{"id":3615,"date":"2005-02-15T13:19:58","date_gmt":"2005-02-15T17:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/02\/15\/sister-roses-faith\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:57:58","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:57:58","slug":"sister-roses-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/02\/15\/sister-roses-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Sister Rose’s Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Whether or not it wins an <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>Oscar<\/FONT><\/A> for<\/FONT> best short documentary this month, and before I’ve even <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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seen it, I want to declare the film “<\/FONT>Sister Rose’s Passion<\/FONT><\/EM><\/A>” a rousing success — because it is the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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proximate cause of my learning the story of Sister Rose Thering.  <\/FONT>Charlie Rose’s [no relation] <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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interview with film producer\/director <\/FONT>Oren Jacoby<\/FONT><\/A> last <\/FONT>night (Feb. 14, 2005) filled me with awe <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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and gratitude for a spunky woman who almost single-<\/FONT>handedly made the Catholic Church <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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reconsider and change its policy toward the Jewish people.  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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As a girl in Wisconsin, Rose Thering could not understand how a just and loving God   \"sisterRose\"  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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could condemn an entire race for the death of Jesus — even two millennia later.  <\/FONT>Her interest resulted <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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in doctoral research <\/FONT>which “played a significant role in the 1965 Vatican document Nostra Aetate <\/EM><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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(Our Time)<\/EM>, which <\/FONT>formally declared that Jews were not responsible for the death of Jesus.” <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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(<\/FONT>Seton Hall Univ. News<\/FONT><\/A>, <\/FONT>“Sister Rose’s Passion<\/EM> nominated for Academy Award,” by Catherine <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Memory) <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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There are many lessons to learn from Sister Rose, including: (1) that one person with passion for a<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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cause can make a very big  difference, even starting from the bottom of a powerful hierarchy that <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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would <\/FONT>like to silence the dissenting view; and  (2) that knowledge and reason can at times get even an <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“infallible” Church, a self-proclaimed final interpreter of God’s Will, to admit a major historic mistake .<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"nunF\" But there is another very important lesson — that bigotry often can regrow (as it seems to be doing   <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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in France against Jews), and we need constant vigilance.  The issue is raised in the SHU <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>announcement<\/FONT><\/A>:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“While the film’s title refers to Sister Rose’s intense focus upon her life’s work, it also p<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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rovides a timely foil to Mel Gibson’s major motion picture, The Passion of the Christ<\/EM>. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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A final segment of the documentary shows Sister Rose shaking her head and looking <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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unhappy while viewing an Internet trailer for Gibson’s film, which some Jews and <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Christians have said blames Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus.”<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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Director Jacoby says that Mel Gibson has not commented on Sister Rose’s story.  While Jacoby told  \"torah\"<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Charlie Rose that Pope John Paul II has been the “best Pope yet” with regards to the Catholic Church’s <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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relationship with Israel and the Jews, it is clear that many conservative Catholics see the 1965 Vatican II <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Council as the root of much of what went wrong in the Catholic Church over the past few decades and <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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have been trying to undo its reforms.  I’d be very interested in hearing from my “experts” <\/FONT>Steve Bainbridge<\/FONT><\/A><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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and <\/FONT>Martin Grace<\/FONT><\/A> on whether the teachings about the Jewish people that are enshrined in Nostra Aetate <\/EM><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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are controversial<\/FONT><\/FONT>.   Meanwhile,<\/FONT> I give thanks for Sister’s Rose’s passion and achievements.  (Check out<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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her <\/FONT>Endowment<\/FONT><\/A> for Jewish Studies at Seton Hall.)<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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traffic jam<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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my small son asks<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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who made God<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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clay on the wheel I confess my faith<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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chasing butterflies . . .<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the girl with Wednesday’s ashes<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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on her brow<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"LylesRainN\" <\/FONT>Peggy Lyles<\/FONT><\/A>, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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from <\/FONT>To Hear the Rain<\/EM><\/FONT><\/A> (Brooks Books, 2002)<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/DIV>
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from <\/FONT>dagosan<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A>: <\/FONT><\/EM><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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valentine for<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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an apostate son —<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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novena card from mom<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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                                    <\/FONT>  [Feb. 15, 2005]                                                          <\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-Wj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3615"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13369,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions\/13369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}