Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

HESCHEL'S SIGNIFICANCE
Yom Kippur. Despite the great personal inconvenience to him,
Heschel felt he must go. The audience lasted thirty-five minutes, and
Heschel later described the pope as having been friendly and cordial.
Maneuvering in both camps continued into the fourth session.
Eventually enough support for the earlier text was marshalled so that
the document that was officially approved on October 28, 1965, and
which we know as Nostra Aetate, did not make any reference to
proselytizing. It was greeted with a mixture of relief and regret; as
admittedly a compromise, but also, as making possible a new
beginning. There is no doubt that the latter view has indeed been
vindicated by developments that have taken place since then—developments
which are greatly indebted to Abraham Heschel.
Let me speak briefly about what I call the aftermath of Heschel's
involvement in Vatican II, both from his point of view and from that of
the highest authority in the Catholic Church.
There are several references to Pope John XXIII in Heschel's
writings. In the 1966 Jubilee article already referred to, Heschel wrote
that "Pope John was a great miracle, who captured the hearts of
Christians and non-Christians alike through his sheer love of
humanity. With John and the Council hearts were opened—not only
windows . . . but hearts." 44
Reflecting on the controversy and on his successful attempts to
delete any reference to the conversion of Jews from the council
document, Heschel said in 1967: "The Schema on the Jews is the first
statement of the Church in history— the first Christian discourse
dealing with Judaism—which is devoid of any expression of hope for
conversion." 45
What about the pope who had received Heschel in a special
audience two days before the third session? Apparently, Heschel's
influence on Paul VI had gone far beyond that meeting. In a general
audience in Rome on January 31,1973, shortly after Heschel's death,
the pope reminded the pilgrims that "even before we have moved in
search of God, God has come in search of us." The editors of America
magazine, in quoting the Pope's words, commented that the most
remarkable aspect about this statement was the fact that the
subsequently published text of the papal talk cited the writings of
Abraham Joshua Heschel as its source. In the memory of veteran
observers of the Roman scene, this citation was an unprecedented
public reference by a pope to a writer who was not a Christian. 46
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