Iowa Public Television

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

Episode #247

NEWS: Catholic-Jewish Tensions What is the status of Catholic-Jewish relations? Recently, a representative of the Vatican made news at a Tel Aviv conference on anti-Semitism when he commented that Israel was responsible for tensions between Jews and the Catholic Church. RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY correspondent Kim Lawton examines the relationship between these two groups and talks to Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League and Dr. Eugene Fisher, Associate Director - Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the National Council of Bishops. COVER STORY: Foreign Priests There has been a quiet shift in American Catholicism. Priests from India, Poland, Sri Lanka, Columbia and other parts of the world are being recruited and brought to the United States to compensate for the shortage of American-born priests. RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY visits a diocese in Texas which currently has 88 priests -- 53 of them foreign born. R & E correspondent Judy Valente reports on how two foreign-born priests are adapting to their new home and church. PERSPECTIVES: Dealing with Grief The nation and the world were shocked and saddened by the recent loss of John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, after their plane went down off the shores of Martha's Vineyard. How does the Catholic religion deal with tragedy and grief? R & E host Bob Abernethy talks with Father Larry Madden, pastor of the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Washington, DC about Catholic rituals and beliefs concerning death. FEATURE: Restoring the Torah It is referred to as "the living word of God." The Torah, the scroll consisting of the first five books of the Old Testament is read from daily in the Jewish prayer service. Copied by a scribe in black ink on parchment from a ritually pure animal, usually a sheep, the scroll is roughly the length of a football field. RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY takes a look at a Torah restoration in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. R & E correspondent Arthur Magida follows Neal Yerman, a sofer, also known as a scribe, as he works on a Torah recovered from the Polish town of Ostrof, where 9,000 Jews were killed by Nazis during a three-day killing spree in 1941. ~~CALENDAR: Tisha B'Av The RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY Viewer's Guide describes the Jewish observance of Tisha B'Av, which this year began on July 22, as a solemn day of mourning and fasting for the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem and other tragedies in Jewish history coinciding with this date in the July. This week R & E takes a look at this religious holiday and shows how it was observed in Jerusalem. [26 minutes]

This episode has not aired in the past few months on Iowa Public Television.