Vatican rejects Israeli criticism of Pope’s comments on Jewish law

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By Philippe Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican has dismissed criticism from senior Israeli rabbis of Pope Francis’ remarks on Jewish books of sacred law, saying it does not question their continued validity for Jews today .

Last month, Reuters reported that Rabbi Rasson Arousi, who is in charge of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s relations with the Vatican, wrote a stern letter to the Vatican in which he said Francis’ comments at a general audience on August 11 seemed to suggest that the Torah, or Jewish law, was obsolete.

The Vatican’s official response, seen by Reuters on Friday, said the pope’s comments in a homily on the writings of St. Paul should not be extrapolated from their context of ancient times and had no bearing on the Jews of ‘today.

“The continuing Christian conviction is that Jesus Christ is the new way of salvation. However, this does not mean that the Torah is diminished or no longer recognized as the ‘way of salvation for the Jews’,” the cardinal wrote. Kurt Koch, whose Vatican department covers religious relations with Jews.

“In his catechesis, the Holy Father makes no mention of modern Judaism; the discourse is a reflection on (Saint Paul’s) theology in the historical context of a given era, ”Koch wrote.

“The fact that the Torah is crucial to modern Judaism is by no means questioned,” he said.

The Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, contains hundreds of commandments that Jews must follow in their daily lives. The extent of adherence to the wide array of directives differs between Orthodox Jews and Reform Jews.

In his letter to Koch in August, Arousi said the pope’s comments risked a return to the “teaching of contempt” that prevailed in the Catholic Church until the last century.

“In view of the positive claims consistently made by Pope Francis about Judaism, it can in no way be assumed to amount to a so-called ‘doctrine of contempt,'” Koch wrote.

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“Pope Francis fully respects the foundations of Judaism and always seeks to deepen the bonds of friendship between the two religious traditions,” he said.

Relations between Catholics and Jews were revolutionized in 1965, when the Second Vatican Council repudiated the concept of collective Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus and began decades of interfaith dialogue. Francis and his two predecessors visited synagogues.

Francis had good relations with the Jews. While still archbishop in his hometown of Buenos Aires, he co-wrote a book with one of the city’s rabbis, Abraham Skorka, and maintained a lasting friendship with him.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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