2008-04-04 15:45:49

Holy See Statement on Prayer for the Jews in 1962 Missal


(04 Apr 08 - RV)

The Holy See's Secretariat of State has issued a statement on the prayer for the Jews in the Good Friday liturgy of the 1962 Missal. Here is the statement in its entirety...

Following the publication of the new Prayer for the Jews for the 1962 edition of the Roman
Missal, some groups within the Jewish community have expressed disappointment that it is not
in harmony with the official declarations and statements of the Holy See regarding the Jewish
people and their faith which have marked the progress of friendly relations between the Jews and
the Catholic Church over the last forty years.

The Holy See wishes to reassure that the new formulation of the Prayer, which modifies
certain expressions of the 1962 Missal, in no way intends to indicate a change in the Catholic
Churchs regard for the Jews which has evolved from the basis of the Second Vatican Council,
particularly the Declaration Nostra Aetate. In fact, Pope Benedict XVI, in an audience with the
Chief Rabbis of Israel on 15 September 2005, remarked that this document has proven to be
a milestone on the road towards the reconciliation of Christians with the Jewish people. The
continuation of the position found in Nostra Aetate is clearly shown by the fact that the prayer
contained in the 1970 Missal continues to be in full use, and is the ordinary form of the prayer
of Catholics.

In the context of other affirmations of the Council - on Sacred Scripture (Dei Verbum, 14)
and on the Church (Lumen Gentium, 16) - Nostra Aetate presents the fundamental principles
which have sustained and today continue to sustain the bonds of esteem, dialogue, love,
solidarity and collaboration between Catholics and Jews. It is precisely while examining the
mystery of the Church that Nostra Aetate recalls the unique bond with which the people of the
New Testament is spiritually linked with the stock of Abraham and rejects every attitude of
contempt or discrimination against Jews, firmly repudiating any kind of anti-Semitism.
The Holy See hopes that the explanations made in this statement will help to clarify any
misunderstanding. It reiterates the unwavering desire that the concrete progress made in mutual
understanding and the growth in esteem between Jews and Christians will continue to develop. RealAudioMP3








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