Catholic Bishops Conference Clarifies Position on Jewish Conversion
A group of U.S. Catholic bishops has tried to clarify the Church’s position on how it relates to the Jewish community.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement June 18 at its spring meeting in San Antonio, Texas, saying that while the Catholic Church will not target Jews for conversion, it will not turn away Jews interested in conversion if approached and will welcome Jewish converts.
The statement was issued jointly by the Committee on Doctrine and Pastoral Practice and the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
It is meant to clarify a 2002 document called “Reflections on Covenant and Mission” that raised some questions about the relationship between Jews and the Church, according to the Catholic News Agency. Some read the document as saying that Catholics should not evangelize or that salvation could be found outside the Church.
The 2002 document came out of a dialogue of the bishops’ conference with representatives of the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements.
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