Building bridges: Program seeks to forge ties between Catholics and Jews

By Alexandra Alter - Miami Herald - 01/06/07

More than 20 years after Pope John Paul II became the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit a synagogue, South Florida Catholic and Jewish leaders are working to bridge a lingering divide between the two communities.

The ambitious pilot program -- which kicked off with an interfaith service at St. Mary's Cathedral in Miami last fall and continues this month with a program at Temple Emanu-El on Miami Beach -- involves gestures that range from distributing brochures to altering the curriculum of Catholic schools.

The effort arrives at a tense moment for Catholic and Jewish leaders. The Catholic Church's image as an interfaith partner suffered in the aftermath of Pope Benedict XVI's incendiary comments about Islam, which sparked protests across the Muslim world and led to reprisals against Christians in some countries. Organizations that track incidents of religious intolerance say global anti-Semitism is on the rise.

Jim Howe, executive director of the Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews, said the interfaith gathering will memorialize John Paul II as a ''teaching example'' for all faiths. On Jan. 17, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim leaders will mark the pope's landmark visit with an interfaith service at Temple Emanu-El.

The pilot program has gained support from the Anti Defamation League, the American Jewish Congress, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Archdiocese of Miami and the Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews and others, Howe said. Rabbis from places as far flung as Poland and Venezuela have expressed interest in launching similar interfaith efforts, said organizer Bernardo Benes, president of the Our Elder Brothers and Sisters Foundation, a Miami-based organization dedicated to fostering ties between Catholics and Jews.

Benes, a Cuban exile who co-founded the Cuban Hebrew Congregation on Miami Beach, said he learned of John Paul II's interfaith work 12 years ago, when he read the book A Letter to a Jewish Friend: The Simple and Extraordinary Story of Pope John Paul II and his Jewish School Friend.

Benes said he was surprised to learn the pope held strong views on ties beween Judaism and Christianity.

'He called us Jews `Our elder brothers,' '' said Benes, a retired attorney and banker, and renowned Cuban activist.

After the pope's death in 2005, Benes decided to dedicate his life to promoting the pope's vision. When he traveled to Rome to attend the pope's funeral, Benes asked the Vatican's newspaper to send him archival photos of John Paul II's meetings with Jewish leaders and used the images to create a brochure outlining the pope's teachings on Judaism. He has printed pamphlets in English, Spanish and Creole to distribute at schools, churches and synagogues across Miami.

The brochure is just a first step: Eventually, Benes and other community leaders hope churches and synagogues will observe April 13, the day the pope visited a synagogue in Rome in 1986, as an interfaith holiday. And later this month, Benes will meet with Catholic educators at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach to discuss changing the curriculum to include the late pope's writings on Judaism.

Overcoming a rift that has persisted for centuries remains a daunting task, said Rabbi Frederick L. Klein, director of community chaplaincy for the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

''You basically have 2,000 years of tension between the Jewish and Christian communities,'' Klein said.

For centuries Christian leaders blamed Jews for the death of Christ. During the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition, which lasted until the 18th century, tens of thousands of Jews perished at the hands of the Catholic Church.

Centuries later, the Vatican made an effort to atone for violence against Jews. During the sweeping liturgical and theological reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the church renounced the view that the Jews were responsible for Christ's death. In his 26 years as pope, John Paul II took further steps. In 1998, he oversaw a Vatican document that apologized for Catholic leaders' inaction during the Holocaust. In 2000, he issued a sweeping apology for crimes committed by the Catholic Church, including violence against Jews during the Crusades and Inquisition.

In a Vatican sermon marking his installation, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the shared spiritual roots of Judaism and Christianity. Benedict also met with 25 Jewish leaders from the United States, Europe and Latin America in 2005 to assure them of the church's commitment to improving relations between the two communities.

Local Jewish and Catholic leaders say they're committed to bringing the pope's message to the pews.

''We have a lot of instances of religious hatred and violence in our world,'' Rabbi Klein said. ``The spirit of what John Paul II did has symbolic value for all of us.''