www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Can you be both a Catholic priest and a Jew?

Can a person be a practicing Jew and a Catholic priest?

Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel's mother left him as a baby on the doorstep of a Polish gentile family in 1943. She told her neighbor, "You say you are religious, so take him in the name of Jesus whom you so believe in."

These words were prescient, for Jakub joined a seminary at 18 and began a lifelong journey in the priesthood. At 35, Jakub's Polish mother revealed to him that he was Jewish. He continued working as a priest and teaching at the Catholic University in Lublin until age 67, when he was moved to try living in Israel.

Encouraged by Michael Schudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Jakub journeys to Israel where his dual identity as a Polish Jew and a Catholic priest confounds many of those he encounters.

http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=226144

Ronit Kertsner's (Menachem and Fred, SFJFF 2009) heartfelt and insightful documentary captures a poignant search for identity while raising questions about who is a Jew and what being Jewish means.

A Jew is always a Jew, even when he is a Christian.

Exactly.

A good modern-day example is Israeli Jewish Roman Catholic Franciscan Father David Maria Jaeger, [nationalcatholicreporter.org] recently [haaretz.com] appointed [custodia.org] Prelate Auditor of the Roman Rota.

I should have said "another good modern-day example..."

I read the moving story of Father Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel, and he is clearly in a very special situation, not least because his Jewish mother actually prophesied that he would become a priest!

I don't want in any way to detract from the very painful 2,000-year history of Jewish-Christian relations, but we do well to remember that Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, was Jewish, and so were all His apostles. Therefore it makes no sense, at least from a Christian point of view, to say that someone cannot be both a Jew and a follower of Jesus.

From a Jewish point of view, understandably, but I think regrettably, it is more complicated.

Judaism and Christianity are in disagreement in a number of significant ways, so it's hard for me to understand how anyone can simultaneously practice/believe in two contradictory religions.

Another thing I wonder about is the definition of a Jew. Is it a person who follows the teachings of Judaism? Is it an ethnic affiliation? Or both?

I've heard that members of the "Jews for Jesus" movement, or the messianic Jews, are not allowed to make aliyah to Israel, since Israeli religious authorities maintain such people have apostatised from Judaism. Is that true?

The Nazis certainly thought so but (St.) Edith Stein's mother must not have because she was mighty upset when her daughter converted to Catholicism.

My understanding is that sometimes Jewish families go into mourning over a relative's conversion to Christianity and also, sometimes, never mention the convert again, considering him/her as good as dead.

Is that true? Or is it just "truthy"?

Mine haven't.

Association of Hebrew Catholics
http://hebrewcatholic.org/

There is also the example of Cardinal Lustiger.

Fr. Serge

Fr. Alexander Men was a Russian Orthodox priest of the Jewish ethnicity. May his memory be eternal. He himself explained that his entire family converted after St. John of Kronstadt performed a miracle on a lady from his family.

Amen StuartK, after all, Jesus remained a Jew also.

Jewish ethnicity? Of course that is no problem.

But no Christian can adhere to modern-day Judaism, which is not the religion of the Patriarchs but a religion defined by it's rejection of the truth that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and that a New Covenant has been made open to all men through baptism and entry into the Church.

The fundamental guide Jews use to interpret the Scriptures is the Talmud, which contains blasphemies against Our Lord and Our Lady.

Also, there is a nearly ubiquitious understanding amongst Jews, every very liberal and very orthodox ones, that a Jew remains a Jew even if he stops believing in God. But not if he becomes a Christian -- then he ceases to be a Jew.

I know Christians who are ethnically Jewish, and it would be ridiculous to think there is something wrong with that. They are better Christians than I. But they reject modern "Judaism" or talmudic Judaism, they are Christians, and they are Jewish just as I am Indian. I reject any Hindu beliefs that conflict in any way with Christianity, and for that I am not less Indian, but it's hardly important that I'm Indian.

My family on my mother's side, all devout Roman Catholics, attended a local RC Church in our home town where the senior pastor was indeed of Jewish ancestry (father's side), as his surname would have suggested to many with Jewish friends and contacts. Nonetheless, he was the staunchest of Catholic priests of his day, a throwback as compared to some of his contemporaries in the late sixties and seventies. You always knew who was in charge while in his presence. That said, he was always very kind to me as a young man, understood (unlike many of his day) what an Eastern Catholic was and that we were indeed Catholic. He would insist in hearing my confession personally when I would ride my bike over on Saturday mornings, and that I recite the Byzantine prayers in making my act of contrition. He is sadly no longer with us - may his memory be eternal!

I do wish NewYorkCatholic would desist from expounding on matters of which he knows so little.

Wow, that's a beautiful way of putting it! I'll use it myself next time.