Jews and Judaism in European Catholic Catechisms and Textbooks

A. The “Chosen People” and their replacement by the “New People of God” In the catechisms of the CEI, developed for the first stages of Christian instruction (from preschool to 12 years of age), the Jewish people is above all portrayed as Jesus’ people, a people that is often depicted in negative terms: it has rejected Jesus, has persecuted the first Christians and is hardhearted. The category of “Chosen People” is also interpreted negatively: according to the catechism for young people (1993), this concept would have been understood by the Jewish people as an entitlement to God’s special protection, regardless of their behaviour, even including infidelity.

Although the accusation of deicide is not explicitly made, the catechisms seem to revive the old category of "substitution," according to which the Old and unfaithful People of God would be replaced by the New People of God: the Church, the People of the New Covenant. 8is concept has a parallel in the third catechism of the Conference of Spanish Bishops (1986), where the Church is not only defined as the New People of God but also as God's New Israel, and where it is affirmed that between the Old and the New Peoples of God there is continuity, but also a certain disruption as there is between the Old and New Covenant. 9ly in 1995, the CEI's Catechism for Adults rejected the accusation of deicide [441], in accordance with what has been declared in the Second Vatican Council10 thirty years earlier.This catechism declares explicitly that the ancient covenant has never been revoked but perfected by the new covenant [443]. 11 conclusion, even today the official catechesis for children, teenagers and young adults seems to be based on texts that also contain statements that create difficulties in the relationship between Jews and Christians.

B) Jesus the Jew and the Pharisees
A problem that, to some extent, is parallel to that above-mentioned is the issue of Jesus' Jewishness and his relationship with the Pharisees.The catechisms of the CEI, corresponding to the first stages of religious instruction, seem to acknowledge without difficulty Jesus' Jewishness: the historical and geographical context of His birth, His adherence to Jewish religious traditions such as the practice of prayer, the observance of the shabbat and His attendance in the Temple, 12 whereas it is harder to find accurate descriptions of the Pharisees.Associated or identified with the Scribes, the Pharisees are depicted in the catechisms in a variety of contrasting ways: as rabble-rousers, 13 rigid followers of the traditions of the Fathers, despisers of sinners and of the people ignorant of the Law, 14 but also as a group with a close alliance to the people, showing concern for its problems and object of affection and goodwill. 15he attitude towards the Pharisees shifts towards the positive side in the Catechism for young adults/2, where there is recognition of the more complex and structured dimension of the Pharisaic movement of Jesus' times.This catechism also affirms that there is a contrast with the description that seems to emerge from the Gospels, where the figure of the Pharisee has been simplified and some negative traits have been exaggerated.16 C) The texts' hermeneutics -Jewish and Christian readings of the Bible This is perhaps the biggest problem regarding Catholic catechesis and the catechisms: the lack of attention to the hermeneutics employed for biblical texts.
This becomes particularly evident in the reference to the Gospels' accounts of the Passion.Ever since the first of the CEI's catechisms, parents and educators have been constantly advised to read passages of the Bible (OT/NT) to children, especially the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, without, however, offering adults any adequate form of interpretation.17 In Italian and Spanish catechisms of the Episcopal Conferences, the accounts of the Passion are reported in three different ways: (a) through the procedure of harmonising the gospels' texts; (b) by inserting arbitrary additions; (c) summarizing.All three methods -consciously or unconsciously -tend to further accentuate the responsibility of the entire Jewish people in Jesus' death. 18t, more generally, the problem also concerns the relationship and the difference between the reading of the Bible by Jews and by Christians.In accord with Catholic faith, the catechisms see the Old Testament texts in the light of Jesus' death and resurrection.However, not a word is written -not even in the catechisms for teenagers and adults -about the intrinsic value of the Old Testament as revelation, 19 nor, above all, about the fact that the Christian reading does not necessarily match the Jewish reading of the texts.
As suggested by a document issued by the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews in 1985, "Christian identity and Jewish identity should be carefully distinguished in their respective reading of the Bible". 20rtainly, catechesis is still too far from the official position adopted by the Catholic Church many years ago.Beyond the problems already discussed, two major omissions deserve special mention: (a) There is no mention of the Holocaust in any of the official Spanish, Italian and French catechisms that have been examined;21 (b) The Jewish-Christian dialogue is almost completely ignored. 22vertheless, there is a certain general improvement in the catechisms, regarding the increasing interest towards the Bible, including the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible that -as is said in a French catechism -the people of Israel had passed on for centuries and that Jesus, as well as the Jews of his time, used to read and ponder.The book in which God is revealed in the history of His people and in His Son, Jesus, the Christ." 23is common awareness of the revelation, regardless of the diversity of both religious faiths is a reason to feel hopeful about the future.

