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At a talk described as historic, candid and warm, the leader encourages future cooperation.
By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 3, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- The bishop who heads all of Tampa Bay's Roman Catholics first set foot in a synagogue only a year ago. Yet here he was, late last month, speaking to a large gathering of rabbis and other Jews.
It was a historic evening.
Bishop Robert N. Lynch, who leads close to 400,000 Catholics, was conciliatory but did not evade the differences that long have divided the two religious communities. The Pinellas County Board of Rabbis arranged his talk, Oct. 24 at Congregation B'nai Israel of St. Petersburg. "Shalom," he said, employing the traditional Hebrew greeting of peace.
Lynch spoke about the friendship between his family and the five Jewish families who lived in the small West Virginia town where he spent his early years. The families exchanged presents during Christian and Jewish holidays. Such ecumenism had its limits, however.
"In my own church on Good Friday, I heard my Jewish friends referred to as "perfidious' in our liturgical rites and prayed for their conversion," he told the audience.
"And the translations of the Fourth Gospel by John were replete with references of one kind or another to fear of the Jews. But I have to tell you, that was not our experience of the Applesteins, who ran Montgomery's best drugstore, or the Birnbaums, who ran the department store."
As he grew up and moved away from Montgomery, Lynch said he became more aware of anti-Semitism. He said his education neither covered the Holocaust nor acknowledged the state of Israel.
"Catholics were insular, and like much of the rest of the population were frightfully insensitive," he added.
Barry Augenbraun, who moderated the bishop's talk, put the often contentious relationship in perspective for the audience of about 250 that gathered in Congregation B'nai Israel's new domed synagogue at 300 58th St. N.
"Jews and Catholics share 2,000 years of history," Augenbraun said. "For Jews, this has not been a happy experience."
Some who heard the bishop's talk described it as frank, surprising and heartwarming. A love fest, said one.
All, though, spoke with hope for increased cordiality between Catholics and Jews.
To that end, Pinellas County rabbis have accepted Lynch's invitation to speak to his priests during a retreat next October. In turn, Rabbi Arthur Baseman, head of the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis, will encourage his colleagues to invite the Catholic bishop to their congregations.
Lynch urged the two faith groups to create "opportunities for mutual cooperation," such as community service, that will allow them to work together.
A turning point in Jewish-Catholic relations came with the Second Vatican Council. The council's historic 1965 document, Nostra Aetate (In Our Time), instructed Catholics that Jews were not responsible for Christ's death. Nostra Aetate also condemned anti-Semitism and called for discussions between Catholics and Jews.
In the years that followed, Pope John Paul II prayed at Auschwitz, apologized for anti-Semitism, visited a synagogue in Rome, established diplomatic relations with Israel and prayed at the Western Wall.
The path to cordiality, though, has been littered with boulders.
The pope angered Jews when he conferred papal knighthood on Kurt Waldheim, the former U.N. secretary general and former president of Austria. Waldheim had been a Nazi intelligence officer and served with units that massacred civilians, executed prisoners and identified Jews for deportation.
The pope also was criticized for beatifying Pius IX, head of the church from 1846 to 1878. Pius kidnapped a 6-year-old Jewish boy who had been secretly baptized by his Christian maid. The child, Edgardo Mortara, became a priest.
More ill will developed when Edith Stein was canonized in 1998. Born Jewish, the Carmelite nun was killed in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
The proposed beatification of Pope Pius XII is the source of ongoing disagreement. Jews accuse Pius, pope during World War II, of being anti-Semitic and failing to condemn Nazi persecution of the Jewish people. Catholics generally believe that Pius was unaware of the extent of Nazi atrocities. Jewish and Catholic scholars who were allowed to study published Vatican material on World War II believe many important questions remain unanswered.
Against this background, Lynch delivered his historic talk.
The push toward ecumenism by Pope John XXIII gave Jews reason to hope, Lynch said.
"They sought and thought they would readily receive recognition of the state of Israel. But it did not come," he said with the cadence of a preacher.
"They sought and thought that the church would recognize how slowly and poorly it had responded to the reality of the horrors of the Holocaust. But it did not come. They sought and thought that the church would acknowledge that in parts of the world it not only abided anti-Semitism but it would also be said it abetted it. It did. But it did not come."
Catholics too had their expectations of the new, evolving relationship, Lynch said. They thought Jews would join them in their fight for fairness and equity in state support for private, religious education. Catholics also thought the tragedy of the Holocaust would make Jews more sympathetic to their cause against abortion and euthanasia.
But such support, said Lynch, "largely did not come."
After the newfound rapprochement cooled during the Vietnam era, revival came with the 1970s and continues to this day, Lynch said. Still, certain "neuralgic issues" threaten to halt the interreligious dialogue, he said. Areas of tension include Pope Pius XII and his behavior during the Holocaust, Christian concern for Arab Christians in Israel and Pope John Paul's seeming acceptance of President Bashar Assad's anti-Jewish attack during the pope's state visit to Syria. Lynch even broached the emotional subject of marriage between Jews and Catholics.
Concerning the Holocaust, the Catholic bishop added his apology to that of the present day pope's. And addressing the issue of Pope Pius' World War II actions, Lynch did not defend his church. Given the Catholic Church's current far-flung bureaucracy, he said, "I am skeptical when we try to slide off and say we didn't know."
Even as he offered such conciliatory words, Lynch noted that "the Jewish world needs to understand the church's concern for Christian Arabs in Israel."
Christian Arabs, he said, are leaving Israel in record numbers.
"Assurances that even if there were no Christians left in Israel, our religious sites would be safe and secure and cared for just won't cut it," said Lynch, who at the same time reaffirmed the Catholic Church's support of Israel's right to exist.
Even when facing contentious issues, Lynch told his audience, Jews and Catholics need to seek common ground. This can be done, he said, if amicable relationships are developed at the local level.
Lynch has set an example. He and Rabbi Jacob Luski of Congregation B'nai Israel are friends and make it a practice to meet for lunch.
The two religious leaders first met nearly six years ago when Luski accepted an invitation to attend Lynch's ordination as bishop of the diocese that covers Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties.
Luski returned the invitation when he invited Lynch to the dedication of Congregation B'nai Israel's multimillion-dollar synagogue last year. It was the first time the Catholic bishop had ever been in a synagogue.
The friendship between the two men is credited with creating the opportunity for last week's event.
"It's said that fences make good neighbors, but it's always helpful to have a gate, a gate in the fence that enables the neighbors to get together," said Rabbi Arthur Baseman of Temple B'nai Israel in Clearwater and head of the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis.
"It is thanks to their friendship that such a meeting can take place."
Luski called Lynch's address to the Jewish community historic.
"In my 25 years in this community the opportunity really never existed before on that level of leadership within the Catholic Church," Luski said as he introduced Lynch.
Speaking from his office the next day, Lynch said, "Any time that we get a chance to talk in friendship, especially to talk in friendship of some of the issues that occasionally hurt us, or that we don't understand, I think the cause of religion is served."