Homepage

Back

Archives

On Nov. 18, the philosophy department played host to Michael Wyschogrod, professor of philosophy emeritus at Baruch College of the City University of New York. Wyschogrod visited Villanova to describe his experiences as a Jewish man in the Vatican and Christian-Jewish relations.

Wyschogrod was born in Berlin and came to the United States in 1939 prior to the start of World War II. He was educated in New York and attended yeshivas and City College. He completed his graduate work at Colombia University. Throughout his formal education, he read and studied Christianity and became very interested in the Christian-Jewish theological relationship. He eventually became involved in the promotion of Christian-Jewish dialogue and served the boards of numerous international Jewish organizations, including the Synagogue Council of America and the American Jewish Council.

In 1978, Wyschogrod went to the Vatican with an International Jewish committee to meet with Pope John Paul II regarding the Christian-Jewish relationship and the nation of Israel. It was the first time Jews in many years had a direct dialogue with the pope. “The very fact that a Jewish group met with the pope two months after he arrived in the Vatican was monumental,” said Wyschogrod.

The Jewish committee had planned to discuss the normalization of relations between the Vatican and Israel with the pope. However, the committee’s speech to the pope was unexpectedly edited and censored by Vatican officials, after which the group was instructed not to talk about diplomacy between Israel and the Vatican. Wyschogrod remembers feeling very frustrated because he believed the relationship between Israel and the Vatican was crucial to improving Christian-Jewish relations. After consultation with authorities in Israel, the committee decided still to meet with the pope using the edited speech. Wyschogrod compared the experience of having a private audience with the pope to “meeting with a Renaissance prince.” Since this trip to Rome in the 1970’s, the Vatican has changed its policies. Speeches are no longer edited or censored and there has been an increase in more open dialogue between Christians and Jews.

One change that has not occurred and which remains the source of much tension within Christian-Jewish relations is the encyclical, “Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy)” issued by the pope in 1980. According to Wyschogrod, the document frustrates the Jewish community because it suggests that the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, contains distortions of justice. It interprets the Mosaic law of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” as a misuse of justice implying it is a pretext for hatred. “This is upsetting for Jewish organizations,” said Wyschogrod. “Listeners of Christ were faithful to the Old Testament and it cannot be evil because it came from God. This encyclical goes back to the idea that the Old Testament has no place in Christianity.”

Despite the irrevocable encyclical, Wyschogrod believes that Judaism is intrinsically linked to Christianity. “When the Church speaks with Judaism, it is not speaking to an entity outside itself,” said Wyschogrod. “Judaism is part of the church’s identity.”

According to Wyschogrod, the church’s advice to Jews, to convert to Christians, is flawed. He argues that the Church cannot exist in a world without Jews and questions whether the church is conceivable without Israel. “If Israel disappears, the Church disappears,” he said.

Wyschogrod concluded his presentation by noting that Jewish studies at Christian learning institutions are crucial. “You cannot understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament.” He conceded that intellectual knowledge of Jewish law and contact with Jews is necessary for Christians. Wyschogrod also suggested that the absence of Jewish studies at a Catholic college is a statement. He hopes that Villanova will one day incorporate some Jewish studies into its curriculum.