Paul Wattson Lecture: University of San Francisco - New Religious Movements in the Catholic Church: Obstacles or Opportunities for Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Sep 21, 2026

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The lecture examines how newer Catholic religious movements relate to Jewish-Christian dialogue, arguing that their common traits—lay-led charisms, communitarian life, and strong missionary drive—often create obstacles rather than facilitating sustained dialogue. After outlining Vatican terminology and the diversity of movements since the Second Vatican Council, it analyzes specific difficulties tied to evangelizing approaches and differing emphases on spirituality versus scholarly theological exchange. It then introduces case studies, beginning with Focolare, to assess how dialogue can still emerge and where it falters.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

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Paul Wattson Lecture: University of San Francisco

New Religious Movements in the Catholic Church: Obstacles or Opportunities for Jewish-Christian Dialogue

1. Focolare: a culture of dialogue at the service of a charism of unity and brotherhood

# Paul Wattson Lecture:University of San FranciscoNew Religious Movements in the Catholic Church:Obstacles or Opportunities for Jewish-Christian Dialogue By Etienne Vetö Catholic Church's recommendation not to evangelize theJews:"The Catholic Church neither conducts nor supportsany specific institutional mission work directed towardsJews”.4 And when there is personal-rather than an institu-tional-witness,it should be done "in a humble and sensi-tive manner,acknowledging that Jews are bearers of God’sWord,and particularly in view of the great tragedy of theShoah”.5 This does not fit with the image we have of rabidBible-bearing(in this case,New Testament-bearing)evan-gelizers!In the same way,there is a form of“religious culturechoc”awaiting Jews who come into contact with these newforms of Catholicism.These are often quite Christocentricand Trinitarian,especially in Charismatic circles,whereone is invited to "entrust one's life to Jesus"and to be ledby the Holy Spirit.The main drive,even before missionaryzeal,is the intensification of Christian spirituality andthe strengthening and renewal of the Church-it is notdialogue ad extra.Another difficulty,especially for themovements that live communal forms of life,is that Jewsgenerally give a major importance to family life and to thefamily as central locus for religion.Some,when they comein contact with communal community life,recoil at the idea t first glance,the new religious movements in theCatholic Church are not obvious contenders forcultivating Jewish-Christian dialogue,and Jewish-Christian relations in general. These new movements are a diverse and hard to definecluster of groups which developed mostly during the 20ᵗcentury,especially after the Second Vatican Council.Onecan think of the Catholic Worker Movement,the Focolare,Communion and Liberation,the Neocatechumenal Way,L'Arche or different groups and communities related tothe Catholic Charismatic Renewal.The latest Vaticandocument on the question,luvenescit Ecclesia,calls them"groups of the faithful,ecclesial movements,and newcommunities”,without exactly distinguishing these threecategories,which in fact overlap.While they are highlydiverse,they have some common traits:like religiousorders,they often promote a particular spirituality andway of life(charism)organized around the inspirationof a founder,but they tend to have mainly lay members andfrequently have lay leadership.They are also characterizedby a communitarian dimension and a strongly missionarydrive.³Finally,they are broader than parochial and diocesanstructures,and the largest are international. continued on page 2 The Reverend Dr.Etienne Vetö,a member of the CheminNeuf Community,is Director of the Cardinal Bea Centreat the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Many aspects of these new religious or ecclesial move-ments seem to be an obstacle to Jewish-Christian dialogue.The missionary thrust for instance lies poorly with the | IN THIS ISSUE G
Paul Wattson Lecture:University of San Francisco
Crossing a Difficult Bridge
New Religious Movements in the Catholic Church:
David Carter… …………
Obstacles or Opportunities for Jewish-Christian
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Etienne Veto……………… …………… ……………1 | | --- | PAUL WATTSON LECTURE:UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO…,from page 1 new movements can bridge the gap between Magisteriumand the faithful and offer a favorable environment forexperimentation.They will not do so primarily at a theolog-ical level,but will further “dialogue”in the wider sense of"relations"-which is,by the way,what Jews will look forfirst of all. that families can put their belongings in common or have asizable proportion of their meals and prayer in a collectivesetting.⁶Finally,when Catholics think of Jewish-Christian“dialogue”they understand that theological dialogue willbe part of it,while

FAQs

Why do many new Catholic religious movements seem to be obstacles to Jewish-Christian dialogue?

Their missionary thrust and communal religious culture can misalign with dialogue aims, and their emphasis tends to favor spiritual formation over scholarly theological exchange, which may not predispose them toward dialogue with Jews.

How does the lecture describe these movements and their common characteristics?

They are portrayed as diverse groups that developed largely in the 20th century, often inspired by founders, with lay membership and leadership, a communitarian dimension, and a strong missionary drive.

What is the purpose of the case studies in the lecture?

The lecture plans a set of case studies, focusing on relevant examples—especially those committed to relations with Jews—to show how dialogue can be fruitful and to analyze why commitment differs, particularly in the United States.

Sep 21, 2026

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