Days after the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published its blasphemous “A Journey of Hope” document, a reminder of just how little the Conciliar Church has in common with actual Catholic teaching was on display from American Bishop Joseph Bambera.
In his capacity as head of the USCCB’s committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Bambera posted a video praising Yom Kippur that drew massive criticism on social media. In the video, which was released on the USCCB’s YouTube channel Sunday, Bambera described Yom Kippur as a holy day of fasting, prayer, repentance, reconciliation with God, and spiritual renewal that “resonate[s] deeply with us as Catholics.”
“At the heart of this observance is the recognition that our relationships with God and with one another call us continually to reflection, repentance, and renewal, [and] to consider how we can live more faithfully and more generously,” he said.
This is a far cry from what St. Ignatius of Antioch preached in the second century about observing Old Testament rituals after the coming of Our Lord: “It is absurd to speak of Jesus Christ with the tongue, and to cherish in the mind a Judaism which has now come to an end.” 1
Readers may recall that Bambera was instrumental in expelling Carrie Prejean Boller from the Religious Liberty Commission in February after she correctly stated that post-Christian Judaism is incompatible with Catholicism. As such, he should not presume to speak on behalf of faithful Catholics who adhere to the Church’s perennial teaching that the Old Covenant not only pointed to Christ’s coming but received its fulfillment and abrogation in His Sacrifice (Heb. 9:11–12).
Christ made reparation for man on the cross
A Catholic bishop discussing the “Day of Atonement” should have saved his talk about how it “resonate(s) deeply” with Catholics and instead used the opportunity to note that Calvary is the perfect and definitive Sacrifice of atonement.
Bambera’s assertion that Catholics and modern Jews are united by “deep spiritual bonds,” and that both “traditions draw” from a shared scriptural heritage is also absurd. 2 Recall the words of St. Paul: “the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus, and the prophets, and have persecuted us, and please not God, and are adversaries to all men.” 3
The fact that Our Lord, His Blessed Mother, the Apostles, and the first Christians were Jews does not make Christianity and post-Christian Judaism two parallel religious traditions sharing a common patrimony. While post-conciliar clergy often repeat this talking point, it carries with it no significant meaning as the Catholic Church alone is the fulfillment and continuation of the religion revealed by God to the Israelites. Again, as St. Paul notes in his letter to the Romans: “because of unbelief they were broken off.”
Tying it back to Vatican II
Bambera did not waste the opportunity to praise the reprehensible document that birthed these false anti-Catholic claims. He spoke glowingly about the relationships developed “particularly through the promulgation of Nostra Aetate,” which, according to him, was an impetus toward “dialogue, friendship, and mutual understanding.”
The Dispatch
While being charitable with individual Jews is all certainly well and good — indeed it is our Christian obligation — Bambera and the religion he represents want to do this at the expense of Christ’s explicit instruction to teach and baptize the nations while telling them the truth in season and out.
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In 1928, for instance, the Holy Office issued a decree personally approved by Pius XI that explicitly praised the intention of “urging the faithful to pray to God and to toil on behalf of the Israelites’ conversion to the Kingdom of Christ.”
The pre-conciliar Good Friday liturgy also explicitly prayed “for the faithless Jews: that our God and Lord may remove the veil from their hearts; that they too may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Catholics on social media defend Church teaching
Catholic political activist David Reilly correctly pointed out that Bambera’s video is actually a form of hate speech.
“Confirming Jews in their error is the *highest* form of ‘Jew Hate,’ since it will damn them to hell,” he said.
The aforementioned Carrie Prejean Boller likewise noted that “Catholics do not wish people a ‘meaningful’ observance of a sacrifice Jesus Christ already completed. His Body and Blood were shed once to atone for sin.”
Integrity Magazine editor American Reform likewise explained explained that celebrating Yom Kippur “is an implicit rejection of Christ and His messianic dignity.” X user Martha the Librarian Avi warned that Bambera’s video and ones like them are an indication that a one world religion is likely on the horizon. Meanwhile, well-known Traditional Catholic commentator Anthony Stine denounced the video with two words: “Please stop.”
One hopes that Bambera will not only “stop” publishing these sorts of videos but that he will, just as the Early Church Fathers did, preach Jesus Christ to the Jews rather than encourage them to practice antiquated ceremonies.
- St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Magnesians, chap. X. ↩︎
- Bishop Antonio De Catro Mayer, Acts of the Second Vatican Council, (1964), III-III, pg. 161. — “Christians however, have received the patrimony which they have inherited from the ancient Jewish people, and not from the Jewish people of the present day. The Jewish people of the present day cannot be described as in all respects faithful to the revelation of the Old Testament, as they refuse to accept the Messias who was the cause of the entire Old Law. The Israelites of the present day are rather the successors of those whom St. Peter declares to have delivered Jesus to death and whom St. Paul declares that the justice of God has abandoned to have a hardened heart (Acts 3:13; 5:20; Romans 10:3; 11:7). Hence it does not seem right to speak in the same way concerning the Jews of old, who were faithful to God and the Messias to come, and concerning the Jews of the present time. From the former, the Church has received and faithfully kept her patrimony, while the Jews of the present day, on the contrary, impoverish that patrimony by their infidelity. For the same reason it also follows that dialogues with Jews should be introduced only with great caution, as the custom is — or at least always was — in the Church. Moreover the Council ought not to abandon this custom except under the influence of grave reason which ought to be explained to the faithful.” ↩︎
- 1 Thessalonians 2:14–15 ↩︎
