Archive for October, 2005
Bishops Make Pilgrimage to Interfaith Friendship
Monday, October 17th, 2005
“The Charlotte Observer”
October 17, 2005
By Jeffrey Kirby
Special to the Observer
As a child growing up Catholic, I saw the pope on television and in pictures with a skullcap, which I thought was only worn by the Jewish people. I wondered why the leader of the Church was Jewish.
When I was a teenager and I realized that the pope was Catholic, I laughed at myself. I had mistaken his headgear, called by Christians a zucchetto, for a Jewish yarmulke. Of itself, it’s an innocent misassociation. Now, however, being older, I realize how close to the truth my original wonder may have been.
Recently, a small group of American bishops participated in a Catholic-Jewish pilgrimage and study group to Auschwitz and Rome. Among the bishops was Robert Baker of Charleston, S.C.
Meet Jesus, Meet Judaism
The meetings commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, where millions of Jews – men, women, and children – were put to death in the gas chambers and ovens.
This follows the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the synagogue in Cologne in August, where he declared, “Whoever meets Jesus Christ, meets Judaism.” Therefore, as the representative of Jesus Christ, maybe the pope can be seen as a “spiritual Semite,” as a “Jewish” person. Perhaps I shouldn’t laugh at my childhood thoughts.
The efforts of both Pope Benedict and the American bishops were labors to improve relations between the two religious groups.
The document of the Catholic Church that is the impetus for these meetings is Nostra Aetate. It was issued by the Second Vatican Council 40 years ago and revolutionized the thinking of the Church towards the Jewish people.
Continue the dialogue
Examples of this change can be seen by the removal of the Good Friday prayer that referred to the “perfidious Jews,” by new attempts to understand Hebrew theology and its connection with Christian belief, as well as a greater collaboration on issues of social justice.
In Cologne, Pope Benedict explained that he “wanted to continue on the path toward improved relations and friendship with the Jewish people.” Later he exhorted, “We must come to know one another much more and much better. Consequently, I would encourage sincere and trustful dialogue between Jews and Christians.”
The group of bishops sought to fulfill that suggestion. Led by Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkranz on the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding at Sacred Heart University, these church leaders were shown the Jewish Quarter in Krakow and the Auschwitz and Birkenau death camps. The bishops and Jewish participants shared a joint scripture study on Psalm 23 and Isaiah 56. The group was hosted by various churchmen and diplomats throughout their stay.
At the end of the trip, many of the bishops could voice a greater awareness of shared truths and endured hardship. They could assert, with Pope Benedict, that all “have the responsibility of handing down to young people the torch of hope that God has given to Jews and Christian, so that ‘never again’ will the forces of evil come to power” and that a more just and peaceful world could be built.
Jeff Kirby of Hopkins, SC, is a Catholic seminarian of the Diocese of Charleston, studying at the Pontifical North American College in the Vatican City State.
Posted in The Charlotte Observer, Writing | No Comments »
Bishop Asks S.C. Catholics to Become Friends With their Jewish Neighbors
Thursday, October 13th, 2005
“The Catholic Miscellany”
By Jeffrey Kirby
Special to the Miscellany
Last month, Bishop Robert J. Baker and a small group of Catholic bishops and Jewish rabbis from around the United States attended an interfaith program and pilgrimage with the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding. The center and its programs are a part of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.
The aims of this endeavor were to further dialogue and friendly relations between the two religious bodies through personal encounters and shared discussion. Another purpose was to educate the bishops and rabbis and heighten authentic friendships.
The pilgrimage took the group to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in Poland, and neighboring city of Cracow, and Rome.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps by Allied Forces where millions of Jews were put to death in gas chambers and ovens. To prepare for the visit, the participants were asked to read, “With My Last Breath, Let Me See Jerusalem,” a graphic memoir of a Holocaust survivor.
“Walking together with our Jewish brothers and sisters through Auschwitz helped us to understand what it really means,” Bishop Baker said in an interview with The Miscellany. “It gave us special insight into the feelings of the Jewish people of abandonment to extermination.
“The Jewish community felt abandoned by the rest of the world,” he said. “The only reason for their execution was that they were Jews.”
The principal document on the church’s relationship with the Jewish people is the Second Vatican Council’s “Nostra Aetate.” This year marks its 40th anniversary. In Chapter 4, the document reads, “Since the spiritual patrimony common to all Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies, as well as fraternal dialogues.”
This past August, during a visit to a Cologne synagogue, Pope Benedict XVI said, “Today I wish to reaffirm that I intend to continue on the path toward improved relations and friendship with the Jewish people.” He went on to encourage “sincere and trustful dialogue.”
The Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding program is the result of these calls by the church toward greater openness. The bishops attended several lectures, including one titled, “Where in Heaven is God in all of this?” led by Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkratz, center director. They were also hosted by various church and civil leaders, including Archbishop Stanislaus Dziwisz of Cracow, the former private secretary of Pope John Paul II. The bishops and rabbis were able to have a joint Scripture study in Isaiah 56 and Psalm 23.
“The pilgrimage was historic, in the sense that we can look back over these 40 and 60 years on the journey our church has made in relations with the Jewish community,” Bishop Baker said.
