Bishops clarify ‘ambiguities’ in 2002 Catholic-Jewish document “Reflections on Covenant and Mission”

The “ambiguities” in a 7-year-old document from Catholic and Jewish dialogue partners are continuing to cause confusion, two committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a June 18 note. The USCCB committees on Doctrine and on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs said the Catholic section of a 2002 document, “Reflections on Covenant and Mission,” written by participants in an ongoing dialogue between the National Council of Synagogues and the USCCB interreligious affairs committee, “contains some statements that are insufficiently precise and potentially misleading.” “‘Reflections on Covenant and Mission’ should not be taken as an authoritative presentation of the teaching of the Catholic Church,” the committees said in a note issued in San Antonio during the bishops’ June 17-19 spring meeting.