ONLY VOLVO OFFERS Z FRONT AIR BAGS AND t SIDE AIR BAGS STANDARD ON EVERY 1996 CAR. A Rabbi At The Vatican What a difference a century makes in interfaith relations. THE 1996 VOLVO 850 RABBI MARK G. LOEB SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS N OVER INVOICE* ON IN-STOCK UNITS Excludes Volvo T5R • One Week Only! FREE Pickup/Drop Off services with use of a loaner cart uburban THE VOLVO STORE 643-8500 1821 Maplelawn TROY MOTOR MALL * My factory Incentives to be assigned to dealer. Must take delivery from dealer stock by 4-13-96. tBased on availability for warranty service wok 0,xtr buburban TOYOTA BRING US YOUR BEST DEAL, WE'LL MAKE IT BETTER! $e%il OVER NimTP INVOICE* ALL CAMRYS, COROLLAS And TRUCKS In Stock SALE HOURS 108 SERVICE HOURS Mon. 7 am-8pm Mon. & Thurs., 9-9 Tues., Wed., & Fri. 9-6 Tues.-Fri. 7 am-6 pm Sat. 8 am-1 pm Saturday 111.3 Any lactory incentives to he assigned to dealer Must take delivery horn dealer stock by 4-13-95 early a century ago, Theodor Herzl traveled to Rome to seek the support of the Vatican for the then- budding enterprise called the Zionist Movement. Three days later, Herzl came face-to-face with Pope Pius X. When he met the pope, he decid- ed against kneeling before him or kissing his ring. (He sensed af- terward that this was probably seen by the pope as unmitigated gall.) Whatever his real feelings, the pope reiterated essentially what was the Roman Catholic Church's long-standing policy: "The Jews did not recognize our Lord; and, therefore, we cannot recognize the Jewish people." This encounter between Jews and papal authority revealed a hostile animus that could have been predicted because it had been church policy for centuries. But what a difference a century makes. How large a difference was revealed to me in recent months, first when Pope John Paul II came to Baltimore, and then recently when I had occasion to make a personal visit to Rome. The pope's visit to Baltimore revealed in miniature how pro- foundly changed the Jewish- Catholic reality has become in the second half of the 20th century. The transformation began a new chapter when a simple Italian hill peasant, Giuseppe Roncalli, rose through the church to become Pope John XXIII. It was he who convened, in the early 1960s, a Vatican Council whose work gradually led to the issuance of "In Nostra Aetate," the papal en- cyclical on the church's relation- ship to Judaism and the Jewish people. The church confessed to the flaws in its teachings, pledged it to reform its religious edu- cation, and made clear that anti-Semitism could never be tol- erated again. The implications were enormous, and many were played out on the local level. Perhaps the most important force in this ongoing journey has come from Cardinal William Keeler, who has an international reputation for his commitment to Jewish-Catholic dialogue and rec- onciliation. By his service as president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, and as a confi- dant of the current pope, John Paul II, who is himself deeply Rabbi Mark G. Loeb is spiritual director of Conservative Beth El Congregation in Pikesville. committed to ecumenical rela- tions with the Jews, Cardinal Keeler has made, this process seem natural and inevitable. When the pope agreed to come to Baltimore last October, his visit exemplified the positive relation- ships that have been forged. In advance of the pope's visit, Car- dinal Keeler decided to sponsor a concert of music inspired by the Psalms at the Basilica of the An- nunciation. It was a remarkable evening, co-sponsored by the Reform Jew- ish community (through the Yale and Peggy Gordon Trust and the Jewish Chautauqua .;ociety) and featured Maestro Gilbert Levine, who had been conductor of the Cracow Philharmonic, and had received significant favor from the Polish-born pope. In Baltimore, he asked that Jews be a prominent part of an interfaith gathering at the Cathe- dral of Mary Our Queen. Because of Sukkot, and because my sched- ule did not enable me to attend the Papal Mass at Oriole Park ei- ther, I was unable to attend and somewhat disappointed. Howev- er, in November, I realized I was going to be in Rome for a private visit in January. I decided to con- tact Cardinal Keeler to ask if he could help me gain admission to a papal audience at the Vatican. He wrote a generous letter on my behalf, and while in Rome in De- cember, he told the pope of my supportive relationship to the church in Baltimore. To my de- light, I received a papal invitation The papal audience is held in a large ha dedicated to the mem- ory of Pope Paul VI nd can ac- commodate nearly 7,000 people. On this day, there were at least 5,000 in attendance. Before the pope's entrance, one could sense a growing anticipation and ex- citement among the attendees. What one also could not help but notice was the universality of the Church, by virtue of there being groups from the Orient, from Africa and Australia as well as Europe and the Americas. And in the front row, the first seat on the aisle, sat a rabbi wearing a yarmulke — me. Shortly after 11 a.m., Pope John Paul II made a gracious and unpretentious entrance. After he sat down, the excited audience took their seats and one scriptural reading was read by five priests in five languages, each followed by a personal message from the pope, who is himself a gifted lin- guist. noint came as each of _/ c-/