Our joint tradition
Sir: In contradistinction to Matthew Parris (Another voice, 8 March), I am very glad that we use the term -the Judaeo-Christian tradition', for it reminds Christians that the roots of Christianity are Jewish. Recently, in my native Catholic parish in Dublin, I was moved to hear the priest refer to the Jews as 'our ancestors in faith'. It is just. We owe the Jews so much, and, to say the least, we have not always acknowledged this, or defended them in their afflictions. We do now.
In many areas of moral philosophy, there is a traceable link between Christian and Judaic thinking. Even with a question like birth control — the Vatican view being considered now to be wildly eccentric, I ant aware — Catholic moral theology is rooted in Judaism, which recognised the responsi- bility that conjugality had for the transmis- sion of life. As a Catholic, I consider the Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks to be one of our finest spiritual leaders, and an inspiration for all of us within the 'Judaeo-Christian tradi- tion', which certainly exists as a coherent category.
Mary Kenny
Express, 245 Blackfriars Road, London SE1
Previous page
