in the creation and development of "Uniate" Churches, to be the great "enemy"of good relations between Catholic and Orthodox. Some speakers at theconsultation held that this role is often exaggerated and noted that Jesuitinvolvement was undertaken at the explicit request of the Holy See.Nevertheless, Jesuits must be aware that today they approach East-Westrelations with a past which is not neutral and is often not easy to overcome.

Turning to the present, the discussions focused on the complex issues relatedto the Eastern Catholic (Greek-Catholic, Byzantine rite, the so-called "Uniate")Churches, and their place in ecumenical relations between the Catholic andOrthodox Churches. The participants learned of the vitality of Greek-Catholicchurches and the spiritual contribution they desire to make to Europe, to theChurch, and to the Society of Jesus. In this context, the participants traveled toBratislava, capital of the Slovak Republic, to take part in the Greek-Catholicvespers and Divine liturgy and to meet members of the Greek-Catholic parish.

Some of the interventions noted that Jesuits must not complacently regard alltheir errors as belonging to the past. Chauvinist attitudes and prejudices whichregard Latin-rite Catholicism as the norm to which Oriental Christians - Orthodoxand Greek-Catholic - should conform are still present among Western Catholics,including Jesuits. European Christians today are in serious need of the kind ofdeep liturgical spirituality and prayer life to which Eastern Christianity can, if theirinsights and traditions are given due respect and attention, make an importantcontribution. Even within the Society of Jesus, Jesuits of East and West mustengage in a dialogue aimed at mutual understanding and appreciation.

Greek-Catholic Sacred Liturgy in Bratislava

In turning to the future, attention focused on forgiveness as an ecumenicalmethodology aimed at reconciliation and full Christian unity. The sacrificialnature of forgiveness as an ecumenical method and its role in the healing ofmemories were examined, with examples from the political and economicspheres, and the question of communal responsibility and ownership of wrongscommitted in the past was raised.

The Society of Jesus has two outstanding resources which it can employ in itsefforts to bridge the gap between East and West. These are the PontificalOriental Institute and the Pontifical Russian College, both located in Rome. Theways in which these institutes, in collaboration with regional efforts such as theCentra Aletti, in Rome and-Olomouc in the Czech Republic, and the East-WestSpirituality Center in Kosice, Slovak Republic, can play a positive role inpromoting friendship and unity between Catholic and Orthodox and betweenEuropean Christians of East and West, were explored. The serious problemsof staffing and finance which will affect these apostolates in coming years mustnot be ignored or underestimated, but the importance of the work they carry outdemands an ongoing commitment on the part of the Society of Jesus.

In Europe today, there are many efforts on the part of bishops' conferences,religious orders, funding agencies, and ecumenical movements that seek tobuild bridges of love and respect between Christians of East and West. Jesuitsshould not try to "go it alone," but rather to collaborate humbly and purposefullyto these broader efforts which are aimed at the building up and renewal of theOne Church of Christ and the reconciliation and unity of all Christians in JesusChrist.

The consultation was mainly of an exploratory nature. Many issues were raisedbut few conclusions were reached. The main value of the consultation lay in theformation of a body of European Jesuits who will continue to reflect on East-West relations and, it is hoped, who will be able over the course of time to offerto the Jesuits in Europe proposals aimed at a communal pursuit of the Society'smission in the area of ecumenism.

The Acta of the consultation are available in book form. Thoseinterested in obtaining a copy can contact the Secretariat forInterreligious Dialogue of the Roman Curia(dialogue&.sicuria. org).

GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTEPROPOSED BY 34™ GENERAL CONGREGATION

APPROVED BY VATICAN

INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS AND CULTURESin collaboration with The Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies

and the SBOIC Library

Nearly forty years after the Council, many Catholics still do notunderstand well what the Church is proposing in the mission andspirituality of dialogue... Dialogue is not the job only of experts andprofessionals. Dialogue means sharing one's own life at all levelswith people of other religions.

Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.,address at the Synod of Bishops October, 2001

Our educational institutions will conscientize their students on thevalue of interreligious collaboration and instil in them a basicunderstanding of and respect for the faith vision of the members ofthe diverse local religious communities, while deepening their ownfaith response to God.

"Our Mission and Interreligious Dialogue," GC34

On 15 June 2002, the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Educationgave full approval for a new Jesuit venture at the GregorianUniversity in Rome, the Institute for the Study of Religions andCultures. The Institute is a response to the recommendation made inthe Document "Our Mission and Interreligious Dialogue" issued bythe 34th General congregation of the Society in 1995. The Instituteopened its doors to students in the academic year that began inOctober, 2002.

The Institute is a collaborative venture within the GregorianConsortium and with Jesuit universities and faculties in various partsof the world. These institutions will provide visiting professors aswell as exchange programmes for students. With the presence ofprofessors and students belonging to other religious traditions, theInstitute can offer a lived experience of dialogue and a more concreteappreciation of other traditions.

