alt.politics.liberalism

Conservative rabbis "dismayed" over Catholic prayer

By David Alexander Tue Feb 12, 9:47 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An assembly representing Conservative rabbis
worldwide expressed dismay on Tuesday over a revised Roman Catholic prayer
calling for the conversion of Jews and voted to ask the Vatican to clarify
the text's meaning.


The Rabbinical Assembly, which represents 1,600 Conservative rabbis
worldwide, said it was "dismayed and deeply disturbed to learn of reports
that Pope Benedict XVI has revised the 1962 text of the Latin Mass,
retaining the rubric, 'For the conversion of the Jews."'

In a resolution approved after an hour of debate over two days, the group
praised improved Jewish-Catholic relations over the past 40 years and agreed
to "seek clarification from the Vatican of the meaning and status of the new
text for the Latin Mass which will be heard in Catholic Churches on Good
Friday."

Conservative Judaism is one of the main branches of the religion in many
countries worldwide, along with Orthodox and Reform Judaism.

The Good Friday prayer in Latin would be heard by very few Roman Catholic
congregations worldwide, but Jewish groups have expressed disappointment
over its language, viewing it as a step backward after decades of
improvement in ties between Jews and Catholics.

Reforms in the 1960s led to the church dropping references to conversion of
Jews in Good Friday prayers and were seen by many Jews and Catholics as
"affirming that God's covenant with the Jewish people has never been
revoked," the rabbis said.

Pope Benedict, who will visit the United States in April just a few weeks
after Good Friday, touched off a controversy last year when he agreed to
make the old-style Latin Mass more available for traditionalists along with
a missal, or prayer book, that had been phased out in reforms of the 1960s.

The pope had agreed not to use the traditional Latin prayer because of its
references to Jews' "blindness" over Christ and other language considered
offensive. The new prayer released last week, however, included a reference
asking God to help Jews "acknowledge Jesus Christ as the savior."

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