Growing into role of Benedict

By Lisa Palmieri-Billig

Pope Benedict XVI, or Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the media continue to refer to him, is no stranger to Israel or to the Catholic Church's present commitment to serious, respectful dialogue with Judaism.

In 1994, he came to Jerusalem as a guest speaker at an international, interreligious conference on "Religious Leadership in a Secular Society" organized by Rabbi David Rosen, presently the international director for interreligious affairs of the American Jewish Committee. His opening remark was: "The history of relations between Israel and Christianity is filled with blood and tears... After Auschwitz, the mission of reconciliation and acceptance cannot be delayed."

Paradoxically, it is most probably his German background that has made Ratzinger especially sensitive to the Jewish people. One could compare his sensitivity, born of the soul-searching of a man born into German society, with the sensitivity of his predecessor, John Paul II, who was born in Poland, a victim of Nazi Germany. The past and future popes can thus be said to be bound by common personal memories of the evils of the Holocaust.

When I interviewed him for the Italian monthly Studi Cattolici during his stay in Jerusalem, Ratzinger referred to the return of Jews to the Land of Israel: "I think it is very important that Jews, even if they live all over the world, have a homeland, a point of reference, live in the land of their fathers as a people in continuity with their own history and the promise given to their forefathers."

A short while after this, Pope John Paul II uncoincidentally stated that "the Jewish people have a right to a land of their own" – adding that Palestinians too have a right to their own state.

Since Ratzinger has served as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1981, thus furnishing the theological guidelines for the papacy, his influence on (or agreement with) John Paul II's outreach to Israel and Judaism has been evident.

Asked at the time, whether Israel had special meaning for Christianity, he replied, "I think yes, certainly, but without rushing to theological conclusions, because the State of Israel was created by secular thought and is in itself a secular state. However, this fact has a great religious value because this people is not simply a people like any other. They have always maintained ties with their great history and therefore find themselves in this Holy Land, the Holy Land of the history of all three monotheistic religions. This, of course, also bears a message for Christians."

Ratzinger is also capable of wide smiles. He smiled widely during his acceptance speech when he referred to himself as "a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord," following the papacy of "the great pope, John Paul II." This same wide smile was present when he sat in the front row at the Jerusalem conference, between France's former chief rabbi, Rene-Samuel Sirat, and the Greek Orthodox ecumenical metropolitan, Patriarch Damaskimos.

In his 1994 speech, which reflected theological positions not yet abreast of the Jewish-Catholic dialogue taking place in the US and elsewhere, he asked himself whether there can be a true reconciliation between Christianity and Judaism without abandoning faith.

"An affirmative reply", he said, "is not only fruit of a personal opinion but can be found in the message of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published by the Catholic Church as an authentic article of faith."

In an interview published in the June/July 1990 issue of Midstream, Ratzinger reflected on what was then the draft version of the Catechism. He spoke about his efforts in "overcoming – going beyond – those old legalistic interpretations of the scriptures that are typical of certain so-called liberal Catholic circles – which portray Jesus as breaking with the pharasaic interpretations of the scriptures, presented as overly legalistic... the old stereotypes continue to survive even after the Second Vatican Council and despite successive documents in some of these groups that defined themselves as liberal. But we do not accept these views. We want to support the Secretariat [the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with Jews] "in pointing out that these views are not correct."

Ratzinger sees a "profound continuity" between the Old and New Testaments, while at the same time admits to profound differences.

"But our intentions in writing the Catechism were to make it very clear that without the Old Testament, without continuous contacts with an ever-living and ever-enduring Judaism, Christianity could not be true to its own origins," he said.

"The people of Israel have always, and justly so, maintained their conviction that they are 'the chosen people.' Yet it was our one and only God who made this choice – wasn't it? – in the context of a universal plan, as we can see in the Old Testament. But this fact of being a chosen people did not prevent rabbis in ancient or medieval times, or above all, in modern times, from believing at the same time that God gives his love equally to all human beings."

Ratzinger's conservative theological positions have, admittedly, raised concern among Protestants, Buddhists, other religions and even among Jews. Publications he edited caused controversy in the past. However, his basic beliefs and commitments regarding Jews and Israel are expressed well in these personal statements.

His public speeches after John Paul II's death were deemed by observers here as containing moral depth and cultural richness. Apparently, he was considered by his peers to the leader to "bring the people back into the churches after John Paul II succeeded in calling them out into the squares," as one TV announcer stated.

It will be difficult for many people in Rome who know him personally to call him Pope Benedict XVI. Vatican correspondents with whom he has had many conversations, continue to refer to him as Cardinal Ratzinger in their reports.

It can be expected that Ratzinger's personal background, his world views and deep convictions will allow him to grow into the role of pope, as growth and transformation frequently characterize the change that comes over persons invested with the responsibilities of power.

The news of his election is good news for those concerned that relations between the Vatican and Israel, between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, continue along the road so diligently and fervidly paved by John Paul II.