The Institute aims:• To prepare Christians able to engage in dialogue, especially inreligiously plural areas where Christians may be in a minority, butalso in Europe and North America where believers of other religionsconstitute growing minorities.• To provide a similar service for people of other faiths who wish to deepentheir understanding of Christians and Christian faith in order to foster morecordial relations among religious communities.• To provide students of other faculties with adequate and informed insightsinto the world's religions• To provide an institutional base and academic forum for activities relatedto interreligious dialogue. The Gregorian has developed in recent yearsacademic exchange and cooperation agreements with universities in Britain,India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, and U.S.A.

The study program consists of a core curriculum common to allstudents and specialized courses according to the student's interests:Core Curriculum:1) cultural anthropology, psychology, sociology and philosophy of religion.2) theology of religions3) the theory and practice of interreligious dialogue4) introductory courses in the more important Eastern and Western religioustraditions

It offers the following specializations:1) Judaism (through the Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies)2) Hinduism and Buddhism3) Islam4) ChristianityStudents who are not Christians normally specialize hi the study ofChristianity. An introductory curriculum is provided for them so thatthey may also profit from courses in the other faculties.

Degrees: The Institute grants a Master of Arts degree after two yearsof study, a comprehensive examination and a thesis. Qualifiedstudents may earn a Diploma after one year of study.

Shorter, personalized courses of study can bearranged for groups and for individual students.

For more information, contactFr Daniel Madigan SJ (Director) at madigan@unigre.itDr Ambrogio Bongiovanni at bongiovannitojunigre. it

Vincent Sekhar, S.J.

The whole of creation is the workof God and the task is continuedthrough human efforts. In the taskof building an integrated society,one has to recognize andappreciate or at the least toleratethe presence of diversity ofcultures and people. Therelationships have become socomplex now than ever beforethat one needs to dialogue,negotiate, or even bargain in theirprocess. Religions play a vital rolein forming our attitudes andthoughts, ideals and values ofliving. God inspires and guidesevery individual and group toengage in the world in a specialway.

Hence religions, being the finite,human expressions of the Onedivine Mystery, have to fulfill thetask of bringing people togetheras believers of this Mystery in loveand justice. Concretely it meansthe spiritual and humandevelopment of all, leading themto harmony and transcendence.

Every religion is unique in thesense in which the believers ofthat religion understand andexpress this divine Mystery. Theformulations of their beliefs and

ideals may differ from or even beirreconcilable with one another.Yet all religions preach love,justice, equality and fellowship.Language and thrust might differbut the content of their messagemay be similar. Every living beingwants to be free, wants to enjoylife, hates pain and fearsextinction. Religions, if they aretrue to their goals and objectives,cannot overlook these aspects.Religions are for Life and forLiving. Integral growth andmaturation is both a gift and atask. Hence the believers have agreat responsibility in exemplifyingthe ideas and inspirations theyhave received from their religions,particularly in ushering a life freeof dangers. In this enterprise theyneed to come together to beaware and to discover thecommon meaning of theirreligious aspirations and joinhands in exploring the possibilitiesof their implementation.

In the process, they mightrecognize and appreciate therichness of one another, of theirreligions or even discover in acomparative, new light their ownrich resources. Thus they maycherish their togetherness, prayand share a common meal,experience the joy of fellowshipand oneness, etc.

There are possibilities ofmisunderstanding, even strongresentment and irrevocabledifferences especially at the level

of ideas, as they bear testimony toa long-cherished traditional beliefstructure. But everything is to beresolved only in and through ameaningful dialogue. Thesignificance of being related toone another is not new to anyreligious tradition. Every religionstresses the need for belonging,need for acceptance, and theneed for enriching the individualsand groups in society.

The goals or the objectivesintended by these religions can beadequately, if not fully, realizedmore easily through an art of inter-being and inter-acting. Hencebelievers dwell on this area ofdialoging with one another.

It is not a mere conversation,much less, a businessrelationship. It is a consciousexercise of being exposed to anexperience of osmosis, a processof becoming anew through asharing of one's essence. It is mylong-cherished ambition that Ishould prepare an anthology ofpassages related to ReligiousPluralism and Dialogue, culledfrom various sources, original andsecondary. This work is in no wayexhaustive, nor does it claim tosolve controversies in the field ofreligion.

The content page furnishes thereaders with a range of topics andthe body of the text with a depth ofreflections from various authorson issues related to the topic.

A word about the arrangement oftopics:

Each author has said many thingsin the same paragraph. Ideas gotrepeated, sometimes overlappingwith others and hence classifyingthem strictly according to thethemes was difficult. Thereforethe divisions mentioned in theContents page could only beprovisional. But one is sure to findthe main ideas or themesfocussed in their respectivesections.

