Pope Strains Interfaith Relations In Revised Tridentine Rite Prayer For Jews

Increasingly good Catholic-Jewish relations were strained a bit last week as the Vatican released a reformulated version of a Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews for the 1962 Roman Missal (the Tridentine rite). The Roman Missal-- a Latin version of the Mass-- is used only by a small number of Catholics world-wide. However last July Pope Benedict authorized somewhat wider use of the Tridentine rite. The new version of the prayer (full text) removes prior references to the "blindness" of the Jews, as well as a call for God to "remove the veil from their hearts". However the new version still calls for God to enlghten the hearts of the Jews so they will recognize Jesus. Catholic News Service and Reuters last week reported that Jewish leaders continued to be troubled by the prayer. The more generally used 1970 Roman Missal, revised after the Second Vatican Council, contains a Good Friday prayer that is much less offensive to Jews. It merely prays that "the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption."