Feb 26, 2008 10:33 pm US/Central
Cardinal Calls For Clarity On Controversial Prayer
Cardinal George Addresses Jewish-Catholic Reconciliation At Annual Meeting
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Francis Cardinal George (File)
CBS
Holy Name Cathedral will remain closed until at least Easter due to emergency repairs to its ornate carved-wood ceiling after a 10-pound chunk plunged to the floor several weeks ago.
But as CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, it was another kind of repair Cardinal George spoke about Tuesday night – interfaith reconciliation.
At an event which usually symbolizes improving relations between Catholics and Jews in Chicago, the Cardinal spoke about damage control.
"I certainly believe the pope did not want friction," George said.
The Cardinal was attending an annual event named after the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin's historic lecture in Jerusalem.
"Above all, in light of the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, the church needs to engage in public repentance," Bernardin had said.
It was a theme adopted by the late Pope John Paul II and marked a turning point in relations between Catholics and Jews, nowhere more evident than here in Chicago.
"If anything there are more activities between Catholics and Jews," said Emily Soloff of the American Jewish Committee.
But when Pope Benedict XVI recently urged wider use of a Latin Liturgy containing this Prayer for the Jews, saying, "illuminate their hearts so that they may recognize Jesus Christ as savior of all men," some consider that a renewed call to convert Jews.
A former Vatican consultant Tuesday night called that the furthest thing from Pope Benedict's mind.
"There is nothing in the prayer in the revived Tridentine rite that would justify any way any organized attempts to go out and immediately try to convert Jews," said former Vatican consultant Dr. Eugene Fischer.
Fischer, a prime mover in the reconciliation between Catholics and Jews over the past decade, admitted the wording is ambiguous.
And in fact, Cardinal George told CBS 2 Tuesday night that he has asked for that clarification.
"It's to be officially interpreted so that people understand what the pope meant. In referring to the end of time when all Israel will be one, that means me as well as you, that mans all of us," George said, and not an active effort to convert Jews.
The controversial prayer is just one symptom of new strains between the two faiths that are certain to come up when Pope Benedict visits the United States and meets with Jewish leaders in April.
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