Last week the Vatican continued its commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate declaration with a new document enjoining Catholics not to attempt to convert Jews and to work with them against anti-Semitism. Seen from a historical perspective, this is a remarkable development since it continues the process by which the church disavows a long history of delegitimization of Jewish faith. It also makes permanent the achievements of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, without whose leadership this reconciliation between two great faiths wouldn’t have been possible. But even as Jews can rightly celebrate this move, it should be understood that those who try to convert Jews to other faiths is the least of their problems.
The background to the new document from the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations With Jews is the process begun during the Second Vatican Council by which the church officially renounced the teaching of hatred of Jews rooted in the deicide charge. After centuries of hostility, the Church is now formally committed to instructing its adherents to understand the Jewish roots of their own faith and the need to understand the consequences of such hate. Though Jews have, with reason, expressed dissatisfaction with some of the Church’s record during the Holocaust, there is no doubt that today it has aligned itself against anti-Semitism. As the document notes, “A Christian can never be an anti-Semite, especially because of the Jewish roots of Christianity.”
Moreover, it has now also taken the next step in building mutual respect between the faiths by instructing Catholics that their desire to spread their faith should take into account the ties between Jews and the Church:
The Church is therefore obliged to view evangelization (spreading Christianity) to Jews, who believe in the one God, in a different manner from that to people of other religions and world views.
It is true there are Jewish groups that work against conversion, especially when carried out in a deceptive manner. But in a free country, a free market of ideas is necessary and that means understanding that Christians may expound upon their belief that their faith is the one with the answers. Jews may do the same. Yet two millennia of attacks on Jews in Christian countries have always been accompanied by efforts to undermine Judaism. Forced conversion and aggressive hostile attempts to entice Jews away from their faith are part of that unfortunate legacy. While Jews must understand that removed from the context of compulsion, believers view missionary activity as a friendly act, Christians must likewise comprehend that the history of anti-Semitism makes Jews think of conversion campaigns as an attempt to destroy them. Removing this element from the conversation is an excellent way for Catholics to further interfaith goodwill as well as to undermine efforts to promote hate.
Likewise, the Church’s teachings against anti-Semitism are needed more than ever as a wave of global Jew-hatred has swept across Europe. But it is precisely because of that fact that both Catholics and Jews should cease focusing on conversion in Western countries and instead concentrate our energies on combating the variant of anti-Semitism that attempts to portray itself as neutral about the Jewish faith.
Anti-Zionists have always sought to depict their efforts as being different from traditional Jew hatred. But in the context of the contemporary debate about the Middle East that is a distinction without a difference. As Pope Francis said in October, political disagreements are permissible. But those who argue that the State of Israel has no right to exist in peace and prosperity are doing something that is not legitimate. As he correctly stated:
“To attack Jews is anti-Semitism, but an outright attack on the State of Israel is also anti-Semitism.”
That is precisely what all too many in Europe and elsewhere are doing. To judge Israel by a different standard than other nations and to attempt to deprive the Jewish people of the same things that no one would think of denying to others — the right to a state of their own and the right of self-defense — are practicing discrimination. And discrimination against Jews is anti-Semitism. Those who wage war on the one Jewish state in the world are anti-Semites.
Unfortunately, that’s a necessary lesson that some Middle Eastern Christians who seek to appease hostile Muslim majorities have forgotten. The same is true of many Christian denominations that appear to embrace good relations with Jews only when they are powerless or victims.
Thus, while any efforts to take the conversion issue off the table should be cheered this must be viewed as part of a foundation for good relations that will allow both Catholics and Jews to fight against hate together. Forced conversion was a matter of vital importance as late as the 19th century. But today, Jews have bigger problems as a war against Israel promoted both by Islamist extremists and Western intellectual elites gains momentum. It is far more important that Catholics and the many adherents of other faiths who admire the pope also embrace his teachings on anti-Semitism. If they do, they will understand that they are as obligated to fight against anti-Zionist efforts to isolate or attack Israel as any Jew.
