jews internationally, an improvement in Vatican Jewish relations, and, most important, an indication of the strength of the relationship between the organized American Jewish community and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference, the bishops' conference public policy arm. While the Vatican had maintained that it had de facto recognized Israel, the successful conclusion of normalization negotiations marked the first full and open recognition of the Jewish State by the Vatican.

Additionally, the signing of the Israel-PLO agreement and further progress in the peace process will have a substantial impact on Catholic-Jewish relations. These developments will reduce tensions that have long inhered in the relationship and will lead Jews and Catholics to renew their emphasis on making common cause on domestic issues while continuing dialogue on some theological matters.

A number of issues remained on the Vatican-Jewish agenda, including the question of access to religious sites in Israel, and the accessibility to Jewish scholars of the Vatican collection of Jewish books, manuscripts, and other Judaica and Hebraica.

With respect to theological matters, there has been a shift in emphasis from areas of traditional dialogue to practical implementation of the results of dialogue. For example, the Anti Defamation League has engaged in important work with Catholic curricula in the U.S. The American Jewish Committee's efforts aimed at introducing "Jews and Judaism" into seminary education in Poland was groundbreaking work in this area.

A noteworthy event on April 7, 1994 was a concert at the Vatican honoring the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust. Pope John Paul II presided over this first ever commemoration held by the Vatican.

Passage in 1993 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), with support of the U.S. Catholic Conference, was noteworthy. Serious disagreements for three years over aspects of the measure dissolved when Jewish community relations organizations, including the NJCRAC, worked closely with Catholic professional and religious leadership. (See section on Separation of Church and State, and Joint Program Plan for 1993-94 for further discussion.)

In final implementation of a 1987 agreement between Catholic and Jewish leaders, the last of 13 nuns remaining in the convent at the Auschwitz/ Birkenau death-camp site left in early July, moving either to the new "Center for Information, Meetings, Dialogue, Education, and Prayer," or to another convent. The nuns' departure marked the end of a nine year controversy that had strained international Catholic-Jewish relations (see previous Joint Program Plans for details, and for implications for American Catholic-Jewish relations).

Support from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and from local Catholic individuals and groups throughout the years of the controversy was steady. The Auschwitz convent issue demonstrated the strength of the relationship between American Catholics and Jews and reinforced for American Jewish community relations organizations the fundamental distinction between international Catholic-Jewish relations, which are occasionally troubled, and Catholic-Jewish relations in the U.S., which are generally strong.

Nonetheless, a new controversy erupted over the future of the convent building, in which the Nazi death-camp authorities had stored Zyklon B used in the gas chambers. On June 29, Mother Therese, the mother superior of the Carmelite convent, leased the building to an extreme nationalist and anti-Semitic group, the Society for the Victims of War, that wants to turn the building into a memorial to the Polish victims of World War II. (The nuns have a 99-year lease with the city of Oswiecim, which has jurisdiction over the building; the lease stipulates that the building may only be used as a convent.) Local authorities, with the support of area Bishop Tadeusz Rakoczy, have sued the mother superior. Jewish groups agreed not to intervene in the case.

In December 1993, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and its public affairs arm, the United States Catholic Conference, issued The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace, in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of The Challenge of Peace, its pastoral letter on global war. The Jewish community relations field will be called upon to evaluate the NCCB document with respect to its analyses of Israel and the Middle East, and other areas of international concern, with a view toward the use of the document in cooperative efforts between Catholics and Jews.

Finally, Catholics and Jews will examine the forthcoming English version of the new "Catechism for the Universal Church" with respect to official Church views on Jews and Judaism. (See Joint Program Plan for 1993-94 for details on the catechism, and for a preliminary analysis.) With the 30th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II document that defined Catholic-Jewish relations, forthcoming in 1995, Jewish communities will be called upon to engage in community education surrounding this event.

 

Priority Strategic Goals

The Jewish community relations field should

  • work with the leadership of the United States Catholic Conference and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to enhance the peace process in the aftermath of the Israel-PLO agreement, by cooperative efforts in such key areas as economic development in the territories, a cessation of violence, an end to the boycott, and other areas of concern;

  • urge the Vatican to conclude, in an expeditious manner, the process leading to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel; and call upon Jewish and Catholic communities to acknowledge appropriately this event when it occurs;

  • continue and enhance the working relationship with the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/U.S. Catholic Conference on issues such as poverty in America, the environment, international relief efforts, and other public affairs matters;

  • encourage the Vatican directly and through the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, and through Catholic leadership in Eastern Europe, to exercise vigorous leadership in speaking out against, repudiating, and counteracting anti-Semitism and racism in Europe and acknowledge positive steps in this regard;

  • analyze and evaluate the new Catholic "Catechism for the Universal Church" in terms of its implications for Catholic-Jewish relations;

  • work with Catholic and Jewish communities on public education programs in anticipation of the 30th anniversary of Nostra Aetate.

 

Dissent:

The Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. (JWV) believes that the NJCRAC should express to the Vatican its disappointment over the failure to seat the Holy See's Ambassador in Jerusalem. By this move, the Vatican still refuses to recognize Jerusalem as the united, undivided capital of the State of Israel.