Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Pope Francis prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem (Associated Press)

(RNS) — Israel’s Chief Rabbinate has written a letter to Pope Francis conveying its “distress” at comments he made suggesting Jewish law, as written in the Torah, is obsolete.

The letter, first reported on by Reuters, was sent by Rabbi Rasson Arousi, chair of the Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for Dialogue with the Holy See. Arousi was referring to a homily Francis made during a general audience on Aug. 11.

In that homily, or sermon, the pope reflected on the Apostle Paul’s views in the New Testament that the Torah does not give life.

Speaking of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, the pope said: “It does not offer the fulfillment of the promise because it is not capable of being able to fulfill it ... Those who seek life need to look to the promise and to its fulfillment in Christ.”

That statement comes close to supersessionism, also called replacement theology— the belief that the Christian faith has replaced or supplanted Judaism, a view the Catholic Church repudiated. In a 1965 landmark Vatican declaration, Nostra Aetate, the church established a new rapport between Jews and Catholics.

“This is in effect part and parcel of the ‘teaching of contempt’ towards Jews and Judaism that we had thought had been fully repudiated by the Church."

“In his homily, the pope presents the Christian faith as not just superseding the Torah; but asserts that the latter no longer gives life, implying that Jewish religious practice in the present era is rendered obsolete,” Arousi wrote in the letter.

“This is in effect part and parcel of the ‘teaching of contempt’ towards Jews and Judaism that we had thought had been fully repudiated by the Church,” he wrote.

Arousi’s letter was sent to Cardinal Kurt Koch, whose Vatican department includes a commission for religious relations with Jews.

Massimo Faggioli, a Villanova University professor of theology and religious studies who studies the Vatican, said there may have been a lack of care in checking the texts of of the pope’s homilies.

Since Nostra Aetate, the church has taken several steps to improve Jewish-Catholic relations.

“I’m sure it’s not that Pope Francis is going back to pre-Vatican II theology,” Faggioli said, referring the council that met between 1962-1965 to usher in church reforms — such as its relationship with Judaism.

“But it’s important because in this environment any minor signal that could suggest that the teaching of Vatican II should not be taken seriously is alarming.”

Since Nostra Aetate, the church has taken several steps to improve Jewish-Catholic relations. In 1998 the Vatican apologized for its inaction during the Holocaust. In 2015, the Vatican released a document that for the first time explicitly advises Catholics not to attempt to convert Jews.

Francis, in particular, has enjoyed a close friendship with Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka. The pair co-hosted a television show when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. They also wrote a book together about interfaith dialogue.

Arousi asked to “convey our distress to Pope Francis” and requested the pope act to “ensure that any derogatory conclusions drawn from this homily are clearly repudiated.”

Faggioli said he expected that either Cardinal Koch or the pope himself would respond to the letter.

The latest from america

Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool, during the pope's meeting with members of the media May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
Kevin ClarkeMay 23, 2025
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
Jack DoolinMay 23, 2025
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 23, 2025
First-grade students finish an assignment at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Tucson, Ariz., in this 2014 photo. Arizona has one of the nation’s strongest school choice programs, with vouchers available to every child in the state. (CNS file photo/Nancy Wiechec)
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling denying state funds to a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. What should American Catholics be asking about public funding for school choice?
Beth BlaufussMay 23, 2025