Essai sur le philosémitisme catholique entre le premier et le second Concile de Vatican

Quatrième de couverture

« Un siècle sépare le premier Concile de Vatican (1869) du second (1962-1965). Période de renouvellement paradigmatique pour l’Église catholique, ce siècle fut aussi celui d’une reformulation des relations judéo-chrétiennes. Il faut voir plus qu’une coïncidence dans la synchronie de ces deux phénomènes.

L’entrée dans la modernité a modifié les conditions propres à l’existence juive et chrétienne, conduisant à terme à de profondes modifications dans la relation tissée entre Juifs et chrétiens. Défi indépendamment lancé à l’Église catholique et aux Juifs, la modernité se trouve en effet au cœur des nouvelles dynamiques relationnelles que tissent chrétiens et Juifs après la révolution française et l’ouverture des ghettos européens.

La modernité est un retour de l’homme vers lui-même, à l’origine d’un mouvement général de prise de conscience de soi. Attentif au fait que la rénovation du discours catholique sur le Juif s’est produite dans les cadres donnés par la modernité, nous soutenons l’argument suivant : ce sont les tumultes de la modernité qui ont engendré une nouvelle compréhension des relations entre catholiques et Juifs. Seules les conditions modernes d’existence ont finalement été capables de briser la logique circulaire et auto-référente de la tradition antijuive de l’Église. »

English version

Source : ccjr.us

Translation : Rev Murray Watson

Olivier Rota : An Essay on Catholic Philosemitism

In 2007, Olivier Rota, a member of the Executive Committee of the AJCF [the Jewish-Christian Friendship Association of France] defended his doctoral thesis at Charles de Gaulle University (Lille 3) in Religious Studies, focussing on “Pauline Philosemitism and Catholic Modernity : From the First Vatican Council to the Second,” under the direction of Danielle Delmaire, who is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Jewish-Christian Friendship Association of France.

It is with pleasure that we present to you, and recommend, the publication that has flowed from his thesis, An Essay on Catholic Philosemitism, by Olivier Rota. Preface by Danielle Delmaire. Artois University Press, History series. €22.00.

From the book’s cover blurb : “A century separates the First Vatican Council (1869) from the Second (1962-1965). This was a period of paradigmatic renewal for the Catholic Church, and it was also a century of the reformulation of Jewish-Christian relations. We ought to see the synchronicity of these two phenomena as more than merely a coincidence.

The specific conditions of both Jewish and Christian life were changed by their entry into modernity, eventually leading to profound changes in the relationship woven between Jews and Chrsitians. This was a challenge posed to the Catholic Church and to Jews, independently of each other : modernity can, in fact, be found at the heart of the new relational dynamics which Christians and Jews have been weaving in the wake of the French Revolution and the opening-up of the European ghettos.

Modernity is about humanity finding its way back to itself and was, at its origins, a general movement of becoming-aware of oneself. Attentive to the fact that the renewal of Catholic discourse about Jews has taken place within the framework provided by modernity, we are defending the following proposition : it has been the tumult of modernity that has given birth to a new understanding of the relationship between Catholics and Jews. Only the conditions of modern life have been able to break the circular and self-referential logic of the Church’s anti-Jewish tradition.”

Prior to his doctorate in Religious Studies, Olivier Rota received a Masters in History. He currently works at the University of Arras, especially for the IEFR. He has been for several years an active member of the Jewish-Christian Friendship Association of France in Lille, and, since June 2011, he has been a member of the National Executive Committee of the Jewish-Christian Friendship Association of France. He is also involved in Sens, the AJCF’s journal.