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Theological Challenges: the Australian Catholic Church Response to the Innovations of Pope John Paul II Regarding the State of Israel

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Theological Challenges: the Australian Catholic Church Response to the Innovations of Pope John Paul II Regarding the State of Israel Theological Challenges: The Australian Catholic Church Response to the Innovations of Pope John Paul II Regarding the State of Israel Emma Claire Carolan A thesis submitted to fulfil requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences The University of Sydney, 2019 This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Emma Claire Carolan, 9 August 2019 i Contents Acknowledgements ii Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Literature Review 5 Chapter 2 The Evolution of Jewish 45 Theology and the Land of Israel Chapter 3 Christian Theologies of the 93 Land of Israel Chapter 4 Pope John Paul II’s Policies 125 and Australian Reactions Chapter 5 Eureka Street: A Case Study 170 Chapter 6 Conclusion 209 References 214 Appendix I Nostra Aetate 229 Appendix II Ethics Approval Letter 233 ii Acknowledgements This thesis has been written with the support of my husband, Jason. He has been a wonderful sounding board, listening to and engaging with the issues that I have grappled with during the writing of this thesis, and my many years of study. I also wish to thank those who gave their time to be interviewed for this thesis, including Professor Sergio Della Pergola, Jeremy Jones, Associate Professor Philip Mendes and Rabbi John Levi, whose expertise and insights were invaluable for the writing of this thesis. Finally, I thank my supervisors, Doctor Avril Alba and Emeritus Professor Suzanne Rutland, for their time, knowledge, and encouragement. I give my deepest gratitude for their support both throughout the research process and through life’s ups and downs. 1 Introduction This thesis comprises an investigation of the attitudes and perspectives of the Australian Catholic Church, as exhibited through Australian Church Media, towards the State of Israel, and the theologies that these perspectives represent. It explores the theological perspectives of both Judaism and Christianity about the concept of the holiness of the Land of Israel and asks whether there is any connection between these perspectives and Pope John Paul II’s changes in terms of Vatican policy concerning the State of Israel. It achieves this through a detailed examination of the attitudes and reactions of the Australian Catholic Church towards the State of Israel, and its interaction with the Australian Jewish communal leadership, during the tenure of Pope John Paul II (1978-2005), using the Australian Jesuit publication Eureka Street as a case study. This thesis will posit that the papacy of Pope John Paul II saw the greatest contribution to Catholic-Jewish relations of any Pope to date in terms of the relationship of the Vatican to the State of Israel. This development can be seen through initiatives such as the signing of the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel in 1993. The Fundamental Agreement, political in nature, guaranteed the Church its freedom and legal security in Israel, but also declared an official acknowledgement of the State of Israel by the Holy See. Pope John Paul II further confirmed his acknowledgement of the State of Israel with a papal visit in 2000. These initiatives marked a distinct change from the prior, 2000-year-old Supersessionist teaching of the Church, in which Judaism was seen to be superseded by Christianity, and Jews were considered cursed by God for their rejection of Christ, their punishment being banishment from the land of Israel and eternal wandering of the earth. Additionally, the Church struggled to comprehend the Jewish religious connection to the land of Israel, as there is no parallel theological concept within Christianity. However, 2 radical changes were made to Church teaching and theology during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The Vatican II document Nostra Aetate (1965), whilst not directly discussing the State of Israel, made a revolutionary repeal of the theology of Supersessionism and pronounced that there is a special relationship between Judaism and Christianity, based on a common “spiritual patrimony.”1 It was upon this basis that Pope John Paul II promoted the teachings of Nostra Aetate, perhaps also drawn to do so because of his background – he was a man of Polish heritage who had grown up with Jewish friends and had witnessed the horrors of World War II. The Pope’s signing of the Fundamental Agreement, although primarily political, confirmed the repeal of Supersessionism and thus had theological ramifications. Yet, despite the official teachings and example of the Pope regarding the Catholic relationship with Jews and Judaism, a number of various other Christian theological approaches have emerged, such as Liberation theology and