Charleston has one of the oldest Jewish communities in America. The city has always had a history of good relations between Jews and Christians.
“That needs to be encouraged,” Bishop Baker said. “This journey will certainly help me to foster continued good relations with our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
In Cologne, Pope Benedict said that all people have the responsibility of handing down to youth “the torch of hope,” that God has given to Jews and Christians, “so that ‘never again’ will the forces of evil come to power, and that future generations, with God’s help, may be able to build a more just and peaceful world, in which all people have equal rights and are equally at home.”
Asserting that call, Bishop Baker encouraged all Catholics in the state of South Carolina to get to know better any people from the Jewish faith in their communities, and to deepen their understanding of the Jewish roots of Christianity. He said that establishing friendships with people of the Jewish faith is the first step in understanding and will result in the elimination of prejudice and the kinds of attitudes that tragically led to the Holocaust.
“No person bearing the name ‘Christian’ can foster the kind of hostility that led to the building of concentration camps … daily we must all repent of our sins, prejudice and indifference that could lead to even greater atrocities,” the bishop said. “Charity is to be extended to everyone, at all times, in all places!”
Jeffrey Kirby is a seminarian of the Diocese of Charleston.
Posted in The Catholic Miscellany, Writing | No Comments »
Youth and Young Adults’ Perspective on Chastity
Thursday, October 6th, 2005
“The Catholic Miscellany”
Editor’s Note: With the release on Bishop Rober J. Baker’s pastoral letter, “The Redemption of Our Bodies,” seminarian Jeffrey Kirby interviewed Catholic college students around the state to get their perspectives on chastity.
By Jeffrey Kirby
Special to The Miscellany
How are youth and young adults to find the means and reasons for perseverance in a life of purity?
Many facets in American society make youth and young adult chastity appear abnormal and even impossible. Parents are hesitant to discuss the topic with their teenagers. College-age young adults are in an environment which seems to give, at the least, an implicit permission to engage in sexual activities. These realities support the popular assertions, “Do it!” and “It’s all part of growing up.”
“Unfortunately, in today’s society we are not given much support to live a chaste life,” said Stephanie Grainger, a junior at the University of South Carolina. “We are thrown advertisements and commercials that market sex as if it were a new clothes fad – something to try on and see if you like it for a little while.”
Grainger said that movies and television show many cases of premarital and extramarital sex, while rarely showing a healthy relationship between husband and wife.
Alex Juncu, a junior at the College of Charleston, argued that instead of encouraging chastity, society propagates an anti-chastity ideal, and influences in negative ways those who try to uphold chastity.
“The culture we are exposed to so often in this age makes it very easy to not be chaste, and explains away any reason for being chaste as frivolous or even ‘immature,’ said Rhett Williams, a junior at Furman University. “Years ago, sleeping around was seen as immature. Now, the present state of mind is, ‘Why not…?’”
In response to this way of thinking, Bishop Robert J. Baker wrote in his recent pastoral letter, “The Redemption of Our Bodies,” that it is the “responsibility of every parent and every parish” to assist families in their formation of young people in the virtue of chastity.
“It is becoming clear that chastity and abstinence training for our children as well as adults is vital for the future of holiness in our diocese,” he wrote.
Fornication, adultery, pornography, homosexual acts, masturbation, prostitution – the list of possible sexual sins against chastity could go on. How are youth and young adults to find the means and reasons for perseverance in a life of purity?
Bishop Baker presents Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body,” grounded on faith in Jesus Christ, as the answer to the many problems associated with chastity.
Grainger agreed. “Faith gives me the strength to be chaste,” she said. “God created sexuality with a purpose, and when it’s expressed according to that purpose, it’s a good and holy thing.”
Williams posed an important question. “Why else be chaste, if not for faith?” he asked. “Why else stay away from all those things that feel so ‘right,’ if not for the fact that our faith teaches us their right time and place, as well as how to love and order things towards a greater good that lasts?
“Faith helps to see beyond the intense moments,” he said. “It’s all about belief and right action.”
“Faith and chastity go hand-in-hand because with faith one is able to more easily practice chastity,” Juncu said. “Faith teaches me a respect for my body and for my dignity as a child of God.”
Grainger admitted that dating is difficult. From her experience at college, she has observed that guys see a lot of images of girls giving themselves to them.
“A lot of them seem to expect the same out of every girl they may date,” she said. “It’s hard to be chaste because you want to be wanted.”
How does faith give young people a means of perseverance in these and similar moments?
Faith shows them who ultimately wants and loves them. This realization is given in prayer.
“Prayer is the main support of chastity; it helps to keep our minds in line with our faith,” Williams said. He also encourages frequent use of the Sacrament of Confession.
“Through prayer I know who really cares about me and who truly loves me,” Grainger said. She also expressed gratitude for her friends, who support and care about her.
Juncu said that being open to other people and their care helped him, too.
As Bishop Baker wrote, youth and young adult chastity is essential to the growth in discipleship and holiness. Families, parishes, parents, and friends must begin to know of our mutual obligation to teach and encourage youth and young adults in the virtue of chastity.
Need more information?
Visit the Family Honor Web site at www.familyhonor.org. Family Honor assists in chastity education.
Posted in The Catholic Miscellany, Writing | No Comments »