Place for Christians Who Have Not Abandoned Judaism
JERUSALEM, MAR 24 (ZENIT.org).- «The Pope's presence in the Holy Land is a tangible sign of the Catholic Church's closeness to the people of Israel, where its roots are buried. Moreover, there is a psychological desire among Jews in Israel to know more about Catholics, and to approach and understand them,» stated Fr. PierBattista Pizzaballa during an interview with the Vatican agency «Fides». Fr. Pizzaballa, a Franciscan, is director of the Jerusalem «Qehillah» community, which includes Catholics of Jewish origin, some of whom are converts.
According to the Franciscan director of the community, there «are Catholics who retain their Jewish roots: they have not abandoned Judaism, but they see in Jesus the perfection of the law and the climax of the history of the people of Israel. While preserving their Jewish roots, they see the Church as the fulfillment of their spiritual journey. Most of the community are converted Jews, but there are also Catholics who live in the Israeli context, speak Hebrew, think in Hebrew, who find themselves at home in this community. For a Jew who becomes a Christian, it is difficult to live and reconcile the new faith in the context of daily life. Therefore, the role of the community is to facilitate this co-existence of Christian faith and Jewish identity. The community is important; it becomes a point of reference for the life of the spirit, a second family, a group of people with whom one can speak openly.»
The Catholics of Jewish tradition are divided into 4 principal communities in Sheva, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa, with a total of 350 members. «The communities in Sheva, Tel Aviv, and Haifa consist mainly of families, whereas the Qehillah community in Jerusalem, about 60 people, includes religious and young people, as well as families. Together these communities form the Society of St. James, a diocesan society born to meet the needs of immigrants, after the State of Israel was established. The Society is led by a Bishop, and a Patriarchal delegate follows the pastoral activity of the 4 communities.
Among the special characteristics of these communities, is the fact they celebrate the liturgy in Hebrew. This demands effort, because it is not easy to render the riches of the Church's liturgy in the Semitic mono-language. In addition to this linguistic question, there is also a problem of mentality: the liturgy has to be adapted. For the moment we have chosen to follow the Latin Rite liturgy: we keep to the same ideas but without translating them literally; this would be impossible. A liturgical commission is dealing with the matter with the help of experts from abroad. The adaptation will take time, several generations, but this is one of the main tasks of these communities: adaptation of the liturgy highlighting its Jewish roots».
The community's principal activities are prayer and catechesis, which calls for much effort to adapt the language to that of the local community. There are also prayer groups and discussions that focus on moral and social problems.
«Jewish society has difficulties accepting that a Jew belongs to a Church, especially to the Catholic Church. This causes problems of identity and interior conflict, that are reflected in the family and society. Consequently, one of our criteria is discretion. As a community we are very discreet, not too visible, in order to avoid misunderstandings», concluded Fr. Pizzaballa.
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