Whether or not it wins an Oscar for best short documentary this month, and before I’ve even
seen it, I want to declare the film “Sister Rose’s Passion” a rousing success — because it is the
proximate cause of my learning the story of Sister Rose Thering. Charlie Rose’s [no relation]
interview with film producer/director Oren Jacoby last night (Feb. 14, 2005) filled me with awe
and gratitude for a spunky woman who almost single-handedly made the Catholic Church
reconsider and change its policy toward the Jewish people.
As a girl in Wisconsin, Rose Thering could not understand how a just and loving God
could condemn an entire race for the death of Jesus — even two millennia later. Her interest resulted
in doctoral research which “played a significant role in the 1965 Vatican document Nostra Aetate
(Our Time), which formally declared that Jews were not responsible for the death of Jesus.”
(Seton Hall Univ. News, “Sister Rose’s Passion nominated for Academy Award,” by Catherine
Memory)
There are many lessons to learn from Sister Rose, including: (1) that one person with passion for a
cause can make a very big difference, even starting from the bottom of a powerful hierarchy that
would like to silence the dissenting view; and (2) that knowledge and reason can at times get even an
“infallible” Church, a self-proclaimed final interpreter of God’s Will, to admit a major historic mistake .
But there is another very important lesson — that bigotry often can regrow (as it seems to be doing
in France against Jews), and we need constant vigilance. The issue is raised in the SHU announcement:
“While the film’s title refers to Sister Rose’s intense focus upon her life’s work, it also p
rovides a timely foil to Mel Gibson’s major motion picture, The Passion of the Christ.
A final segment of the documentary shows Sister Rose shaking her head and looking
unhappy while viewing an Internet trailer for Gibson’s film, which some Jews and
Christians have said blames Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus.”
Director Jacoby says that Mel Gibson has not commented on Sister Rose’s story. While Jacoby told
Charlie Rose that Pope John Paul II has been the “best Pope yet” with regards to the Catholic Church’s
relationship with Israel and the Jews, it is clear that many conservative Catholics see the 1965 Vatican II
Council as the root of much of what went wrong in the Catholic Church over the past few decades and
have been trying to undo its reforms. I’d be very interested in hearing from my “experts” Steve Bainbridge
and Martin Grace on whether the teachings about the Jewish people that are enshrined in Nostra Aetate
are controversial. Meanwhile, I give thanks for Sister’s Rose’s passion and achievements. (Check out
her Endowment for Jewish Studies at Seton Hall.)
traffic jam
my small son asks
who made God
clay on the wheel I confess my faith
chasing butterflies . . .
the girl with Wednesday’s ashes
on her brow
from To Hear the Rain (Brooks Books, 2002)
February 15, 2005
Sister Rose’s Faith
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Is Nostra Aetate controversial? I’ve never heard anyone question this teaching. (But, I am a post Vatican II trained Catholic as I was in 2d grade when the Church enacted its reforms.) I think Catholics are comfortable with Nostra Aetate as many religions have elements of truth to them and that we should not reject other tradition’s search for truth. I think American Catholics (at least the ones I know) are comfortable with the fact that God has a special relationship with the Jewish people. I don’t think of this teaching as controversial, but it could be the result of my training. I had an Israeli PhD student who, when I told of this teaching, was astounded as his thinking was that the Church was antagonistic towards Jews. (He had a number of legitimate examples.) I, however, thought the teaching was the status quo –especially given PJ II’s push for the Church’s reconciliation with Israel and Jews.In sum, it could be controversial, but I have never heard anyone question it or denounce it. I have heard Catholics question a number of teachings, but this is not one.
Comment by Martin — February 15, 2005 @ 10:56 pm
Is Nostra Aetate controversial? I’ve never heard anyone question this teaching. (But, I am a post Vatican II trained Catholic as I was in 2d grade when the Church enacted its reforms.) I think Catholics are comfortable with Nostra Aetate as many religions have elements of truth to them and that we should not reject other tradition’s search for truth. I think American Catholics (at least the ones I know) are comfortable with the fact that God has a special relationship with the Jewish people. I don’t think of this teaching as controversial, but it could be the result of my training. I had an Israeli PhD student who, when I told of this teaching, was astounded as his thinking was that the Church was antagonistic towards Jews. (He had a number of legitimate examples.) I, however, thought the teaching was the status quo –especially given PJ II’s push for the Church’s reconciliation with Israel and Jews.In sum, it could be controversial, but I have never heard anyone question it or denounce it. I have heard Catholics question a number of teachings, but this is not one.
Comment by Martin — February 15, 2005 @ 10:56 pm
Thank you for taking the time to pass on your thoughts, Martin. I hope you’re representative of America’s Catholics. I’m afraid that some on the conservative side of the Church are so anxious to undo Vatican II, they might reject all of it indiscriminately. The acclaim for Gibson’s film also has some observers worried. Again, I hope you’re representative.
Comment by David Giacalone — February 15, 2005 @ 11:12 pm
Thank you for taking the time to pass on your thoughts, Martin. I hope you’re representative of America’s Catholics. I’m afraid that some on the conservative side of the Church are so anxious to undo Vatican II, they might reject all of it indiscriminately. The acclaim for Gibson’s film also has some observers worried. Again, I hope you’re representative.
Comment by David Giacalone — February 15, 2005 @ 11:12 pm