REMNANT COLUMNIST, New York

Pope Criticized by Jewish Scholars

The Israeli publication Haaretz (April 5, 2005) reports that the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Shmuel Riccardo Di Segni, made a personal visit to San Pietro Plaza to recite Psalms for the health of Pope John Paul II. “The plaza, not the Church,” stressed Di Segni, who said that “after years of ghettoization and incitement, the Jews of Rome are naturally suspicious of the pope.” He believes that “the pope may have visited the synagogue, but the time is not yet ripe for the rabbi to visit the church.”

The Chief Rabbi was referring to the Pope’s historic 1986 visit to Rome’s main synagogue, during which he referred to the Jewish people as Catholics’ “elder brothers.” This phrase did not sit well with Di Segni, who described it as “ambivalent.” "In the sacred texts, both the Bible and the New Testament,” he says, “the elder brother was always the wicked brother, the one who lost the birthright, like Esau.” Therefore, according to Di Segni, “[The Pope] compared us to Esau, at a time when, in the dialect of the Jews of Rome, the word ‘Esau’ meant non-Jew. Thus this was no revolution.”

One of the leading Jewish intellectuals in Italy, Prof. Amos Luzzatto, also noted the 1986 papal visit to the Rome synagogue. "The only thing the Catholic Church did in the Jewish ghetto was to build a Catholic church,” he says, “where they gave sermons against Jews so that the Jews would convert. The pope's visit to this synagogue was the antithesis of the [Church's] treatment of the Jews." Luzzatto also said that Pope John Paul’s apology for alleged crimes against the Jews was “not enough,” because the Pope “spoke of the Christians' responsibility, not the Church's responsibility."

In a Haaretz article titled “What can Israel expect after John Paul II?” (April 4, 2005), Vatican “expert” Dr. Itzhak Minerbi, of the Hebrew University's Institute of Contemporary Judaism, is quoted as saying that all talk of Pope John Paul II’s sympathy for the Jews is “rubbish” and that any positive impression made by the Pope on Israelis and Jews “derives solely from ignorance." "These people are familiar with only one side,” says Minerbi, “the pleasant, smiling old fellow dressed in white. What does he say? It isn't important. What does he believe in? It makes no difference. This pope did not make one iota of theological change."

As for the eventual successor to Pope John Paul II and the future of the “process of rapprochement” between the Vatican and the Jewish people, Minerbi says:  “It will be either worse or better. Right now, the conservative forces in the Vatican are forming a united front that is already trying to change things."

COMMENT: With each statement made by such men as Rabbi Di Segni, Prof. Luzzatto and Dr. Minerbi, the true nature of “interreligious dialogue” is made more and more manifest. The hatred of such men for the Catholic Church will never abate, and they will waste their lives ignoring the theological truths of Christ Crucified and Risen, while steering all “interfaith” discussions into veiled and not-so-veiled attacks against the Bride of Christ. Either that or the “holocaust”...take your pick.

Despite all his concessions to the Jewish people, concessions which scandalized the faithful and could never have been imagined in saner times, Pope John Paul remains an object of disappointment and vilification to the Di Segnis, Luzzattos and Minerbis of the world. They tell us that he never did enough. In fact, according to Haaretz, Dr. Minerbi became “enraged” when, at Auschwitz, the Pope spoke about 6 million "Poles" instead of “Jews.”

There is much talk – offensive talk, to be sure – from such Jewish activists about the direction of the Church. Speaking of the Church’s current relationship with Israel and the Jewish people, former Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, Aharon Lopez, remarked that no one in the Church "would dare to alter this process at its root, because sharp variations would place it in a highly ridiculous light.” The word dare is striking. Churchmen at the highest levels dare to destroy the liturgy, dare to ignore or reinvent sacred doctrine and dare to place countless souls in jeopardy by doing so. But Lopez is probably right on this one.

The current Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, Oded Ben-Hur, expressed his own take on the future of the Church, and it is a telling observation: “In the final analysis, the Church is a very rational and pragmatic organization. Some people might want to go back to the days before the Second Vatican Council, but I have my doubts as to how strongly they would be able to press their case."

