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HISTORY
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The Olive Tree is a biblical and universal symbol of
peace; it is also used by St. Paul to illustrate the integral link binding
the Church to Judaism (Rm 11:17-24). "The Church cannot forget that
she draws sustenance from the root of that olive tree onto which she has
been grafted." (Nostra Aetate, 4) |
The
Congregation of
Our Lady of Sion
John Paul II referred to our era as
"the century of the Shoah" and to the fate of the Jewish people
therein as a "loud warning voice" to all people and all
religions. Great leaders of faith in God and in humanity who lived through
this reign of death - people like Jules Isaac, Pope John XXIII, Abraham
Heschel, Cardinal Bea and others - challenged the world to a different
vision. The Sisters and Fathers of Sion were part of shaping this new
vision and implementing new directions from it. The new direction was
confirmed by the ground breaking document of Vatican II, Nostra Aetate.
The ongoing life of this document in the Church became the charter for
the work of the Sisters of Sion today.
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| From its beginnings in 1842, the Congregation of Our Lady of
Sion understood its mission to be one of witnessing "in the Church and in
the world that God continues to be faithful to his love for the Jewish people
and to hasten the fulfillment of the promises concerning the Jews and the
Gentiles." (Const. § 2) Its founder, Theodore Ratisbonne, was born in 1802
in a Jewish family in Strasbourg, France. Whereas learning and affection
permeated his family life, religion did not play a significant role; it was his
philosophy studies that gradually led him on a path of discovery of the God of
the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Baptized in 1827, and later ordained a
Catholic priest, the Word of God inspired him to found a religious Congregation
that would live in the Church God's love for his people, Israel. This foundation
occurred at a time when the Church's attitude to the Jewish people was very much
one of conversion. The sisters were to offer their lives and their prayers in
this intention but to avoid all proselytism. "Remain firm in your own faith
without attempting to impose it on others" was his directive to students in
the schools and to the sisters. |
| Events in the twentieth century
entered the Christian world view. The Biblical and Ecumenical movements
impacted the Catholic Church opening new understandings of the people of
the Bible and of God's action in other Churches. Even more dramatically,
awareness of the tragedy of the Shoah and of the complicity of
Christian antisemitism in its implementation shocked the Christian
churches. These events led the Congregation to review its
self-understanding and its ministry. A new direction for its mission
developed around the conviction: we are responsible for promoting a new
relationship between the Church and the Jewish people.
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At
the same time, the link between these relations and the hope of a new
world, reconciled in freedom, justice and peace, became clearer. The
certainty that religious divisions, be they inter-Christian or interfaith, are an intolerable counter-witness to Biblical revelation and
an obstacle to a better world motivated more and more Christians to
re-examine their theology. These events and conviction have been the seeds
of new life in the work of the Sisters of Sion:"With
the whole Church and with the Jewish people we hope, pray and work for the
'Day when all will know the Lord and justice and peace will
embrace'." (Is 11:9; Ps 35:10) Con. § 5. |
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From
its beginnings in France in 1842 the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion quickly
spread: to Turkey, Jerusalem, England, Romania, Costa Rica, Egypt, Tunisia,
Italy, Brazil, Austria, Australia, Hungary .... . The Sisters of Sion arrived in
North America in 1892 in Lewiston, Maine. From here, in 1904, the first Canadian
mission was founded in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Also from Maine, temporary
foundations in Louisville, Kentucky and Marshall, Missouri led to Sion's arrival
in Kansas City, Missouri in 1912.
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| In 1947, when the Jewish
community of Montreal, Quebec was reaching the 50,000 mark, Sion arrived
in Montreal in response to a request from Msgr. Charbonneau. It was here,
at the Ratisbonne Centre on Queen Mary Road, that Le Salut d'Israel - a
Sion publication edited by the Sisters and Fathers of Sion - was begun. A
pioneer in Canadian Christian-Jewish relations, Sr. Marie-Noëlle de
Baillehâche, NDS, arrived at the Ratisbonne Centre from France in 1959.
Through her initiative Le Salut d'Israel was renamed Dialogue and
the Ratisbonne Centre was renamed Centre MI-CA-EL as visible
indicators of the changes effected by Vatican Council II's Nostra
Aetate.
Active in both Christian ecumenism and
Christian-Jewish relations, Sr. Marie-Noëlle worked with various
congregations of religious women, Christian church leaders and various
representatives of the Jewish community. Through Centre MI-CA-EL she
organized programs of lectures and several local church-synagogue
discussion groups. |
She prepared the visits to Canada by Fr. Cornelius Rijk,
the first director of the Vatican Office for Catholic-Jewish relations and
Frs. Bruno Hussar and Marcel Dubois, two Dominicans based in Israel who
were themselves pioneers in promoting the dialogue. Though centered in
Quebec, Sr. Marie-Noëlle's work influenced other parts of Canada as well.
It impacted the work of the Sisters of Sion in Canadian areas such as
Toronto, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. In Toronto it led to collaboration with
leading theologians including Gregory Baum, and with Rev. Roland de
Corneille, an Anglican priest who had become an early champion of improved
Christian-Jewish understanding throughout Canada.
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Sr. Marie-Noëlle retired and returned
to France in 1983. In 1986, after serious discernment and deliberation, the
Sisters of Sion in North America closed Centre MI-CA-EL - aware that
North America's vast geographical expanse along with the decreasing number of
Sisters demanded a new model for their Christian-Jewish ministry. In its place a
1986 Provincial Chapter decision recommended establishing a "center without
walls" - a model by which a Team is mandated to provide leadership in the
province's Christian-Jewish ministry.
CJRE
- Christian Jewish Relation and Encounter - is this new model. The Team members live in different cities
in North America from where they actively engage in Christian-Jewish ministry.
They place strong emphasis on networking with others - individuals,
organizations, centers - who have a similar commitment. From 1986 to 1993 the
CJRE co-ordinating office was in Toronto, Ontario with Team members residing in
Toronto, Montreal and Regina. Since July, 1993 the co-ordinating office has been
in Brooklyn, New York with CJRE
Team members residing in Brooklyn, Montreal, Chicago,
St. Paul, Saskatoon and South Orange.
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