Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
LeoD.Lefebure,GaudiumetSpes,NostraAetate,DignitatisHumanaeł
25
mustbemaintainedforeveryone.”8Non-CatholicChristiansandfollowersofother
religioustraditionssawthispositionofclaimingreligiousfreedomforCatholics
anddenyingittoothersasinconsistent,evenhypocritical.Thispolicywasalong-
standingbarriertoecumenicalandinterreligiousrelations.
PopeJohnXXIII
AfterthedeathofPopePiusXII,AngeloGiuseppeRoncalli(1881-1963),was
electedasPopeJohnXXIIIonOctober28,1958.EarlierinhiscareerRoncalli
hadbecomefamiliarwithByzantineOrthodoxChristiansandMuslimswhen
hewastheApostolicVisitor,thepope’sdiplomaticrepresentative,inSofia,Bul-
gariafrom1926to1936.ThenheservedastheApostolicDelegatetoTurkey
andGreece,livinginIstanbulfrom1936to1944anddeepeninghisfamiliarity
withOrthodoxChristianleadersandMuslims.Throughouthislife,Roncallihad
adeeprespectforpersonsofdifferingbackgrounds,includingpersonsofother
religioustraditions.
PopeJohnXXIIIpowerfullypreparedthewayandsetthetoneforthedevel-
opmentsattheSecondVaticanCouncil.WhenonJanuary25,1959,PopeJohn
proposedthecallingofanecumenicalcouncil,hementionedhopesforChristian
ecumenicalrelations,buthedidnotoriginallyintendtoaddressinterreligious
relations.HismindwaschangedwhenhemettheFrenchJewishhistorian,Ju-
lesIsaac,onJune13,1960.Isaachaddoneanextensivestudyofthehistoryof
ChristiancontemptforJews,andhetoldPopeJohnthattheJewishpeopleknew
hisgoodnessandhadgreathopesfromhim.9IsaacpresentedPopeJohnwith
arequestthattheupcomingecumenicalcouncilreversethetraditionalnegative
teachingoftheCatholicChurchabouttheJews,especiallythechargethatthey
wereguiltyofthedeathofJesusChrist.ThisrequestmovedPopeJohntoset
inmotionaprocessforastatementonCatholicrelationswithJews.Asdiscus-
sionsproceeded,thescopeofthestatementwasexpandedtoincludeallother
religionsaswell.
OnDecember25,1961,Popeissuedtheapostolicconstitution,HumanaeSa-
lutis,whichofficiallyconvokedtheSecondVaticanCounciltobeginonOctober
11,1962.PopeJohnplacedhiscallforanecumenicalcouncilasaresponseto
whathecalled“acrisisunderwaywithinsociety”:“Itisaquestioninfactof
bringingtheperenniallife-givingenergiesoftheGospeltothemodernworld,
8Ibid.
9JulesIsaac,TheTeachingofContempt:ChristianRootsofAnti-Semitism,ed.ClaireHu-
chet-Bishop(NewYork:Holt,RinehartandWinston,1964).