In an address to Jews in Mainz, West Germany, Nov. 17, 1980,
John Paul II
spoke of"the Old Covenant, never revoked by God…”
Pope Benedict XIV,
Pope Eugene IV,
Council of Florence, 1441, ex cathedra:
“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and teaches that the matter
pertaining to the law of the Old Testament, the Mosaic law, which are divided into
ceremonies, sacred rites, sacrifices, …More
In an address to Jews in Mainz, West Germany, Nov. 17, 1980,
John Paul II
spoke of"the Old Covenant, never revoked by God…”
Pope Benedict XIV,
Pope Eugene IV,
Council of Florence, 1441, ex cathedra:
“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and teaches that the matter
pertaining to the law of the Old Testament, the Mosaic law, which are divided into
ceremonies, sacred rites, sacrifices, and sacraments…
after our Lord’s coming… ceased,
and the sacraments of the New Testament began…
All, therefore, who after that time
(the promulgation of the Gospel) observe circumcision and the Sabbath and the other
requirements of the law, the holy Roman Church declares alien to the Christian faith
and not in the least fit to participate in eternal salvation
.”52
Pope Benedict XIV reiterated this dogma in his encyclical
Ex Quo Primum.
Pope Benedict XIV,
Ex Quo Primum (# 61):
“The first consideration is that the ceremonies of the Mosaic Law were abrogated by
the coming of Christ and that they can no longer be observed without sin after the
promulgation of the Gospel.”
53
Pope Pius XII,
Mystici Corporis Christi (#’s 29-30), June 29, 1943: “And first of all, by the
death of our Redeemer,
the New Testament took the place of the Old Law which had
been abolished
… on the gibbet of His death Jesus made void the Law with its decrees
Ex Quo Primum (# 59), March 1, 1756:
“However they are not attempting to observe
the precepts of the old Law which as
everybody knows have been revoked by the coming of Christ.”
[Eph. 2:15]… establishing the New Testament in His blood shed for the whole human
race. ‘
To such an extent, then,’ says St. Leo the Great, speaking of the Cross of our
Lord, ‘was there effected a transfer from the Law to the Gospel, from the Synagogue to
the Church
, from many sacrifices to one Victim, that, as our Lord expired, that mystical
veil which shut off
the innermost part of the temple and its sacred secret was rent
violently from top to bottom.’ On the Cross then the Old Law died
, soon to be buried
and to be a bearer of death…”
We see here that Pope Benedict XIV condemns the heresy taught by John Paul II, that the Old
Covenant has never been revoked by God! John Paul II repeated the same bold heresy in a 1997
speech:
John Paul II,
Meeting on the Roots of Anti-Semitism, 1997: “This people [the Jewish people]
has been called and led by God, Creator of Heaven and Earth. Their existence then is not
a mere natural or cultural happening… It is a supernatural one.
This people continues
in spite of everything to be the people of the covenant
John Paul II,
New Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 121: “… for the Old
Covenant has never been revoked
John Paul II’s Unbelievable Message in Commemoration of
the Jewish Synagogue
John Paul II,
Message to Chief Rabbi of Rome, May 23, 2004: “To the most distinguished Dr.
Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome. Shalom! With deep joy
I join the Jewish
Community of Rome which is celebrating the centenary [100
th anniversary] of the Great
Synagogue in Rome
, a symbol and a reminder of the millennial presence in this city of
the people of the Covenant of Sinai. For more than 2000 years
your community has been
an integral part of life in the city;
it can boast of being the most ancient Jewish
community in Western Europe and of having played an important role in spreading
Judaism on this Continent
. Today’s commemoration, therefore, acquires a special
significance… Since I am unable to attend in person, I have asked my Vicar General
Camillo Ruini, to represent me; he is accompanied by Cardinal Walter Kasper, President
of the Holy See’s Commission for Relations with the Jews.
They formally express my
desire to be with you this day
.
“In offering you my respectful greeting, distinguished Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, I extend
my cordial thoughts to all the Members of the Community, to their President, Mr. Leone
Elio Paserman, and to all who are gathered to witness once again to
the importance and
vigor of the religious patrimony that is celebrated every Saturday in the Great
Synagogue of Rome
…
Today’s celebration, in whose joy we all readily join, recalls the first century of this
majestic Synagogue.
It stands on the banks of the Tiber, witnessing with the harmony of
its architectural lines to faith and to praise of the Almighty.
The Christian Community of
Rome, through the Successor of Peter, joins you in thanking the Lord for this happy
occasion [the 100
th anniversary of the Synagogue!]
. As I said during the Visit I
mentioned,
we greet you as our ‘beloved brothers’ in the faith of Abraham, our
Patriarch…
you continue to be the first-born people of the Covenant (Liturgy of Good
Friday, General Intercessions, For the Jewish People
)…
[These friendly relations]
saw us united in commemorating the victims of the Shoah
[deceased Jews who did not accept Christ], especially those who were wrenched from
their families and from your beloved Jewish Community in Rome
in October 1943 and
interned in Auschwitz.
May their memory be blessed and induce us to work as brothers
and sisters…
…
the Church has not hesitated to express deep sorrow at the ‘failures of her sons and
daughters in every age’ and, in an act of repentance,
has asked forgiveness for their
responsibility connected in any way with the scourges of anti-Judaism
and anti-
Semitism…
Today… we are addressing a fervent prayer to the Eternal One, to the God of Shalom,
so that enmity and hatred may no longer overpower those who turn to
our father,
Abraham – Jews, Christians and Muslims
…
“Our meeting today is, as it were, in preparation for your imminent solemnity of
Shavu’ot and of our Pentecost which proclaim the fullness of our respective paschal
celebrations. May these feasts see us united in praying David’s paschal
Hallel.”
(
L’Osservatore Romano, June 2, 2004, p. 7.)
