Reply To: Are Passover Seders Sinful For Catholics?

[Brother Gilbert Joseph]

#8018

Australian Catholic Bishop’s Committee Guildlines For Passover Seders

Many people wonder what is the position of the Church on the celebration of Passover Seders by Catholics. In 1992 the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference gave some guidelines for Catholics holding parish based Seders. These guidelines of course do not effect how individual Catholic families of Jewish origin celebrate Passover in their own homes or groups. In fact the Hebrew Catholics, to whom as Jews the Passover belongs as a right just as much as to others Jews, could be the ones that a parish invites to lead the Seder in order to fulfill the second guideline.

Nevertheless the underlying principles are helpful to keep in mind and if one’s Seder is a parish one it should adhere to the guidelines and to the local diocesan or archdiocesan guidelines if there are any and the wishes of one’s parish priest.

Passover
In recent years numbers of Catholics have become interested in celebrating Passover (Pesach, Seder). Thus it is necessary to draw attention to the following:

i. Passover is a feast sacred to the Jews. When non-Jews demonstrate it, the rites of the Haggadah should be respected in all their integrity. For this reason the use of a text approved by a Rabbi is recommended; even if a text has been approved overseas, the local Rabbi should be consulted, as attitudes vary somewhat with place and circumstances.

ii. It is desirable to invite a Jewish couple or family to conduct the rite.

iii. One of the chief reasons for this celebration by Christians should be to acknowledge and experience some of what we have received from the Jews in the history of salvation.

iv. This ritual has value as background for teaching about the Last Supper, but it should never be a hybrid presentation of Jewish and Christian celebrations.

v. In recent years some Catholics have chosen to attend a Seder on Holy Thursday instead of the Catholic Liturgy. Thus they celebrate the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt, while omitting the celebration of our Passover and deliverance in Christ. It is strongly recommended that the Seder experience be held outside Holy Week, or at least at a time allowing for attendance at the Holy Week ceremonies.

For those in Queensland the Catholic/Jewish Subcommittee of the Brisbane Archdiocesan Commission for Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations proposed that those holding or attending Passover Seders should reflect on these three points.

1 The Passover Seder is a Jewish celebration.

2 The study of the Passover is best situated within the academic framework of the study of Judaism. As the SIDIC document states ‘Christians can approach the Passover Seder alone or in groups and study its structure, read the text, explain the rites with the help of a competent person sensitive to Judaism. (1995: p3)

3 Christians may wish to attend a Jewish Passover meal when invited by Jewish friends. As stated in the notes on Nostra Aetate ‘One would then truly be guest of the Jewish tradition and faith by which the Church is linked by its very identity.’ (Nostra Aetate – notes 12)

When reading the literature on this we can see that the Church is concerned that the Jewish integrity of the traditional Jewish Seder is respected and we would agree with them which is why when we hold a Seder or even the Sabbath meal we do it in accord with the traditional orthodox Haggadah and the orthodox Siddur for the Sabbath. We believe that the traditional rites do not need Christianised/ Gentilised additions as they are a better witness to the truths of the Catholic faith as they are celebrated by all Jews.

Of course every Jewish family has its own customs or minhagim and there is nothing wrong with Hebrew Catholics having their own as long as they enhance the Seder as a Jewish celebration rather than confuse it. The Holy Mass is the Christianised Seder for all Catholics and there is no need to have another one that is a cross or hybrid between the Jewish and the Christian Seder (Eucharistic Liturgy).

Some other Hebrew Catholics would disagree with us and they do hold more Christianised Seders. As the guidelines are not canonical laws and their authority is limited one is not bound to adhere to them (even though I think one would be wise to do so) especially if the Seder is not an official parish or diocesan one.We never hold ours during the three day Triduum of Easter but if we can’t keep it on the first or second nights of Pesach then we keep it on one of the other days of the Passover week. However our orthodox Rabbi suggested that I eat some matzah and drink grape juice if the first night of Pesach is on Good Friday which could fit in with Catholic fast and abstinence rules for Good Friday. I do this privately and then celebrate a full Seder with others on another day.

https://bneimiriam.blogspot.com/2019/11/australian-catholic-bishops-committee.html