The Catholic Church and Zionism

“The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people.” This statement, uttered by St. Pius X in response to the Zionist Theodore Herzl, serves as a summary of the Catholic Church’s traditional teaching on the theological question of Zionism and, by extension, the Jews who continue to reject the Messiah. However, it is also true that in recent years the Vatican has established formal diplomatic relations with the Zionist political entity.

Hence, before we move on to the theological underpinnings of such a position, one must distinguish between the Church’s judgements on the politico-juridical existence of the Zionist State as per international law, and the theological justifications set forth by certain Zionists, who posit a right of the Jewish people to Palestine on account of a continuing covenant.

From a purely juridical standpoint, the Church has consistently held to the internationalization of Jerusalem due to the religious significance of the city for Abrahamic believers, for the protection of Catholic places of worship. This has been proposed by Benedict XV’s In multiplicibus curis (n. 8 ), Ven. Pius XII’s Redemptoris nostri cruciatus (n. 9), et cetera. Hence the Zionist occupation of parts of Jerusalem have served to hinder the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Zionist entity (Anthony Kenny, Catholics, Jews, and the State of Israel, Paulist Press, 1993, p. 30).

For humanitarian reasons, the Church has adapted to the situation in the Holy Land by recognizing the possibility of a two-state solution and limited recognition for the State of Israel:

“For the Jewish people who live in the State of Israel and who preserve in that land such precious testimonies to their history and their faith, we must ask for the desired security and the due tranquility that is the prerogative of every nation and condition of life and of progress for every society. The Palestinian people, who find their historical roots in that land and who, for decades, have been dispersed, have the natural right in justice to find once more a homeland and to be able to live in peace and tranquility with the other peoples of the area” (St. John Paul II, Redemptionis anno).

“The Holy See, for its part, will not cease to call urgently for a resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians for a negotiated solution, aimed at the peaceful coexistence of two states within the borders agreed between them and internationally recognized, with full respect for the special nature of Jerusalem, whose meaning goes beyond any consideration of territorial issues” (Pope Francis, To the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, January 10, 2018).

In theological terms, however, Zionism cannot be espoused on religious grounds. The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity stated thus in its Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church: “The existence of the State of Israel and its political options should be envisaged not in a perspective which is in itself religious, but in their reference to the common principles of international law.”

In “Grace and Vocation without Remorse” (Communio 45, no. 1 [2018]: p. 163-184), Pope Benedict XVI stated the following: “. . .a strictly theologically-understood state—a Jewish faith-state [Glaubenstaat] that would view itself as the theological and political fulfillment of the promises—is unthinkable within history according to Christian faith and contrary to the Christian understanding of the promises. At the same time, however, it was made clear that the Jewish people, like every people, had a natural right to their own land” (p. 178).

He continues: “In this sense, the Vatican has recognized the State of Israel as a modern constitutional state, and sees it as a legitimate home of the Jewish people, the rationale of which cannot be derived directly from Holy Scripture” (ibid., 179). In other words, the Vatican does not recognize Israel as anything more than a modern constitutional State, for the true promised land of God’s people is in Heaven (Heb 11,16), being “not of this world” (Jn 18,36)(cf. Benedict XVI, “Grace and Vocation without Remorse,” p. 177-178).

From these considerations one may conclude the following. First, the Vatican’s establishment of diplomatic relations with the Zionist entity, or its recognition thereof as a State, is merely a matter of international law. Such a decision cannot be construed as a recognition of the Jewish people’s supposed rights to Palestine on the basis of Divine election. Moreover, although the Church recognizes the existence of the State of Israel as a constitutional state in Redemptionis anno, this is simply a matter of the rights of all nations to live in their historical homeland which, furthermore, “does not necessarily call for sovereignty as a state” (St. John Paul II, Address to the 50th General Assembly of the UNO, 1995, n. 8 ).

It is also clear that while Redemptionis anno recognizes the right of the State of Israel to “security and. . .due tranquility,” it also declares that the Palestinian people “have the natural right in justice to find once more a homeland and to be able to live in peace and tranquility with the other peoples of the area.” The Vatican’s recognition of the natural rights of the Israeli people as a nation, therefore, can in no way be taken so as to prejudice the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation. This at the very least suggests an equality of prerogatives between both parties, if not the greater legitimacy of the Palestinian cause.

Daniel Tyler Chua is the founder and president of the Collegium Perulae Orientis. He is also a contributor to the Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Sentinel PH.