'New respect' for Judaism since Vatican II

RABBI Marc H. Tanenbaum, national director of the American Jewish Committee's Inter-religious Affairs Department, said here that the Secend Vatican Council had made it possible for Catholic scholars to develop a theology which respected Judaism for its own value rather than viewing Jews as potential converts.
He said that before the Council "bigots were able to cloak their hatred of Jews with the mantle of the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. They can no longer do that because the Vatican Council decisively repudiated anti-Semitism."
Rabbi Tanenbaum also said: "During the past 1,900 years, many Christians looked upon Judaism as a desiccated religion, and upon Jews simply as candidates for conversion.
"The Vatican Council has made it possible for dozens of Catholics scholars to begin developing a theology of Judaism which respects this vital faith in its own terms as a permanent source of truth and value to its adherents."