How should Catholics engage with Jews?

Christians and Jews are closely connected as a result of our shared history, and this is particularly recognised by Catholics. In fact, some Catholics feel more connected to Judaism than to some other forms of Christianity.

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As Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Disciples were all Jewish and most of our Bible (“the Old Testament”)are the Jewish holy texts, it is impossible for Christians to be cut off from our Jewish “siblings”. Jews and Christians have a shared religious history that goes back at least to 2000 years BC, populated by key people such as Noah, Abraham, David, Elijah, Isaiah etc.

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So much of Judaism has been inherited by Christians, and we need to understand our Jewish connections if we want to understand Jesus and his times better. In the Old Testament we hear how God made promises with the Jewish people: they are his chosen people and this has never been undone. Catholics recognise the closeness between God and theJews, and we believe we Christians have been brought into that close relationship through Jesus.

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However, Jews are not Christians. They do not recognise Jesus as God, nor do they speak of the Trinity nor the Holy Spirit as one of the three persons in God. So it is wrong to say that Christians and Jews are united in belief. There are significant differences in belief and practices between Christians and Jews which we must note.

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Therefore Catholics are permitted to attend and take part in Jewish services in synagogues, praying to our same God as we do. If we do, we must recognise that that does not make us Jewish, and that Jews are not Christians. Similarly, we can take part in synagogue worship, but only if we are invited there by the Jews, and only when this does not stop us engaging with our Catholic parishes.