US embassy cable - 03VATICAN4090

UNCLAS VATICAN 004090 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
C O R R E C T E D  COPY - (PARA'S  NUMBERING CORRECTED) 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE-LEVIN AND EUR/OHI 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, SOCI, VT 
SUBJECT: VATICAN CALLS ANTI-SEMITISM "A PLAGUE THAT MUST BE 
CURED" 
 
 
1. (U) THE HOLY SEE HAS REEMPHASIZED THE NEED TO UPROOT 
DISCRIMINATION AND ANTI-SEMITISM IN A NEW DOCUMENT MARKING 
THE CELEBRATION OF JEWISH CULTURE IN EUROPE.  ISSUED BY 
GERMAN-BORN CARDINAL WALTER KASPER, THE HEAD OF THE VATICAN 
    OFFICE RESPONSIBLE FOR RELATIONS WITH JUDAISM, THE PAPER 
REITERATES RECENT VATICAN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE ROLE 
CHRISTIANS PLAYED IN FOMENTING THE ANTI-SEMITIC SENTIMENT 
THAT CULMINATED IN "THE HORRENDOUS SLAUGHTER OF THE SHOAH." 
 
2. (U) IN THE NEW DOCUMENT, KASPER AFFIRMED THAT ERRONEOUS 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE RESULTED IN ANTI-SEMITIC 
DISCRIMINATION, PARTICULARLY IN CHRISTIAN EUROPE, AND THAT 
THIS BECAME MORE PREVALENT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WHEN 
IT ASSUMED A "SOCIOPOLITICAL" RATHER THAN A RELIGIOUS 
CHARACTER.  THE CARDINAL ACKNOWLEDGES THAT CHRISTIANS DID 
NOT ADEQUATELY OPPOSE THE IDEOLOGICAL PREMISES THAT 
RESULTED IN THE SHOAH AND POINTS OUT THAT "INFLUENTIAL" 
CATHOLIC JOURNALS PUBLISHED ANTI-SEMITIC ARTICLES.  KASPER 
QUOTES FROM THE HOLY SEE'S 1998 DOCUMENT ON THE SHOAH THAT 
THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE, "WAS NOT WHAT ONE WOULD HAVE 
EXPECTED FROM THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST." 
 
3. (U) FOR KASPER, THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE FOR THE HOLY 
SEE TO THIS LEGACY IS "A PENITENTIAL PROCESS" -- EXEMPLARY 
AND CONCRETE ACTIONS THAT SHOW THAT PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE 
CHURCH SHARE IN THE SINS OF THE PAST.  HE POINTS OUT THAT 
PENITENTIAL GESTURES AND LAUDABLE OFFICIAL STATEMENTS FROM 
THE POPE AND THE HOLY SEE MUST BE MATCHED AT THE GRASS- 
ROOTS LEVEL.  KASPER CALLS FOR A RELIGIOUS DIMENSION TO 
COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM THAT GOES BEYOND THE CULTURAL, SOCIAL, 
POLITICAL OR IDEOLOGICAL LEVEL, AND PLACES CHRISTIANS AND 
JEWS ON AN EQUAL PLAIN AS THE "CHOSEN PEOPLE."  IN DOING 
SO, KASPER IS ESSENTIALLY REWRITING A 1928 HOLY SEE 
STATEMENT THAT REPUDIATED DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE "AT 
ONE TIME CHOSEN PEOPLE."  INSTEAD, KASPER ASSERTS THAT 
    JUDAISM'S STATUS AS A CHOSEN PEOPLE MEANS CHRISTIANS AND 
JEWS ARE BOUND IN A FORM OF IRREVOCABLE ALLIANCE THAT CALLS 
BOTH TO A UNIVERSAL VOCATION TO SERVE HUMANITY IN PEACE AND 
JUSTICE.  KASPER BASES FUTURE RELATIONS BETWEEN JEWS AND 
CHRISTIANS ON THE HONEST ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE ROLE 
CHRISTIANS PLAYED IN THE ORIGIN AND DIFFUSION OF ANTI- 
SEMITIC ATTITUDES. 
 
4. (SBU) COMMENT: CARDINAL KASPER IS THE DRIVING FORCE 
BEHIND THE HOLY SEE'S RELATIONS WITH JUDAISM AND HIS GERMAN 
ORIGIN MAKES HIM A SENSITIVE INTERLOCUTOR ON ANTI-SEMITISM 
ISSUES.  HIS PAPER, PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 8 IN THE VATICAN'S 
SEMI-OFFICIAL DAILY, L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO, INDICATES THAT 
EFFORTS TO COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM, INCLUDING BY ACKNOWLEDGING 
CHRISTIAN COMPLICITY IN SHAPING NEGATIVE EUROPEAN ATTITUDES 
TOWARDS JUDAISM REMAIN HIGH ON THE HOLY SEE'S AGENDA AND 
ARE STILL A KEY THEME OF JOHN PAUL II'S PAPACY.  WHILE 
HIGH-LEVEL STATEMENTS AND SYMBOLIC GESTURES HAVE PROVIDED A 
CLEAR PUBLIC INDICATION OF THE HOLY SEE'S POSITION ON ANTI- 
SEMITISM AND HAVE REAFFIRMED GUIDELINES FOR THE FAITHFUL, 
THE VATICAN RECOGNIZES THAT THESE NEED TO BE TRANSFORMED 
INTO ACTION AMONG THE WIDER CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.  WHILE THERE 
HAVE BEEN SOME EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES, UNIVERSITY COURSES 
ENCOMPASSING CHRISTIAN-JEWISH ISSUES, AND AN ARRAY OF 
INTER-RELIGIOUS DISCUSSIONS, KASPER UNDERSTANDS THAT MORE 
SIMILAR INITIATIVES FROM CATHOLIC COMMUNITIES IN EUROPE 
WILL BE NEEDED TO OVERCOME THE PLAGUE OF ANTI-SEMITISM. 
END COMMENT. 
 
HARDT 
 

 
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 2003VATICA04090 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED