Controversy Over Good Friday prayers and the Pope’s USA trip

John Allen as usual is proving to best reporter in America on Catholicism. As many people know the expansion of the extraordinary(Latin Mass as it is commonly called) came with some controversy from Jewish quarters. As I did now and do now I try to point out that this is a faux one or at least should be. However the usual suspects did not agree. From Allens' piece:

If a reminder were needed of Jewish sensitivities about the Good Friday prayer, which among other things asks God to “lift the veil from their hearts,” the Anti-Defamation League included it on a late December list of “Top Ten Issues Affecting Jews in 2007.” The ADL called the possible revival of the prayer “a theological setback to the reforms of Vatican II, and a challenge to Catholic-Jewish relations.(To be sure, the ADL statement did not go down well in some Catholic circles. Putting Benedict XVI on the same list of anti-Semitic offenders as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for example, struck even some Catholics deeply committed to Jewish/Christian dialogue, and who are themselves concerned about the Good Friday prayer, as excessive. Nonetheless, it’s an indicator that the prayer remains a live issue.).

I have to admit this has been on my mind lately. Especially as some Catholics make charges of anti Catholicism as to Mike Huckabee in a reckless manner. The irony to me is apparent as many of these people will shout "unfair" in the coming months as to this issue.

Regardless it is a good piece and shows how this relates to the upcoming Papal visit to the United States. Father Z has the story at John Allen’s on the older Good Friday prayers and the Pope’s USA trip . Father Z as usual does a good job of interacting with the article.