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	All Faiths Have Stake in Vatican’s Struggles By Herbert N. Brockman New Haven Register May 1, 2010 http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/05/01/opinion/doc4bdc0dc5c6fd1101970090.txt WHY would I write about the scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church? As a somewhat cynical friend of mine asked: “Do we really have a horse in this race?” I believe we do. It is true that Catholic-Jewish relations before Vatican II in 1962-65 often were tragic for Jews. From the period of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, Christianity took more than its “pound of flesh.” Crusades and inquisitions, pogroms and, finally, the ultimate solution of the Nazis can be traced to the church’s “teaching of contempt.” In 1965, Pope John XXIII acknowledged this. Over the last 45 years, the church has, with fits and starts, tried to acknowledge and rectify its history and reclaim its prophetic role. And, the Jewish community needs to remember and mourn its martyrs — a sacred, eternal obligation — but also to encourage, participate and celebrate a new epoch in interfaith relationship with the church. It is clear the actions of some priests and the ways the hierarchy dealt with them were illegal and immoral. The sexual abuse of children is inexcusable. While one can appreciate the importance of rehabilitation and forgiveness in a theological sense, justice requires consideration for making the victims whole as well as the perpetrators. The children in this case were ignored and were viewed as annoyances at best, if not outright threats to an institution that increasingly turned inward and viewed itself as under siege. This is simply not acceptable and the church’s credibility is at stake. The church is a large, complex institution. My time on sabbatical at the Vatican showed me how diverse a community it is. Made up of nearly 2 billion people, there are many forces pushing and pulling in contradictory ways. I met there, as well as here in Greater New Haven, priests among the faithful best, dedicated to serving God and humanity. My heart goes out to them. On Passover-Easter, I wrote to one dear Catholic friend: “Please know that you are in my prayers on this Passover-Easter day. I am certain, given what I know of you, your heart is a veil of tears for your beloved church. Know also, then, that my heart is joined with yours in the hope of reconciliation and love. They are the common themes of these holy days.” As a child born in the aftermath of the Holocaust who came to maturity in the age of Vatican II, I cut my religious teeth on the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: “No religion is an island. We are involved with one another. Spiritual betrayal on the part of one of us affects the faith of all of us. ... For all the profound differences in perspective and substance, Judaism is sooner or later affected by the intellectual, moral and spiritual events within the Christian society, and vice versa. ... Should we hope, for each other’s failure? Or should we pray for each other’s health ... in preserving a common legacy.” That is where my heart is — in the hopes of healing for the victims of abuse and for an institution at whose core is promoting the sacredness of life and love. Herbert N. Brockman is rabbi of Congregation Mishkan Israel, 785 Ridge Road, Hamden 06517. E-mail: cmirabbi@snet.net.
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