Christian Zionism, as well as a residual Supersessionism persisting. Alongside these, a world-wide fascination with the Arab-Israeli conflict has led to a number of political views on the State of Israel, some of which can be categorized into what many scholars term today the “new antisemitism.” This thesis will seek to examine how the Australian Catholic Church perceived the actions of and changes introduced by Pope John Paul II, through an examination of Australian Catholic and Jewish media, and an in-depth study of the Australian Jesuit publication Eureka Street. This will allow me to determine whether Australian Catholics accepted the theology of the Pope regarding Jews, Judaism and the Land of Israel, or, if Australian Catholics were swayed by any of the other political and theological approaches. 1 The Second Vatican Council, “Nostra Aetate,” Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions, par. 4, accessed 1 March 2015, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra- aetate_en.html 3 In order to make this assessment, this thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 is a review and analysis of past and current literature addressing the history and changing nature of Jewish-Catholic relations, both pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II, from international scholars. Additionally, the small amount of secondary literature discussing the Australian Church reactions to this evolving relationship will also be reviewed, revealing a gap in the literature. Literature on the global phenomenon of the “new antisemitism” will also be considered, as well as the work of those who have assessed its predominance in Australia. Chapter 2 will establish the Jewish theological understanding of the Land of Israel. This will be looked at from various historical periods, including the biblical period, rabbinic teachings, medieval understandings and the modern era. Chapter 3 will examine Christian theological perspectives on the Land of Israel, showing how Christianity does not have the same attachment to the Land that Judaism does, nor any parallel theological concepts, although revealing that there is reverence for the Holy Sites connected to the life of Jesus. This chapter will also examine contemporary theological trends, such as Liberation Theology and Christian Zionism, and how Christians have applied these to their understanding of Jews and the modern State of Israel. Chapter 4 will provide a close examination of all the achievements of Pope John Paul II in developing Catholic Jewish relations. It will also provide an overview of the reactions to these initiatives of both the Australian Church and Jewish leadership, as found in primary literature, indicating their acceptance or rejection of the theology the Pope advocated. Chapter 5 will closely examine articles from an Australian Catholic publication, Eureka Street, published during the tenure of Pope John Paul II (1991 – 2005), to assess its position on Jews, Judaism and the State of Israel. The chapter will then assess whether the paper reflected an acceptance of the teachings of Pope John Paul II or represents elements of other theologies and political views. 4 Chapter six will conclude by assessing whether Australian Catholics accepted the teachings of Pope John Paul II and confirm the various theologies and political views at play. 5 Chapter One: Literature Review In order to investigate the perspective/s of the Australian Catholic Church towards the State of Israel, it is important to first consider the literature that has explored the evolving nature of the relationship between Catholicism and Judaism, and the views that have emerged regarding the State of Israel. This chapter will examine and critique the current literature addressing this relationship. What is evident is that there has been little academic research into the specific topic of the Australian Roman Catholic Church’s responses to the changes in Vatican attitudes towards and teaching about the State of Israel, even though much is written globally about these changes. This is a gap in secondary literature that my thesis seeks to address, and in so doing, will present the attitudes of the Australian Catholic Church towards the State of Israel. Jewish-Christian Relations For 2000 years, the Roman Catholic Church maintained that the Jewish people had forfeited any religious tie to the land of Israel because of their rejection of Jesus Christ, propagating this claim through a Supersessionist Theology.2 The Church believed that the way of Jesus transcended and surpassed the way of Torah, and any Jewish claims to the physical land were now seen to be negated by Christianity’s spiritual connection to the land of Jesus. Hence, the destruction of the Temple by Rome in 70 CE, as well as Emperor Hadrian’s banishment of Jews from Jerusalem from 135 CE, when he renamed Judea as Syria Palaestina, simply confirmed to Christians the certainty of their faith and God’s 2 Philip A.
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