Secondly, as I am from India/Asiaand my context, multifaceted, Ihave given priority to thereflections of Indians/Asians,theologians and others. But theindex at the end of this book willindicate not only the subjectmatter but also the ideas ofseveral authors of dialogue andreligions from outside India,especially from the West.

I believe this will be a usefulSource Book to all those whobelieve in a positive role ofreligions in society and to allsecular-minded persons whoaccommodate a variety ofknowledge and persons or mayeven think beyond all religiouscategories on the basis ofhumanum.

The book hopes to make aHandbook or a Reader to allstudents of Religion, especiallytheologians.

.ian.J

Antonio Maldonado Correa, S.J

From the 1st to the 5th July 2002,and according to the programpreviously forwarded, the Vth Islam-Christian Course has taken place atthe Jesuit Faculty f Theology, inGranada (Spain). As in the past, thepresent Course has been jointlyconducted by the North AfricaBishop Conference and the Facultyof Theology.

One again this Course has amplycontributed to the promotion ofpersonal formation and to theacquisition of such knowledge andattitudes which will foster the line ifdialogue initiated by the II VaticanCouncil and ratified and magnifiedby the example, the writings andapostolic travels of His Holiness,John Paul II. We as Jesuits countas well on the request of theDecree 9 of the 34th generalCongregation.

After each conference thoseattending were distributed into smallgroups to discuss and share theideas and experiences each onemight have related to the ideas andguidelines explicated by thespeaker.

Later on in plenary sessions, themain ideas, testimonies andexperiences of the groups weresummarily shared before all. Themain topic treated this year hasbeen Islam and Modernity.

The of an authentic progress in theKoranic hermeneutics together withsuch actual themes as are woman,youth, migrations, Human Rights....in the wide world of Islam has beendealth with.

The organizers and sponsors ofthese Courses can very reasonablybe quite satisfied for the workaccomplished.

Throughout the Course we havebeen enlightened about manytheoretical and practical problemsand their possible long termsolutions. As well chosen panel ofnative speakers and Christianspecialists on Islam have enrichedus on many aspects of the vastworld of present day Islam asconfronted with modernity. In thelast conference Mons. KhaledAkashed explained to the audiencethe immense work actually beingcarried out by the Pontifical Councilfor the Interreligious Dialogue inRome.

Throughout the Course the VeryRevd. Mons. Antonio Peteiro,Archbishop of Tangier hasencouraged all of us with his wellmeasured words and conciliatoryattitudes. And in his homilyand closing words of the Course,Mons. Antonio Caft izares,Archbishop of Granada (Spain),invited us all to continuewidening and deepening ourknowledge and acceptance of Godin our lives as a very sound andsolid way of increasing ourdialogue and fraternization with allpeoples.

10

ANNOUNCINGTHE 17TH INTERNATIONAL

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pited Secular India

Victor Edwin, S.J.

"Communialism breeds pride andprejudice, intolerance and hatred,differentiates groups as we andthey and discards others asoutsiders and enemies. Such amentality demolished Babri Masjidand forced all to say Jai Shri Ram",said Dr Roop Rekha Verma, theformer vice-chancellor of LucknowUniversity. She addressed theJesuits, their collaborators ininterfaith dialogue, representativesof Peoples's movements and othersecular individuals who gatheredtogether at Cathedral School Hallon 11th October 2001 to reflect onthe task of Building a Secular India.

She further noted that the castamount of literature produced,displayed and distributed by RSSamong the masses, which speak ofa Hindu Rashtra, wherein Muslimsand Christians would be secondclass citizens, the Vishwa HinduParishad's resolve to go ahead withits agenda on Ram Mandirdisregarding the law of the land andBajrang Dai's arms training to itscadres to protect the Hindu cultureare a real threat to the secularfabric of our country. The Jesuitsand their partners in interfaithministry came from the States ofPunjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, MadhyaPradesh and West Bengal to reflecton the dimension of interfaithdialogue in the present context.

Prof. Shamsul Islam, professor ofPolitical Science at SatyawatiCollege, Delhi, told the audiencethat events such as heightenedreassertions by VHP that a templewill be built in Ayodhya, the growingpower of hard-liners in States suchas Gujarat, the attempts to excludeMuslims from electoral rolls in U.P.make it an urgent task for allsecular-minded individualsagencies to network.

The participants felt that isimportant to understand the basicprinciple of secularism. Secularismis not a partisan to any one cultureor religion. It recognizes andappreciates differences. It believesthat today to be Indian is to be inter-Indian, to be cultural is to be inter-cultural. The cultures, languages,customs, dresses, festivals, andhabits enrich us.

When the proponents of Hindutvasing to the tune of one nation andone culture, they vehemently denythese differences. Uniformity isimposed in place of unity. In thisprocess religion is used as apolitical tool. The participants feltthat as an enlightened response tothis fundamental ism andcommunalist threat, we muststrengthen the secular bonds thatexist in our country.

