The Good Friday Prayer

In the traditional Tridentine Rite of the Catholic Church there was a prayer said on Good Friday for the conversion of the Jews. It read,

Let us pray also for the perfidious Jews: that Almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts so that they too may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord. Almighty and eternal God, who dost not exclude from thy mercy even Jewish faithlessness: hear our prayers, which we offer for the blindness of that people; that acknowledging the light of thy Truth, which is Christ, they may be delivered from their darkness. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen

Recently, Pope Benedict the XVII, after freeing up the practice of the Tridentine Rite of the mass with his Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum", Jewish leaders criticized the prayer for being anti-Semitic and hateful to the Jewish people. In response to this criticism, Benedict revised the prayer thusly;

Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men. Almighty and eternal God, who want that all men be saved and come to the recognition of the truth, propitiously grant that even as the fulness of the peoples enters Thy Church, all Israel be saved. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Do you think that the prayer should have been revised in the first place? Or that it was not revised enough? What are your opinions?

My view is that the pope made a masterstroke here that is utterly brilliant. He removed the controversial wording and stripped the prayer down to its core level, that of the conversion of the Jews to the Church. Also, the prayer is brilliant because Benedict sent the message that he was willing to be cordial to members of other faiths, but not sacrifice infallible church dogma (that no one outside the church can be saved) in the process.

Agreed. Catholicism is generally a step or two ahead of most Christian sects in embracing changes that jive more easily with cultural norms, scientific knowledge, and popular opinion. They're still "backward" in many ways, but at least are more progressive than many other religions.

I'm surprised it was done. Good thing though

Originally posted by Transfinitum
In the traditional Tridentine Rite of the Catholic Church there was a prayer said on Good Friday for the conversion of the Jews. It read,

Recently, Pope Benedict the XVII, after freeing up the practice of the Tridentine Rite of the mass with his Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum", Jewish leaders criticized the prayer for being anti-Semitic and hateful to the Jewish people. In response to this criticism, Benedict revised the prayer thusly;

Do you think that the prayer should have been revised in the first place? Or that it was not revised enough? What are your opinions?

My view is that the pope made a masterstroke here that is utterly brilliant. He removed the controversial wording and stripped the prayer down to its core level, that of the conversion of the Jews to the Church. Also, the prayer is brilliant because Benedict sent the message that he was willing to be cordial to members of other faiths, but not sacrifice infallible church dogma (that no one outside the church can be saved) in the process.

Not much point in considering the validity of another reigion unless you toss in a condemnation of that validity. That's how such absolute certainty works.

If it were up to me, Israel would not exist at the globally and needless expense of the United States of America. People often attribute some measure of jewish consideration when it comes to the Israeli. But, it has less to do with religion and more to do with our assumption that it's our place to dictate the reality of affairs in the middle east. In the fine American tradition, I'm sure the people who are native and historically/currently occupying a factually meaningless tract of land are irrelevant to the desires of a country thousands of miles away. As far as I'm concerned, the idea that apologetics over the US lack of action over the European holocaust does not merrit some measure of obligation over our personal involvment in the affairs of the provincial inhabitants of the middle east. Any substantial independance on the region is a direct result of the notion that the rest of the world in dependant upon the utilization of it's resources well over the reality that there are alternatives to such dependance or technology. Unfortunatey, the propogators of such ideas are the ones that own, operate and inspire the actions of the current and future administrations! That's how deep-seeded is the mindset.

I assume you mean Benedict XVI...the XVII hasn't come along yet...

On the prayer, it will no doubt upset the sedevans but I think the Holy Father acted with great wisdom here.