Read that again, and recall that it was said by someone who should, in theory, show nothing but reverence for the Church. Because the Church is “rational” and “pragmatic,” she could NEVER revert to the glorious entity she was before the Second Vatican Council. And THERE is the entire dilemma of “interreligious dialogue” in a nutshell. Those who have no love for Jesus Christ, who deny His divinity, insist on having a say in His Church’s governance, methodology, and doctrinal and liturgical life. To them, those who fight to uphold Catholic Truth and Tradition are “irrational,” holdovers who may, in time, actually restore to the world a Church whose first concern will be the preservation and teaching of the Catholic Faith. There is an entire world of people out there who do NOT want this to happen.

One more thing. Rabbi Di Segni, Prof. Luzzatto and Dr. Minerbi are all upset with the Pope because he liked Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ! Imagine that. They wouldn’t even allow the head of the Catholic Church to enjoy a film without calling him on it. "If he was such a friend of the Jews, Mr. Pope,” whined Minerbi, “why didn't he say a single word against the film?" Meanwhile, Luzzatto unwittingly spills the beans in his assessment. After opining that, “In many places in the world, Catholic education is still a source of anti-Semitism," he adds the non-sequitur, “That's also the case with Mel Gibson's film.” Got it? Catholicism equals “anti-Semitism.” Who wouldn’t want to have a dollar for every time they heard that one? So, if anyone thinks it’s time to stop defending Mel Gibson’s masterpiece.... sorry, not yet. Such attacks always were, and still remain, attacks on the Gospels.

Anyone who writes the above, and dares to point out both the obvious and the necessary, will, of course, be labeled one, or both, of two things: “anti-Semitic” or “backwards.” What do you say to that? If it were all about “hatred,” then the discussions would not center around doctrine or Church governance, would they? No, they would be more in the line of ad hominem attacks. You know, the kind directed against loyal Catholics.

May Pope John Paul II rest in peace. And may his successor (God help him!) make his top priority the true restoration of the Catholic Church in her doctrinal, liturgical and pastoral life. This will mean telling all non-Catholic activists to “mind their own bloody business,” and getting on to the business at hand: picking up the pieces left behind by forty years of “progress.”

Christians Attacked in India during Showing of The Passion Of The Christ

Asia News reports (March 31, 2005) that a band of Hindu fundamentalists attacked Christians who were watching a screening of The Passion of The Christ inside the Kanai Church, the oldest church in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. The incident occurred on the night before Easter when 25 militants from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the paramilitary wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — disrupted the viewing of Mel Gibson’s movie and started attacking the spectators, seriously hurting one man.  

John Dayal, president of the All India Catholic Union, said that “these anti-Christian attacks are probably designed to discredit the Congress Party” which currently rules Kerala. The Chief Minister, Oomen Chandy, is Christian.      

The national governor of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), Sajan K George, told BosNewsLife that the band raided the church and began beating parishioners. "The RSS members did not even spare women and child,” he said. The man who was seriously injured in the attack, parishioner George Kutty, claimed that "Hindu militants" also stole money from an eight-member team of the Kanai Church and "desecrated the church building." In a letter to Indian President Abdul J. Kalam, he warned that the "savage attack" on the eve of Easter "sent a disturbing signal to the six million-strong Christian community in Kerala."

"The Passion of The Christ is one of the most acclaimed movies on the suffering Christ bore for the sinful world,” wrote Mr. Kutty. “The attack on the congregation for screening and watching this film shows the indifference of the RSS to the sensitiveness of Christians.”

Concern is also growing among Christians and the Church in Maharashtra, the most secular Indian state and under a Congress Party administration, where State Home Affairs Minister Sidharam Mhetre presented an anti-conversion law. Should it become law, the bill would, among other things, require anyone changing religion to submit an affidavit to the authorities. Human rights activists claim that anti-conversion laws are used by Hindu fundamentalists to persecute non- Hindus.

Dolphy D’Souza, president of the Bombay (Mumbai) Catholic Sabha (assembly), said the proposal by Congress-led Maharashtra was shameful. “The Bombay Catholic Sabha is anguished and pained at the response of Mr. Sidharam Mhetre,” Mr. D’Souza said. “If the government thinks it can pass a law against the people, we can tell him that we and other organizations shall launch a campaign.”