Fr. Thomas V. Kunnunkalsuggested the tasks and challengesbefore the nation are so large andso crucial that it becomesimperative to make dialogue aneffective strategy for building asecular India. Thomas V Kunnunkal

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along with Victor Edwin was thelocal organizer of the meet. Thegroup worked together andformulated the following action-oriented Vision.

Drawing upon our multi-religiousand multi-cultural heritage we builda humane and caring society in ourlocalities. Dialogue, in this light, isan integral part of all our ministries.

Aiming at human togetherness,peace and harmony, as a firstinitiative, we propose to takeconcrete steps in the education andpastoral ministry.

In Education, we join hands andplan together concrete programs tounite staff, students and parentacross borders, which presentlydivide them.

Similarly, in the Pastoral ministry,steps are taken to unite differentfactions and groups of the parish.At the same time efforts are madeto treat people of other faiths withrespect as equals and partners,which will then facilitate our workingwith them in common programs.

This prepares us as citizens, tobuild a United Secular India. In thenext Northern Zonal meeting, withintwelve months, a review of theimplementation of these two actionsprograms will be our first item.

It was interesting to note the localmedia was quite keen about thethrust of the meet. Indian Express,Hindustan (Hindi), and the Pioneercovered the event.

. : • • " C ^ - - -(TAOIST) COMPASSION

Michael Saso

One of the most compelling thingsabout Daoism (Taoism), as apractice rather than doctrine-basedsystem, is its truly personal, heart-felt sense of inclusion rather thanexclusion, and avoidance ofnegative judgment. All forms ofhuman belief and cultural systemsmust, by the rules of interioremptying, non-grasping and innerpeace, be respected and allowed tothrive. Put in concrete terms,Daoists do not condemn, look downon, or exclude other forms of beliefand practice, in their own personalinterior life, or in their dealings withothers.

In continuing this form of innerpractice, Daoism until today followsChuang-tzu (Zhuangzi), who madeConfucius into a Daoist sage, andLao-tzu (Laozi) who held only threethings precious: compassiontowards others, frugality towardsself, and not putting one's own selfover others (Daode Jing, 67).

Though the works of both theseancient sages contain overt politicalmessages, the way of innercultivation, and compassionatehealing came to dominate Daoistpractice from its very beginnings,even during the period of disunitythat preceded the founding of thefirst empire.

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It was during this first period of itsdevelopment that Daoism spreadinto and influenced many aspects ofancient Chinese life, which laterwere called "Daoist."

1. How Daoism developed duringthe course of Chinese history.Daoism developed dramaticallyduring the Han dynasty, (200 BCEto 200 CE), due to the variousprofessions that accepted itspremises, and also to theunification of China into a centralimperial system, with an emperoras head. The new political entityformed by the first Han emperors,soon saw the development of aunified cultural system, combiningthe morality and ethics ofConfucius with the new doctrines ofuniversal salvation and liberationbrought by Buddhism, and theharmonious attitudes towardsnature and fellow humans, typical ofDaoism.

This unified cultural system wasgiven the name "Three Teachings,One Culture" (San jiao guei yi).Though this term came to haveother meanings during laterdynasties (i.e., from the 15th to the20th centuries the term San jiao gueiyi included the cults and secretsocieties of the Ming, Qing, andearly republic era), the basicChinese value of inclusion did notchange. Thus, Daoists had animmense influence on Chinesesociety, by teaching respect, andspeaking well of Confucianism,Buddhism, and religions introducedfrom the west such as Islam andChristianity, while providing rites of

passage and healing for the popularculture.

During this beginning period of itsinfluence in China's cultural history,Daoists also became the priesthoodof the popular Chinese folk religion.As such it provided rites ofpassage, i.e., customs to follow atbirth, "Guan" capping formaturation, Hun rites for weddings,healing, burial (sang) and ancestorliturgies (//). It also supported andprovided rituals for the annual cycleof customary festivals celebrated inthe family and in village temples.Thus the lunar 1/1 festival for familyunity, the 3/3 -thru Qingmingfestival for girls (girls are allowed tochoose or refuse a family providedmate during this period), the 5/5festival for boys - health in allchildren, the 7/7 festival forteenagers (girls are allowed topropose to a boy during this period)and 9/9 for the elderly, and for thecelebration of the Pole Star"Beidou" ritual (the seven stars ofthe Big Dipper always point at Daoin the center), are capped by thegrand Daoist Jiao festival ofrenewal performed from 9/9 thruthe Winter solstice. In this samesense, Daoism also provided adefinition of Chinese religion, ie, therites iof passage and the annualcycle of festivals.

Two facts are to be noted here.First, works by foreign scholars whoclaim that Daoism and FolkReligion are not defined, refer to thestudy and work of foreigners, not tothe reality of religious custom andits practice in China.

