Kat made a thoughtful reply to my post on the Good Friday prayer controversy explaining why the Jews consider the Good Friday prayer for their conversion in the old rite offensive. I thought a response to it was important enough to merit its own blog entry.
First, I'll grant her that the ZENIT article is disingenuous in disavowing that the prayer is one for conversion. It is splitting theological hairs to claim that it isn't. I kind of thought the same thing when I read it.
Her point about this prayer being said on Good Friday in the context of the Crucifixion is well taken in light of past injustices against the Jewish people.
Her main point is that it seems to be singling Jews out for conversion. And she's right in that it's not a single generic prayer for conversion for all non-Catholics. But it would be a mistake to interpret this prayer as an isolated and solitary prayer solely directed to the Jews. It is in the context of a litany of prayers for a lot of other people. Besides prayers for the church, the pope, the clergy, those in government, catechumens (those studying to be received into the church), and the faithful, there is a specific prayer (immediately prior to the one for Jews) for "heretics and schismatics" to "rescue them from all their errors, and call them back to their holy mother, the Catholic and Apostolic Church" and a prayer (immediately following the prayer for Jews) for "pagans" that "almighty God will dispel the blindness of their hearts, so that they may renounce their false gods and be converted to the living and true God". I thought there was a prayer for Muslims but it's not in the Missal I have, but I can assure you the intent was there to pray for the conversion of all non-Catholics.
The context is therefore not "And there the Jews crucified our Lord and Savior. Now let us pray for the Jews that they may be converted.... Amen. The collection today will be for ..."
The fact that there are nine prayers, three of which pertain to conversion of all non-Catholics, only one of which is directed to the Jews, I think reassures us that there is no deliberate connection of this prayer with the observation of the Crucifixion and the deplorable history of its association with the Jews as a people.
I think the problem may be that in their delight in having a controversial scoop, the journalists have taken a single prayer out of context and magnified it (in isolation) beyond its intended significance.
I appreciate Kat's your thoughtful input. It does help me to understand things a bit better.
