tinyurl.com/244u4 -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/15/EDG8J4F1141.DTL
It is true that the Gospels identify Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, and other unnamed Jewish religious authorities, as calling for Jesus' death. They identify Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, as the one who decides on his capital punishment; But the Christian interpretation of the event of Christ's passion and death is this: His disciples in every generation, together with all sinful humanity, are responsible for his crucifixion and death. It is for the forgiveness of our sins that he willingly became "obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8). Two paragraphs on the "trial" of Christ in the Catechism of the Catholic Church -- the official, authentic teaching of the Catholic faith -- remind Catholics of this teaching. The personal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to God alone. Hence we cannot lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in Jerusalem as a whole, despite the outcry of a manipulated crowd and the global reproaches contained in the apostles' calls to conversion after Pentecost. Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the cross, and Peter in following suit, both accept 'the ignorance' of the Jews of Jerusalem and even of their leaders. As the church declared at the Second Vatican Council: 'Neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during his Passion. Taking into account the fact that our sins affect Christ himself, the church does not hesitate to impute to Christians the gravest responsibility for the torments inflicted upon Jesus, a responsibility with which they have all too often burdened the Jews alone. The following again from the Roman Catechism: 'We must regard as guilty all those who continue to relapse into their sins. Since our sins made the Lord Christ suffer the torment of the cross, those who plunge themselves into disorders and crimes crucify the Son of God anew in their hearts (for he is in them) and hold him up to contempt. And it can be seen that our crime in this case is greater in us than in the Jews. As for them, according to the witness of the Apostle, "None of the rulers of this age understood this; However, even in America, we have seen Catholics embrace anti-Semitic positions, seeking to justify them as compatible with or resulting from Christian belief. The infamous "radio priest" Father Coughlin of the 1930s had a large and willing audience for his anti-Semitic rants, until he was silenced by the Archbishop of Detroit. This contrast reminds me of a comment by columnist and radio host Dennis Prager -- who is Jewish -- after seeing an early cut of the film: "When watching 'The Passion,' Jews and Christians are watching two entirely different films. For two hours, Christians watch their Savior tortured and killed. At the same time, I will try to see it through the eyes of my Jewish brothers and sisters as well. I hope that if Jews go to the movie, they may try to see it through Christian eyes as well. And I hope that they will know that there are Christians committed to stand in solidarity with them against any resurgence of anti-Semitism in our own country or abroad. Where: Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St. Carpenter professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University and director of its Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender and Sexuality. Stern, Anti-Defamation League's senior associate national director; Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns for the Archdiocese of San Francisco; Office of Interfaith Affairs for the Archdiocese of San Francisco;
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