COMMENT: We don’t hear much about the oppression of Catholics in India. Of course, such coverage would destroy the media’s favorite image of the Catholic Church as a gigantic, lumbering, fascist entity, the bane of freedom for two-thousand years now. No, the press doesn’t get too excited by the fact that both Catholics and Protestants have been suffering persecution In India:

• Last February, RSS activists beat up six Christian theology students from the Asian Biblical Seminary near Mannar in Kerala's Alappuzha district (Asia News).

• Last September, a group of unidentified men attacked seven nuns from Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity order on the outskirts of Calicut town, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Kerala's commercial capital Cochin (Asia News).

• Last August, Fr. Job Chittilappilly was killed at his parish in the town of Thuruthiparambu in Kerala, while he was saying the Rosary in his private quarters, after being threatened by militants for his pastoral activities among Hindu families (Asia News).

• In March of 2005, an Indian Jesuit priest was arrested and jailed in Gujarat (western India) on the basis of false accusations made by a woman who claimed he tried to convert and have sex with her (Asia News).

As an aside, if one goes to the ADL website – yes, those “warriors” who defend the world from “hatred, prejudice and bigotry” – one will find a July 13, 2004 press release condemning an attack on a Sikh man by a group of men in Queens, New York. One will find a December 8, 2004 press release expressing “profound sorrow and concern” over a fire at the Al Sadiq Mosque in Glendale, Arizona. But one finds no tears for the Indian Catholics, or the innocent people beaten because they were watching The Passion of The Christ. Then, again, these victims are only Christians. In the world’s view, they probably had it coming.

“I Found It On eBay....”

On April 9, 2005, item #6169851381 went up for auction on the popular eBay website: “Eucharist from Mass w/ Pope John Paul II in 1998 (Actual Eucharist I saved from Pope's 20th anniversary).”

The description of this item, posted by the seller on the website, reads as follows:    

First [sic] of all, I AM NOT CATHOLIC AND DO NOT BELIEVE I'M GOING TO HELL FOR SELLING THIS COLLECTIBLE. So, if you're going to send me a message saying that I am don't waist [sic] your time because it'll just be deleted w/o being read.

It's a momento [sic] from that great afternoon with Pope John Paul II. Yes, this is the actual Eucharist I saved during the mass that I participated in on October 18th, 1998. I ate one wafer then I went back and got another one to save and he gave me another one, but I did get a very dirty look! I was studying in Florence that semester and a bunch of us went down to Rome that week to partake. I'm not Catholic, but I found it all very interesting.

Along with the Host, the package includes a program in Italian, four stamps from the Vatican and a bottle-opener purchased in Rome in 1992, which is decorated with photos of Pope John Paul and the Trevi Fountain. “From what I understand,” wrote the seller, “if you're holding something in your hand during a certain moment when Pope John Paul II spoke during his mass, whetever [sic] it becomes blessed. I was holding this bottle opener during mass with him in 1992.” All the items from 1998 (Eucharist, bulletin, program, and stamps) have been encased in plastic and “have not had much light and no air.”

The seller wrote that the items are “all in awesome condition,” and said that he “would like to sell them as a package but would consider seperate [sic] offers.”

COMMENT (as if one is needed!): No, this “blasphemy special” didn’t sell for thirty pieces of silver, but for $2,000.... plus $8.00 shipping. This is what it’s come down to. Any joker can pop into line and get himself a collectible “wafer.” And they’re suitable for framing!

If anyone is keeping score, chalk up another disgusting outrage perpetrated via the practice of “Communion in the Hand.” You can pencil it in somewhere between the snatching of Hosts by Satanists and the trampling of Hosts into the mud at outdoor papal stadium Masses.

At one time, a Catholic’s greatest pride was that Blessed Sacrament residing in the Tabernacle. You would enter a Catholic Church and it would be like no other place on earth. And despite the beautiful architecture and artwork, it was that red sanctuary lamp that made ALL the difference, and transformed that place into something utterly unique.

Our shepherds can write all the encyclicals and pastoral letters on the Eucharist that they want. But, until they once again take the Real Presence seriously, take it as an awesome, priceless, unimaginably precious gift to an undeserving but needy world, the Church will never recover from the wounds inflicted upon her by her enemies from within.