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It is thus wrong to think of "ThreeReligions One Culture" as a beliefsystem, rather than a way ofcustomary practice, served byDaoist priest, Buddhist monk, andConfucian moralist. Mandarins whomemorializes the throne concerninglocal practice, are not necessarilyobservant of Confucian or any otherform of moral practice. The moralityof the Confucian system, Buddhistcompassion, and Daoist onenesswith human needs and nature'sprocess, are in fact part and parcelof the "Three teachings OneCulture," but not of the politicalmandarin or the foreign scholar'spersonal mode of belief orbehavior.

Second, the spirit of Daoistpractice, as described in the Laoziand Zhuangzi, remain a deep,,profound, subconscious force informing the Chinese attitude towardlife, human relationships, and innermoral behavior. Not putting selfover others, inclusive acceptance ofothers right to personal views, andcompassion in the Daoist sense of"healing" and acceptance, are ofthe very essence of Daoism inChina.

To understand the profound effectthat Daoist practices had during theHan and later Three Kingdoms,North-South Period, and Tangdynasties (these latter periodsextended from 220 thru 905), wecan best use the symbol of water,so basic to the sense of theteachings found in the text of Lao-tzu. Daoism is like a living stream,flowing through and nourishingspiritual growth throughout the

course of Chinese history. Thefresh, clear waters of Lao-tzu andChuang-tzu, were first embellishedby the inclusion of the l-ching(Yijing), and the Yinyang FiveElement cosmology. Other currentsof endeavor soon flowed into themainstream of Daoist practice.

These included Chemical Alchemy(a stream which later dried up),Inner Alchemy (meditation, andbreath circulation), the healing arts,martial arts (developed in the laterSong-Ming dynasties by the DaoistZhang Sanfeng, and centeredaround Daoist Wudang Shan incentral China, and Luofu Shan inthe south), and village ritual-and-medical experts (Fang-shih/Fangshr) who later became knownas Tao-sn/n/Daoshr, i.e., Daoisthealers, libationers or ritualexperts). For all these practitionersof arts that converted to or becamea part of the great flow of Daoistteachings, meditation on the Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu remained asthe source and inspiration of innerspiritual life.

2. Daoism as it was seen throughthe eyes of the Emperor, andscholars of China.The height of Daoist influence atcourt and in learned circles cameduring the Tang dynasty (619-906),when the emperors (whosesurname was the same as Lao-tzu,i.e., "Li") declared Lao-tzu to be thepatron of the dynasty. Daoistinvestiture (lu registration), initiation,and the acting out of Daoistcosmology in ritual acts of renewalcalled J/ao,was practiced even byprincesses of the royal family at

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court. (The Daoist scholar CharlesBenn has written about thisphenomenon). Daoists were alsopatronized by Emperors during theSong (Sung, 960 - 1280), whofavored classical masters fromLunghu Shan and Mao Shan, andsponsored a new form of popularDaoism called Shenxiao (oftentranslated as "Divine Empyrean",but referring in fact to the emphasisof this new "reformed" school ofDaoism on compassionate healingand benefitting the villagecommunity by exorcising spirits andpraying for blessing).

Though the Lunghu Shan and MaoShan Daoists did use the Lao-tzuand Chuang-tzu, the new popularDaoists of the Song dynasty, suchas the Shenxiao and others,specialized mainly in rituals ofhealing and blessing, and did notpractice daily meditation on Lau-tzuor Chuang-tzu, or meditativebreathing exercises.

[Fr. Saso's talk will be continued inthe next issue of Jesuits inDialogue. The complete text inEnglish can be obtained by writingthis Secretariat.]

Daoist monks engage in theological discussion

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Belief in the Triune God is a cornerstone - some would say the cornerstone ofChristian faith. The Trinity is that characteristic of Christian faith which mostclearly distinguishes the Christian understanding of God from the professionmade by Jews and Muslims. Christians in dialogue with Jews and Muslims oftenfind themselves "defending" their belief in the One, Triune God as genuinemonotheism, consistent with the Biblical prophetic tradition.

Since 1980, Jesuits whose apostolate is carried out with and among Muslimshave met periodically to study various aspects of the Jesuit mission amongMuslims. Sometimes, the topics studied have treated sociological and politicalthemes, and at other times they have focused on reflections about our ownChristian faith and on theological issues that arise from our involvement withMuslims.

The meeting of Jesuits among Muslims that took place at La Baume in Aix-en-Provence, France, on 1-8 April, 2002, concentrated on the theme of the Trinityin light of the encounters between Christianity and Islam, asking the fundamentalquestion of whether Christian faith can and should be understood as aradicalization of the belief in One God. Although most of the Jesuits taking partwere trained in Islamic studies or had long experience of living and working withMuslims, the participants also included two theologians, Frs. John O'Donnell ofthe Gregorian University in Rome and Michel Fedou of the Centre Sevres inParis. The papers included:

