Catholic Doctrines on the Jewish People after Vatican II
The book explores Roman Catholic doctrines after the Second Vatican Council regarding the Jewish people (1965–2015). It establishes the emergence of the teaching that God’s covenant with the Jewish people is irrevocable. What does this mean for Catholics regarding Jewish religious rituals, the land, and mission? The book examines early magisterial documents that seem to contradict current teachings. The apparent contradiction is historically contextualized. It argues two points. First, that earlier teachings accept the positive value of Jewish rituals within certain conditions. This can be applied, in principle, to contemporary religious Jewish rituals. These earlier traditions also show a positive valuation of Jewish cultic practices within the early Christian church. The book examines new Catholic approaches to the Old Testament. Despite different New Testament teachings about the land, it is argued that the promise of the Land to the Jewish people, with various conditions, can be regarded as valid for Catholics. The book also examines the Holy See’s shifting attitude to the modern State of Israel and its pragmatic silence on the theology of land. The book proposes a form of minimalist Catholic Zionism: affirming the land without excluding a just Palestinian resolution. The book explores unresolved Catholic teachings on ‘mission’ and ‘witness’. The centre of this debate concerns the new assumption that Christians should not erase God-given Jewish identity. The book asks: could Hebrew Catholics witness to this reality while also testifying to the compatibility and unity of the two covenants?