Vatican Radio offers synod news in Hebrew to aid interfaith dialogue

(October 09, 2010) In an effort to keep Israelis informed about the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, Vatican Radio has invited an expert in Jewish-Christian relations to translate synod news and texts into Hebrew. Hana Bendcowsky, a Jewish expert on early church history and program director of the Jerusalem Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations, said only a person who fully understands both the Christian and Jewish histories and points of view can properly translate not just the words, but the real, intended meanings behind the texts. Jesuit Father David Neuhaus, vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, had asked Bendcowsky if she would offer her help during the October 10-24 synod at the Vatican, she said. Both Fathers Neuhaus and Pizzaballa are attending the synod proceedings. The church has often faced extremely negative fallout in the Israeli press after a controversial or sensitive church decision was blown out of proportion or manipulated by the media, Bendcowsky told Catholic News Service October 8.. If the events are reported in Hebrew by someone who knew both the church and Israeli concerns, much controversy can be avoided, she said.