John O'Donnell, S.J., "Christianity as Radical Monotheism?"Christiaan van Nispen, S.J., "Unite-Unicite de Dieu entre Islam et Christianisme"Christian Troll, S.J., "The Holy Trinity as the Epitome of the Christian Faith"Thomas Michel, S.J. "The Trinity as Radical Monotheism"Daniel Madigan, S.J., "The Word of God in Muslim Theology: Virtual Trinitarianism?"Michel Fedou, S.J., "Le conflit des monotheismes: un debat interne a la traditionchretienne"Jean Desigaux, S.J., "Sur les difficultes de comprehension de la Trinite en Dieu"Paolo Dall'Oglio, S.J., "Bozza per un'elogio del sincretismo"Ricardo Jimenez, S.J. et Christian Reille, S.J, "Experience de vie en algerie"

Anyone interested in obtaining a copy of the Acts can write toThomas Michel, S.J., Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue, atthe Jesuit Curia in Rome, or by email at dialogueffjlsicuria. om.

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David Neuhaus, S.J.

1.Whatisthe"kehilla"?Hebrew-speaking Catholics inIsrael come together in the kehilla(meaning "community", establishedformally within the local LatinCatholic Patriarchate of Jerusalemin 1955. Formally it is known as"CEuvre Saint Jacques Apdtre".Members of the kehilla are:

Catholic Christians of both Jewishand Gentile origin,who are Israelis or residents inIsrael and live in the Jewish milieu,praying and giving expression totheir faith in Hebrew,with a profound appreciation of theJewish roots of their faith andpractice,and seeking to understand therelationship between contemporaryJudaism (in all its diversity) andChristian faith today.

The kehilla is neither a missionaryorganization nor a Jewish-Christiandialogue center. It is rather acommunity of believers that comestogether in prayer and love likecommunities of Christiansthroughout the world. The kehilladoes not have a theological,philosophical or ideological set ofprinciples upon which all membersare agreed other than belief in theGod who so loved us that He sent

His son, Jesus Christ, into theworld. Like all Christiancommunities, the kehilla tries to liveaccording to Christ's teachingswithin the Catholic Church. As thereis no one system of thought that isat the basis of coming together ascommunity, there is a greatdiversity of views on all subjectswithin the kehilla.

There is, however, something thatdistinguishes the kehilla from othercommunities, and that is the uniquecontext in which it lives its faith, acontext that places the kehilla at acrossroads between the CatholicChurch and the Jewish people.

Prayer and community lifeconducted in Hebrew within aJewish milieu as Catholic Christiansas well as work and social relationswithin Jewish Israeli society definethe perimeters of life and reflection.Creating, nurturing and sustaining aprayer community within the Jewishmilieu as Christians from Jewishand Gentile origins is adistinguishing mark of the kehilla.

Some members are Jewish byorigin, history, culture and identity.Some of these believers live theirfaith openly and publicly; others livediscreetly and privately. Some, whoare not Jewish, have becomeIsraeli citizens or permanentresidents, opting for life here,connected to Jewish and Hebrewculture, history and tradition. It isthus clear that the kehilla sees itselfas intricately connected to the life ofthe Jewish people in Israel. Whileno distinction is made between Jewand Gentile in the life of the kehilla,

18

particular attention is paid to theJewish milieu in which the kehillalives, breathes and has its being.Yet, in addition to being implantedin Jewish Israeli society andmaintaining manifold connectionsto the Jewish people, the kehilla isalso part of the Universal CatholicChurch, united in faith withCatholics throughout the world.

This belonging to a traditionalchurch is a conscious choice formany in the kehilla, who thuschoose to associate themselveswith the long history of Christianbelievers through the ages. Withinthis history there is much joy andlight but also much pain anddarkness, especially in relation toattitudes and behavior towards theJewish people. It is this belongingthat places the kehilla in aprivileged position to work forhealing and reconciliation. Withinthe local context, the kehilla is partof the local, indigenous CatholicChurch, which is predominantlyArab in culture and language andheaded by its first indigenousPalestinian Arab Patriarch, H.B.Michel Sabbah. These axes ofbelonging are the bases forreflection on the place and role ofthe kehilla in the relationshipbetween the Church and the Jewishpeople.

2. The grace and joy of presenttimesThe kehilla is living a period ofgrace and joy. Since the middle ofthe 1960s the Roman CatholicChurch has clearly and explicitlyembraced the links betweenChristianity and Judaism and

encouraged dialogue with Jews andJudaism. In these days, the kehillahas seen an increasing opennesswith regard to issues that touch theJewish people on the part of theChurch in general and Pope JohnPaul II in particular. Especiallysignificant for the kehilla was thewarm welcome extended to thePope on his Jubilee pilgrimage tothe Holy Land. The kehilla saw adream come as it witnessed thePope stand in silent prayer beforethe Western Wall, symbol ofcontemporary Judaism, and insorrowful repentance at YadVaShem, the national memorial tothe victims of the Holocaust.

