Ratzinger speaks out in new book,
debate
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCR Staff Rome
On the heels of a document asserting that followers of other
religions are in a gravely deficient situation compared to
Catholics, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has added that the church is waiting for
the moment when Jews will say yes to Christ.
The comment comes in a new book, God and the World, to be
published Oct. 10 in Germany. Extracts from the book, a question-and-answer
session between Ratzinger and a journalist covering a wide range of topics,
were published Sept. 10 by the German weekly Focus.
In another context, Ratzinger said in a Sept. 21 public debate
with an atheist that Christianity has always claimed to be the logical
fulfillment of human reason, and hence Christianity is the right
answer for every human being, but the faith must not be imposed by force.
Ratzingers debate against philosopher Paolo Flores
dArcais took place in a downtown Rome theatre before a standing-room-only
crowd of several hundred people.
Ratzinger, a native of Germany, is the Vaticans top
doctrinal official.
That the Jews are connected with God in a special way and
that God does not allow that bond to fail is entirely obvious, Ratzinger
said in the new book. We wait for the instant in which Israel will say
yes to Christ, but we know that it has a special mission in history now
which is significant for the world.
Asked if Jews must, or should, acknowledge Jesus as the messiah,
Ratzinger replied, We believe that.
That does not mean that we should force Christ upon
them, Ratzinger said. The fact remains, however, that our Christian
conviction is that Christ is also the messiah of Israel. Certainly it is in the
hands of God how and when the unification of Jews and Christians into the
people of God will take place.
The comments build on a Sept. 5 Vatican document issued by
Ratzinger titled Dominus Iesus, which rejected the idea that
non-Christian religions can offer paths to salvation independent of
Christianity (NCR, Sept. 15).
Many Catholic theologians have argued that Gods original
covenant with Israel remains valid, meaning that Jews are not destined or
required to become Christians. Pope John Paul II, during a historic 1986 visit
to the Rome synagogue, seemed to endorse this view when he called the covenant
with Judaism irrevocable.
On other topics, Ratzinger paints a near-apocalyptic picture of
the potentially negative consequences of genetic research: God will react
against a last crime, a last criminal self-destruction of the human being. He
will resist the degradation of the human person through the breeding of
slave-people. There is a last boundary that we cannot cross without becoming
the destroyers of creation itself.
Ratzinger also revealed that he has signed up to be an organ
donor, leading journalist Petter Seewald to comment that it would be an
exciting idea if an African Muslim in Paris ended up with
Ratzingers heart. Could be soon, Ratzinger replied.
Asked if he fears death, Ratzinger said: Since I know well
all my inadequacies, the thought of judgment stands before my eyes, but I also
hope that God is greater than my failures.
A previous Ratzinger interview with Seewald became 1996s
Salt of the Earth, which has appeared in 14 languages and sold 70,000
copies. Seewald, who writes for the German newspaper Suddeutsche
Zeitung, returned to the Catholic faith after the encounter.
Jesuit Fr. Joseph Fessio, whose Ignatius press is Ratzingers
primary English-language publisher, told NCR that it will probably be a
year before God and the World appears in English translation.
In the Sept. 21 debate, Ratzinger defended Pope John Pauls
II mid-March liturgy of penance for failings of the Catholic church. Some
bishops from former communist nations had opposed the gesture, he said, on the
grounds that it would destroy trust in the church, but Ratzinger said he
thought it helped the churchs credibility.
When his opponent drew cheers for suggesting that sometimes
non-believers have done a better job of living gospel values than believers,
Ratzinger said: I am satisfied with the applause [for this idea].
Its good for both of us to be self-critical, to reflect anew.
Ratzinger insisted on the existence of inalienable human rights.
I defend absolutely the existence of rights that cannot be decided by a
majority of votes, he said. We Germans know the importance of this.
We wanted to create a pure race, a pure humanity, ignoring precisely the
existence of these rights.
National Catholic Reporter, October 6,
2000
|