And now the rabbis of Israel are asking the Pope for interpretations of the phrases of the Torah

The question is sensitive, because it can come close to the relationship between the Catholic Christian denomination and that Jewish: The letter sent by some Israeli rabbis to Cardinal Kurt Koch, a Swiss and a conservative, certainly reached the main tables of the Holy See, and therefore at the table of the Pope.

It is a letter in which some Jewish religious leaders ask for some reasons and perhaps some modifications, of course. The subject of interest to the rabbis are a few sentences he uttered Pope Francesco. The Pope’s statements regarding the Torah, which is not a secondary issue.

The hypothesis can be made: Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the Pope interfaith dialogue. Since he was elected to the throne of Peter, the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires has been distinguished by a constant search for polemic with Orthodox, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, etc. Much in the dialogue, the Pope, to be called by traditionalists as the defender of a “universal religion”. In short, the Jesuit will not be included in history as theorist of the crippling boundaries between sects. Nor had much controversy resulted from the relations between religious authorities and denominational matters, up to this point of the papacy.

It has been so-called traditional Catholics, if any, who have criticized Francis for his openings since he succeeded Joseph Ratzinger or so. And traditional Catholics have always, from time to time, puzzled over some aspects of the doctrinal relationship between Bergoglio’s thought and law. This is a story Message Also signed by Rabbi Rason my bride, who is not a junior interlocutor, is different: it is not real criticism.

When looking for a correct definition, one might say that it kind of came from Israel official work Through it Bergoglio was asked to clarify some points regarding the recently attributed value of the Torah. The phrases the rabbis focused on were taken from Republic.

Among those, too ride What does the Pope say? “The law is not the basis of the covenant because it came later, it was necessary and just but there was the promise first, the covenant.” Other assertions are then cited, including the one in which Bergoglio said that “However, the law does not give life, nor does it offer the fulfillment of a promise, because it is not a condition of being able to fulfill it. The law is the path that leads you toward encounter.”

Among the interpretations of this catechism of the Pope (in the first half of August), there may be an explanation that may relate to a redefinition of dimensions Torah In a symbolic historical key and beyond. The rabbis of their part noted in the letter how the Pope asserts, through the above considerations, that the Torah “does not” confer “more life” and that this means “that the practice of Judaism in the present age” is “obsolete.”

In short, those who signed the letter to Cardinal Koch believe that a line of this Christian classification – which Francis’ statements would have supported – could represent – as the aforementioned source always says – “The insulting teachings of Jews and Judaism are things we thought the Church had utterly renounced.” The signatories stressed the need to point out the presence of the “anguish” they felt in the Holy Father.

In all likelihood, the Vatican He will apply, in turn, through the written form. Something equally formal could put an end to any potential controversy. rabbis they asked as well as saying “Ensure a clear disclaimer of any offensive conclusionsa”.