God's Mercy Endures Forever: Guidelines on the Presentation of Jews and Judaism in Catholic Preaching (1988)

God's Mercy Endures Forever: Guidelines on the Presentation of Jews and Judaism in Catholic Preaching, Bishop's Committee on the Liturgy, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops September, 1988 

On June 24, 1985, the solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist, the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews issued its Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis of the Roman Catholic Church (hereafter, 1985 Notes; USCC Publication No. 970). The 1985 Notes rested on a foundation of previous church statements, addressing the tasks given Catholic homilists by the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate), no. 4. 

On December 1, 1974, for example, the Holy See had issued Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Declaration "Nostra Aetate," no. 4 (hereafter, 1974 Guidelines). The second and third sections of this document placed central emphasis on the important and indispensable role of the homilist in ensuring that God's Word be received without prejudice toward the Jewish people or their religious traditions, asking "with respect to liturgical readings," that "care be taken to see that homilies based on them will not distort their meaning, especially when it is a question of passages which seem to show the Jewish people as such in unfavorable light" (1974 Guidelines, no. 2). In this country, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, in 1975, similarly urged catechists and homilists to work together to develop among Catholics increasing "appreciation of the Jewishness of that heritage and rich spirituality which we derive from Abraham, Moses, the prophets, the psalmists, and other spiritual giants of the Hebrew Scriptures" (Statement on Catholic-Jewish Relations, November 20, 1975, no. 12).

God-s-Mercy-Endures-Forever-Guidelines-on-the-Presentation-of-Jews-and-Judaism-in-Catholic-Preaching-1988.pdf