A THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

Georges Cottier, O.P.

I add my greetings to those Card. Etchegaray has just addressed to you, and I thank you on behalf of the Historical-Theological Commission for the Great Jubilee and on my own behalf for agreeing to give up some of your time and your normal activities to take part in this Symposium. The objective of this colloquium is to offer the Holy Father some incontestable scientific material that may be useful for the «historical examination of conscience» which he has invited Christians to make on the occasion of the Great Jubilee (cf. TMA 33-36). A scientific work worthy of this name should deal with a clearly defined object and be done with a suitable methodology.

As soon as our initiative was announced, it caused a great deal of comment in public opinion. But many inaccurate things were said and written about it. The explanations that follow, with the necessary clarifications, will help - I hope - to make our work a success. Our reflection is of a theological nature. This is indicated in the title where the expression «anti-Judaism» was preferred to «anti-Semitism». Our reflection deals with God's plan of salvation and the place the Jewish people, the Chosen people, the people of the Covenant and the Promises, have in this plan.

The Symposium follows in the steps of the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate which marks a decisive turning-point and which gave a new impulse to Christian theologians' reflection on Judaism. It is based on the teachings of the Holy Father, who has intervened on this theme on several occasions and it uses the documents issued by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews in union with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Finally we should indicate the importance of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

By anti-Judaism we mean all the pseudo-theological opinions and prejudices that have circulated for such a long time among populations marked by Christianity and have served as a pretext for the unjustifiable oppression suffered by the Jewish people throughout its history. These prejudices, as it were, suffocated in many people their ability to react according to the Gospel when the pagan and even anti-Christian anti-semitism of national-socialism spread in Europe.

The expression «Christian milieu» has a sociological meaning. It is not used here by chance since, despite her children's faults, the Church has always known that denying the Old Testament would be the same as denying herself. She has never forgotten - her prayer attests this - that Jesus, her Lord, was born of this people, that his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, is Jewish, as are the Apostles. The theology of the Jewish people is a chapter of ecclesiology. The way we will look at the issues that will occupy us in these days will be with the eyes of faith. So we will ask to be enlightened for our theological reflection by the New Testament, God's word.

The sub-title contains the specification «inter-ecclesial». If it is true that one of the meanings of the word Judaism is: the theological consciousness the Jewish people has of itself or, more simply, the Jewish religion, why is our colloquium limited to Christian theologians? In fact Judaism has eminent religious thinkers and theologians, with whom dialogue must continue. But the problem we are dealing with in this symposium is the concern of the Christian theologian. By its very nature, the examination of conscience we want to contribute to regards the Christian conscience and this is the competence of Christian theologians. In this regard, it is with sincere joy that I greet the representatives of other Christian Churches.

Our task, though modest, is no less important. It is to present, according to the Holy Father's intentions and within the perspective of preparation for the Great Jubilee, conclusions which will be useful. It is not for us to make decisions which do not lie within our competence. If our works proceed as we hope, we will be able to put forward proposals which do not reflect the theological opinion of this or that person, but proposals where an authentic expression of the sensus fidei can be seen. Having said this, in view of their scientific value and as a service rendered to theological thought, we hope that we will be able to publish the Proceedings of the Symposium.