Since I was criticized a few days ago for being unsympathetic to Jews, I thought I might mention this story, which was recently cited on Fr. Z’s WDTPRS. It seems a New York rabbi recently wrote a piece praising Pope Benedict and declaring that he is “not at all put off by the fact that the leader of another religion sees that religion as primary.”

I won’t summarize the whole piece for you (you can read it yourselves), but it’s clear that Rabbi Yerachmiel Seplowitz understands how religions can be diluted by the kind of ecumenism that mainly involves downplaying those elements of different religions that are actually, well, different. The best part is where the good rabbi references the furor following the Motu Proprio, and particularly the request of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations that the Good Friday prayers for the conversion of Jews be struck from the Traditional Latin Mass. “Where do we Jews get off making demands of Catholics that they only say prayers that meet with our approval?” he asks. “The audacity of Jews dictating to Christians how they should pray is simply mind-boggling.”

His suggestion that theological conversations between people of different faiths simply should not happen, might be a bit extreme. Probably he isn’t interested in converting Christians, but we are interested in converting Jews, and theological discussion can sometimes be a good means for doing this. Also, such debate can be intellectually invigorating in ways that are sometimes healthy. Perhaps, if pressed, he would not be unequivocally opposed to such discussion — it is, after all, a short article, which doesn’t leave much space for nuances. But his point is, in the main, exactly right: fidelity to our own faith often requires a frank admission that we think other people are wrong. It’s refreshing to see someone of a different faith come out and say this. Thanks to Rabbi Seplowitz for being so sensible, in a time when seemingly few people are.

A commenter on Fr. Z’s blog suggested that we should all pray for his conversion. As she observed, “It sounds like he wouldn’t mind, and it couldn’t hurt.” Ha. Well said.