When the kehilla was founded in1955, few were the Catholicsengaged in studying the Jewishidentity of Jesus, the Jewishbackground to the New Testamentand the primitive Christiancommunities. Few too were theHebrew-speaking Catholicsinserted into the life of the Jewishpeople in Israel. The Hebrew-speaking Catholic kehilla and itsfounders were among the pioneersin this field.

Today the kehilla notes with pridethat the Jewish identity of Jesus,the Jewish roots of Christian faithand of Catholic tradition arecelebrated throughout the CatholicChurch. Interest in Judaism,dialogue with the Jewish peopleand awareness of Christianity'sJewish roots no longer uniquelycharacterize the kehilla in themargins of the (universal) CatholicChurch, but characterize concernsat the very center of the Church.

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This was summed up in the mostrecent document of the Vatican'sPontifical Biblical Commission,which concludes with the followingstatement: Dialogue (with theJewish people) is possible sinceJews and Christians share a richcommon patrimony that unitesthem. It is greatly to be desired thatprejudice and misunderstanding begradually eliminated on both sides,in favor of a better understanding ofthe patrimony they share and tostrengthen the links that bind them.

The past four decades have seen asignificant theological reappraisal ofCatholic thinking about non-Christian religions. The Church hasmoved from a position of seeingherself as u niq ue depository of truth(all other religions beingcondemned as false), to a positionof valuing the truths found in otherreligious traditions and seekingdialogue with them.

The Catholic Church conceives ofthe possibility of salvation outsidethe confines of the visible Church,which has no monopoly on the workof Jesus Christ, through the HolySpirit, for the salvation of allhumankind. If this attitude ofrespect characterizes relationshipwith other religions in general, howmuch more so is this true forJudaism, which is so intimatelyrelated to Christianity (throughshared Scriptures and traditions aswell as Jesus' own identity and thatof his disciples and the firstcommunity). Within the kehilla, theuse of Hebrew as a liturgicallanguage and a language ofcommunity life and Christian

religious expression naturallyunderlines the common heritageshared by Church and Jewishpeople. Theological reflection withinthe Church takes place within aparticular historical context. Thepresent context of Catholic-Jewishdialogue has been underlined byPope John Paul II in his focus onthe theme of repentance.

The Catholic Church is engaged inan ongoing reflection on the partCatholics have played in historicalmanifestations of intolerance,contempt and violence. If this istrue in relationship with non-Catholics in general, how muchmore so is this true in relationshipwith the Jewish people. Catholicsare currently engaged in a multi-dimensional review of the manyforms of the "teaching of contempt"for Jews and Judaism withinCatholicism which sometimes led topersecution and even genocide.

Within the kehilla, some have directlinks to the Shoah and all aresensitive to the issue of anti-Semitism within Jewish society,which creates a particularlyawareness of the need forrepentance and healing.

It is especially significant within thelocal context that the local LatinCatholic Church, which is primarilyArab in hierarchy and composition,has recognized the particularvocation of the kehilla.

In the recent Synod of the CatholicChurches in the Holy Land, thisrecognition was expressed in thefollowing terms:

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There is a group within the Jewishpeople who have come to knowChrist as God and Savior. They arepart of our local Church and theylive in their own special conditions.They too have a right to developtheir own relationship with Jewsand Judaism from the vantagepoint of their reality and situation, atthe same time as remainingconnected to the reality of the localChurch and being open to it. Wemust preserve open bridges ofcommunication between ourChurches and this community inorder to exchange experiences sothat we can learn from one anotherand so that this community candevelop according to its ownparticularity and as part of thecommunity of faithful in ourcountries.

Communion and communicationbetween the kehilla and the rest ofthe Church, especially the rest ofthe Local Church, is a fundamentalpart of the vocation of the kehilla.On the local level, some membersof the kehilla have been andcontinue to be engaged in teachingwithin the local Arabic-speakingChurch and promoting betterrelations between Jews andPalestinian Christians and Muslimstoo.

The kehilla realizes that there isstill much to be done. The wayto reconciliation between Jewsand Catholics is a long and arduousone after centur ies ofestrangement, hostility andpersecution. Even now, the kehillamust pray intensely for this new andrelatively fragile relationship, as

the way is fraught withsuspicions and pain. Nonetheless,the way has been paved forincreasing trust and ever morehonest dialogue. Many of themotivating dreams of the foundingmothers and fathers of the kehillahave been realized. For this thekehilla is joyful and thankful.

3. A discreet presenceAs much as the kehilla mightrejoice in the establishment ofincreasing trust and dialoguebetween the Church and the Jewishpeople, so too many kehillamembers are aware that the kehillaitself is called to be a discreetpresence.

The kehilla is privileged to be at acrossroads where Church andJewish people are meeting in a newrelationship of trust and friendship.However, the historical complexityof relations between Church andJews calls the kehilla to evergreater sensitivity and love for bothsides. This is even more true forthe present tragic reality in the HolyLand.

