Just in case anyone is interested here is a clarification of the story reported in the Boston Globe. I don't know about the rest of you but I am very leary of anything reported by the secular press and other media. The daily pressure of meeting a deadline reeks havoc with truth. Investigative reporting is history these days. We go for the glitz. Catholic bashing has always been politically correct. Here is the story:
BALTIMORE, Aug 20, 02 (CWNews.com) -- Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore has issued a statement of clarification regarding a document released last week on Catholic-Jewish relations. The cardinal's statement emphasized that the document, released by a joint committee of Catholics and Jews, was a working document rather than an authoritative statement of belief.
The August 12 statement, entitled Reflections on Covenant and Mission, said that "campaigns that target Jews for conversion to Christianity are no longer theologically acceptable in the Catholic Church." The document, put forward by a working committee sponsored by the US bishops' conference and the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, provoked a very sharp reaction from many Catholics, who argued that it clashed directly with previous statements of defined Church doctrine.
Cardinal Keeler, who co-chaired the committee that produced the document, remarked that the statement "does not represent a formal position taken by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs. The purpose of publicly issuing the considerations which it contains is to encourage serious reflection on these matters by Jews and Catholics in the US."
The cardinal's statement continued: "These considerations provide a basis for discussing both the similarities and the significant differences between the Christian and Jewish understandings of the call given by the one God to both peoples."
In actuality the statement was issued by a small committe comprised of Bishops and Jews and not the entire US conference of Bishops.