The need to step up the fight against anti-Semitism will be a key issue for the world's Roman Catholic bishops at a meeting at the Vatican next year. An entire section of a preparatory document released by the Vatican on Friday is devoted to the Church's relationship with Jews, noting the "close associations of the two in faith" and calling for efforts "to overcome every form of anti-Semitism." The 60-page document, which was approved by Pope Benedict XVI, outlines the suggested topics and includes a questionnaire to be answered by local bishops.There's even a section that emphasizes how literal interpretations of holy texts risk fundamentalism. That, you'll remember, was the central issue during last year's anti-Pope riots. It's also one of the central sensibilities that seperates Judaism and Catholicism on one side from the dominant interpretations of Islam on the other side. Not that this has anything to do with the Pope's stance on anti-Semitism - we assume that just comes from being a hell of a guy. Bonus preempt: on the Pope's stance on gay ordination.
After asking if priority is given to dialogue with the Jews, the questionnaire calls on bishops to investigate the use of biblical texts to "ferment attitudes of anti-Semitism." "Much has already been done, but everything must be done to dispel every shadow," the synod's general-secretary, Bishop Nikola Eterovic, said during a news conference to present the agenda for the October 2008 meeting.
[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]
