ISRAEL “WHOLEHEARTEDLY welcomes the emphasis reiterated by Pope Benedict in his new book, in which he exonerates the Jewish people from responsibility for the death of Jesus”, a statement from the Israeli embassy in Dublin said yesterday.
The Pope’s words were “consistent with the church’s official policy since the Nostra Aetate declaration of 1965”, it said.
"Furthermore, it is a confirmation of the pope's known positive stance towards the Jewish people and the State of Israel . . . We should not forget that without Nostra Aetatethere would not have been a process of reconciliation between Jews and Catholics on one hand and between the Holy See and Israel on the other," it continued.
It also expressed the hope that the Pope’s “positive view will inspire the more of one billion Catholics all over the world”.
In excerpts from the second instalment of Pope Benedict's book Jesus of Nazareth, released on Wednesday, he explains, through biblical and theological analysis, why it is not true that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for Jesus's death.
He writes “Now we must ask: Who exactly were Jesus’ accusers?”, adding that the gospel of St John simply says it was “the Jews”.
He continues “but John’s use of this expression does not in any way indicate – as the modern reader might suppose – the people of Israel in general, even less is it ‘racist’ in character.
“After all John himself was ethnically a Jew, as were Jesus and all his followers.
“The entire early Christian community was made up of Jews,” the pope writes.
He says the reference was to the “Temple aristocracy”, who wanted Jesus condemned to death because he had declared himself king of the Jews and had violated Jewish religious law.
Pope Benedict concludes that the “real group of accusers” were the Temple authorities and not all Jews of the time.
The second instalment to Jesus of Nazareth, his first book as pope, deals with the second half of Christ's life, his death and resurrection.
It will be published next Thursday, March 10th.