When the white smoke appeared and the bells rang yesterday afternoon at 6 pm, I was listening to a lecture about suffering and hope in the theology of Chiara Lubich given by a Protestant theologian from Germany. My colleague at the Gregorian University, Fr. Dan Madigan, was sitting opposite me and picked up his telephone. He announced to the audience, scholars from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Pontifical Gregorian University, "Habemus Papam.." Without pausing I asked, "Qui est?" Of course, he did not know because it takes some time until the new pope appears on the balcony in St. Peter's square. Fr. Madigan then disappeared leaving all of us to wonder about the new leader in the seat of St. Peter. Like scholars everywhere, we returned to our deliberations for another half hour of fruitful discussion.

When we walked out to the entrance of the Gregorian University and looked at the Piazza Pillotta they were hanging papal banners from the windows. A young man on a bicycle stopped and we asked, "Who is it?" He smiled and said, "Rahhhtzeeengeer" and indeed it sounded quite comic. It struck us all as very odd that the one who entered the Pope exited as the Pope and not as a cardinal. But we no longer live in ordinary times.

Many of the people around us were quite disappointed. One Jesuit from Germany said to me, "If Ratzinger becomes the Pope, then I will become a Protestant." The Corriere della Serra from Milan ran a cartoon that pictured the new Pope rephrasing the famous first words of Pope John Paul II, "If I make a mistake in Italian, you (the people) will correct me." The paper put the following words into Pope Benedict XVI's mouth, "If I make a mistake, don't you dare correct me."

My own views are quite mixed. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has written some positive essays about Judaism. His theological lineage descends from Augustine through Bonaventure (which means that Hugo of St. Victor is right at the transitional stage). That means that he believes in the integrity of the Old and New Testaments. The "full" meaning of any passage in the Old Testament is stated with clarity in the New, but the Old Testament is never devoid of meaning. His introduction to the document written by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, "The Scripture of the Jewish People in the Scripture of the Church" indicates his firm conviction that the Church continues to draw upon the Hebrew Scriptures and it may learn from both the Jewish tradition and the continuing Jewish witness to that tradition. Unlike his predecessor Cardinal Faulhaber as Archbishop of Munich, Ratzinger would never argue that God "divorced" the Jewish People after they failed to recognize Jesus as the promised messiah.

On the other hand, Cardinal Ratzinger is responsible for the Catechism of the Catholic Church. That massive document does emphasize the importance of the Jewish ancestry of Jesus and that Jesus lived as a faithful Jew. It denounces anti-Semitism. However, it lacks the clarity of the many statements of Pope John Paul II about the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Catholic readers and teachers of the Catechism are then left with a certain ambiguity about how to approach the teaching about contemporary Jews and their Judaism. Do the Jews possess a "covenant that has never been revoked" as Pope John Paul II often asserted? Or should Jews be part of a continuing mission by Catholics which will bring them to Jesus as the promised messiah?

Cardinal Ratzinger did not negotiate theological truths in the document, Dominus Jesus, which cast doubt upon the truth claims of other religious communities---including those of Churches that are not in communion with Rome. However, in December 2000 he wrote an essay in the Vatican newspaper where he argued

Perhaps it is precisely because of this latest tragedy that a new vision of the relationship between the Church and Israel has been born: a sincere willingness to overcome every kind of anti-Judaism, and to initiate a constructive dialogue based on knowledge of each other, and on reconciliation. If such a dialogue is to be fruitful, it must begin with a prayer to our God, first of all that he might grant to us Christians a greater esteem and love for that people, the people of Israel, to whom belong "the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs are the patriarchs, and from them comes Christ according to the flesh, he who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen" (Romans 9:4-5), and this not only in the past, but still today, "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29).

These words provide us with insight into his method. It takes the Shoah very seriously as an event that calls upon Christians to envision a new relationship. They are to work to overcome "every kind of anti'Judaism" and "initiate a constructive dialogue based on knowledge of each other." The initiative begins from the side of Christians. That is important. It is also very significant that he concludes with the very same texts that form the foundation of Nostra Aetate, Romans 9-11.

But Cardinal Ratzinger also challenges his Jewish interlocutors and requests the following

In the same way, let us pray that he may grant also to the children of Israel a deeper knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth, who is their son, and the gift they have made to us. Since we are both awaiting the final redemption, let us pray that the paths we follow may converge.

There are similar passages in the writings of Pope John Paul II, especially in his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope. How are Jews to hear Cardinal Ratzinger's simultaneous affirmation of Jewish fidelity to their tradition which is founded on the "no" to Jesus as the promised Messiah and saviour of humanity AND his request that we come to a "deeper knowledge" of Jesus of Nazereth? Surely, this paragraph can be the beginning of a dialogue about the boundaries which divide us and bring us together.

How will Benedict XVI teach his Church these lessons? In what ways will he demonstrate these abstract ideas by concrete gestures as he instructs not only by "word" but by "example?"

It is clear that I have raised more questions here than provided answers. The office of the Papacy will surely offer Benedict XVI many opportunities to demonstrate styles of leadership and teaching that he has not revealed in the past. I cannot help but musing on the wonderful possibility for continuity between John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Pope John Paul II called upon Jews and Christians to become a blessing to one another and a blessing to the world."

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has chosen the name "Benedictus," (blessing). May he grow into the reality of his name.

Michael A. Signer
Rome
20 April 2005

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