Rabbi Explains Non-Attendance

I refer to a Times article (Metro, Sept. 4) on my non-acceptance of Los Angeles Catholic Archbishop Roger Mahony’s invitation to me to participate in the inter-religious convocation addressed by Pope John Paul II in Los Angeles later this month.

The headline is misleading. My action is not intended as a boycott, a term which is emotionally loaded and which may well give offense to members of the Catholic community.

It is, rather, an anguished expression of pain at the papal omission of any explanation of his having granted an audience to Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, an unrepentant Nazi who has been declared a persona non grata by the United States and every Western country.

You will recall that not only the Jewish community but large segments of the general public as well were astonished and pained by the cordial reception granted Waldheim as “a man of peace” by the Pope. My non-attendance of the convocation is an expression of dismay.

Notwithstanding, the Vatican decision to address itself seriously to the historical, moral and theological implications of the Shoah (Holocaust) is most welcome. Its decision to include Jewish scholars in the process is a breakthrough to interfaith relations.

Hopefully the publication of this high-level document will positively affect Catholic teachings on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism and will terminate the collective unease of the Jewish people at the long silence of the Catholic Church on the Holocaust.

While it has now become clear that Vatican non-recognition of Israel is political rather than theological, the Jewish people remain deeply hurt by this non-recognition.

The State of Israel is of profound religious significance to all Jews and is inseparable from the Judaic belief system. Obviously, therefore, this issue is central to any meaningful, ongoing dialogue between the two faith communities.

The publication of my inability to accept the archbishop’s invitation raised some fears that it would adversely affect Jewish-Catholic relationships in Southern California.

Only a vulnerable and superficial relationship could be undermined by a single disagreement on principle. I am convinced that the relationship of the two faith communities in Southern California is neither vulnerable nor superficial.

RABBI ABNER WEISS

Beth Jacob Congregation

Beverly Hills