The very fact that there are Jewswho have recognized a call to enterrelationship with Jesus within theCatholic Church is a very sensitiveissue in the relations between theChurch and the Jewish people. Inrecent times, some prominentJewish figures that have enteredthe Catholic Church have been atthe center of painful controversy.The Catholic Church has soughtto celebrate the presence ofsuch Jews in the center of theChurch.

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Thus, for example, Pope John PaulII has repeatedly celebrated theJewish identity of Edith Stein, theGerman Jewish philosopher whoconverted to Catholicism in the1930s, entered the Carmelite orderand died because she was a Jew inAuschwitz in 1942. Edith Stein hasbeen recognized by the Church asan exemplary figure of belief in themodern world, a philosopherturnedmystic and has been formallyrecognized as a saint by theCatholic Church and made one ofthe patrons of Europe. Many Jewsfind this celebration of a figure theyconsider an apostate problematic inthe dialogue between Jews andCatholics. Some Jews ask: "Is theChurch suggesting that the bestJew is a converted Jew?"

In the kehilla, there is recognition ofthe pain that Edith Stein representsfor the Jewish people and thusmany insist on a discreet presencefor a community at the core ofwhich are Jews who have enteredthe Catholic Church. Within themove to firmly establish a newrelationship of trust betweenCatholics and Jews, many in thekehilla see their role within theChurch rather than in the direct andofficial dialogue between Catholicand Jewish representatives.

This role is one of constantlyspreading awareness within theChurch of the significance of therelationship with Judaism and theJewish people. Within the CatholicChurch, believers of both Jewishand Gentile origin have made agreat contribution to thesensitization of the Church to both

the Jewish roots of the Church andto contemporary Judaism and theJewish people.

Some of these prominent figureshave been members of the kehillaor linked to it. Perhaps it is not yettime for Catholics from among theJewish people to be prominent inthe dialogue between the Jewishpeople and the Catholic Church.

Perhaps rather this is a time for thekehilla to engage in a vigilant andconstant prayer for the success ofthis dialogue and the realization oftrue reconciliation between theChurch and the Jewish people afterso many centuries of pain.

This discreet presence clearlyincludes the weaving of friendshipwith neighbors in Israel. Membersof the kehilla feel called to bearwitness to the possibility of deepand respectful friendship with theJewish people within the context ofdaily life.

They bear discreet and yetprofound witness to the deep desirefor friendship with the Jewishpeople and the fundamentalchanges in Church attitudes. Theserelationships will eventually registera different history of Jews andChristians, relegating to the distantpast the centuries of suspicion andmistrust.

[Fr. Neuhaus's talk will becontinued in the next issue ofJesuits in Dialogue. The completetext in English can be obtained bywriting this Secretariat.]

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NEW::gS^M |̂[|ptlS Qi|||l|RELIGlOUS T|1|«ES

Jacques Dupuis, S.J. Christianity and the Religions: from Confrontation toDialogue

Fr. Dupuis describes his latest book as "more pastoral than academic,more concrete than abstract." In it, he intends to "help Christians of ourtime to discover more deeply the scope of God's plan for humankind,infinitely more beautiful and deeper than perhaps we had ever thought."

Paul Knitter and Chandra Muzaffar, eds., Subverting Greed: ReligiousPerspectives on the Global Economy

This work, co-edited by an American Christian and abrings together views on globalization from the viewfof seven religious traditions. After hearing the diveMuzaffar asks: "Can the religious communities of theof common front from which to engage the global m

i Malaysian Muslim,ioint of the followers'se evaluations, Dr.world form any kindarket?"

Catherine Cornille, ed. Many Mansions',Christian Identity

In her introduction to this ground-l:heightened and widespread Jaw

: ;KS presently left the religious perse

le Religious Belonging and

volume, Dr. Cornille notes: "Aof religious pluralism has

he choice not only of which• ••: : •••:•.•.:

udying deeply another religionchallenged by the questions

J.K. Kado<p.

and learnestarted pracgreatly resehave enabl

Stephen J. Pope"Dominus lesus"

The book c2000, docuauthors exetheology oltheology (L

i dialogue (C' . " : ' ; • ' • • , a

:en and the Bible's book grew out of personal experience. "I learned/ studying the catechism, but the catechism alone was- give me a deep understanding. Through the Spiritualitained a deeper knowledge of the essence of Christianitylow to put it into practice in my own body. Later, when I;ing Zen, I discovered that the Exercises and a Zen sesshinble one another. The many things 1 have learned from Zenme to put new life into my practice of the Exercises."

d Charles Hefling, eds., Sic et Won: Encountering

irs helpful analyses of themes treated in the September,snt of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Variousine its ecclesiology (Sullivan), relationship to themes in thearl Rahner (Egan), use of Scripture (Perkins), Trinitarianrence), Christology( Imbelli), and relevance to interreiigious>ney) and presents thoughtful Anglican, Protestant, Jewish

luslim responses to the document.

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