II. Jews and Judaism in a Selection of Italian Catholic Religion Textbooks (1988-2006)
This section concerns the teaching of Jews and Judaism in fifteen Italian religion textbooks for 12-18 year old students, published between 1988 and 2006.
The issues considered are: a) Attitudes toward Jewish people and the Pharisees: b) the Jewishness of Jesus and the relationship between Jews and Christians today; c) the relationship between the Hebrew Bible and the Old and New Testaments; d) The Holocaust.
A limited number of religion textbooks from some other European countries and countries outside Europe regarding the above subjects have been compared with Italian textbooks in the notes.

A) Attitudes toward Jewish people and the Pharisees
The first problem is connected to the blame placed upon the Jewish people as a whole for the death of Jesus.Some textbooks discuss the overall collective responsibility 24 or underline that Vatican Council II finally excused the Jews of this terrible accusation and a new era in the relationship between Judaism and Catholicism began. 25In many textbooks particular interest is shown towards the history, religious practices and festivals of the biblical Jewish people.Some of them also show both the strong connection between Christianity and Judaism 26 and the continuity and vitality of Judaism today. 27owever, alongside these positive elements the textbooks also have unresolved problems.The first is the attitude towards the Pharisees, whose depiction is often incomplete and sometimes ambiguous.They are considered as devout laypersons, powerful leaders of a religion based on strict observance of religious precepts, more exterior than fervent, so much so that they were often used as examples of hypocrisy. 28They are enemies of Jesus and attack him because of his outrageous preaching and his liberal attitude. 29ere is no reference in any of the examined textbooks to the positive relations between Jesus and some of the Pharisees, as they are depicted in the Gospels. 30Only one among the Italian textbooks examined seems to follow the guidelines the Church documents regarding this issue 31 and claims that the Pharisees were deeply religious people who lived their lives according to the words of the Bible. 32Moreover, albeit without explicit accusation, the question about the blame borne by the Jews for the death of Jesus is still present in textbooks to this day, pervading their presentations of the Gospels' passion narratives.The textbooks often feature an ambiguous and uncertain reading of the events. 33The depiction of the Jewish authorities' cunning, of the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate's ineptitude, and the stress laid on the crowd's unanimous sentence 34 might contribute to the formation of a negative concept of the Jewish people and could lead the students to transfer a negative image of the Jews at the time of Jesus to presentday Jews.

B) The Jewishness of Jesus and the relationship between Jews and Christians today
The idea of the Jewishness of Jesus is introduced into the teaching in the Italian Catholic textbooks with a certain difficulty and perplexity. 35Mainly between the end of the 90s and the beginning of the new millennium and today, the content of the textbooks seems to focus on knowledge of the Bible and its historical and environmental background.The attention paid to the biblical text is precisely the starting point from which the Italian school textbooks April 18 th 1993, but any reference to the responsibility of the Church and of Christians is avoided. 44Also the visit of Pope John Paul II to the mausoleum of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, on March 23 rd 2002 is cited, 45 but not a word has been written about Yad Vashem, nor about the history of the Holocaust. 46 conclusion, the road of Italian Catholic religion textbooks leading toward an accurate education about Jews and Judaism is still a very long one.However, we can observe, as a positive element, the presence of some texts which explicitly recognize the importance and the value of the religious experience of Jewish people for the understanding of Christianity 47 or affirm their aim to recuperate signs or symbols of the Jewish Christian tradition present in our culture. 48But perhaps the most important element to emerge from this research is the recognition of the Jewishness of Jesus, expressed both openly and by intimation.The "incarnation" of Jesus, His humanity and therefore His ability to feel and suffer as a man, 49 is recognized today in the majority of school textbooks in an accurate historical-geographical context, with His Jewish origin.