Episode 3158: Dialogue or Conversion: Response to Pope Leo XIII’s Letter to the Jewish Community

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“Dialogue or Conversion? Response to Pope Leo XIII’s Letter to the Jewish Community”
Tackle a challenging yet vital topic in the life of the Church one that concerns truth, charity, and the salvation of souls.
We’ll be exploring the implications of a letter that Pope Leo XIII allegedly sent to a Jewish-Catholic community leader in America where he expressed a desire for future “dialogue.”
Now, whether this letter was. It presents an opportunity for us to reflect on what it means for the Vicar of Christ to engage with non-believers and how such engagement must always be ordered toward conversion, not appeasement.
Let’s dig deep into the Scriptures, the early Church, the teachings of the saints, and the role of the papacy so that we may understand what true charity and true dialogue must look like in the Catholic faith.
Segment 1: The Purpose of the Church
The Church’s mission has never changed. It was set in motion by Christ Himself:
“Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.”
— Mark 16:15–16
This mission the salvation of souls must be the purpose of every pope, bishop, priest, and lay Catholic. It’s not merely to dialogue, share opinions, or coexist with those in error. The goal is the conversion of the world to the One True Faith.
Dialogue, as understood in the modern sense, is often sterile. It becomes an academic exchange where both sides agree to disagree. But dialogue without conversion is not charity it is cowardice.
As Pope St. Pius X said:
“The Church has no other aim than to bring all men to Christ.”
— Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907
That includes the Jewish people who were the first to receive the promise and yet rejected the Messiah.

Segment 2: The Jews and the Messiah
It is often forgotten today that the Church has always recognized the unique role of the Jewish people in salvation history.
Our Lord Jesus was born a Jew. The Apostles were Jews. The first Christians were Jews.
And yet, after the Resurrection, when the Apostles began to preach that Jesus was the Messiah, many Jews rejected Him, and their leaders persecuted the early Church.
St. Paul laments this in Romans 9:2–5:
“I have great sadness and continual sorrow in my heart… for my brethren, who are Israelites: to whom belongeth the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants... and of whom is Christ according to the flesh.”
And yet, he continues:
“They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.”
— Romans 10:2
The task of the Church through the successors of the Apostles is not to tolerate this ignorance, but to bring it to its fulfillment in Christ.
And that fulfillment is the Catholic Church.
We recall the Good Friday prayer of the traditional Latin rite, where the Church prays:
“Let us pray for the faithless Jews… that Almighty God may take the veil from their hearts…”
This was not hatred it was love. It was true spiritual concern, seeking to remove the blindness that prevents them from recognizing Christ.
Segment 3: The Role of the Pope
Let us reflect now on the role of the Pope the Vicar of Christ, Supreme Pastor of the Church Militant on Earth.
His duty is not to curry favor with the world, nor to seek peace at the cost of truth. He is called to be a shepherd, to defend the flock from error, and to call all souls into the ark of salvation.
If Pope Leo wrote to a Jewish leader without clearly calling them to conversion, then this would be a dangerous omission. If the letter merely expressed a desire for dialogue without evangelization, it would not align with the historic mission of the papacy.
Let us remember the words of Pope St. Leo the Great, who said:
“The faith of the Catholic Church is this: that nothing is to be added to, nothing subtracted from the tradition of the Fathers.”
And what did the Fathers teach? They taught that Christ is the Messiah and that all must enter the Church to be saved.
No pope is above this mission. His authority exists to guard and transmit the faith, not to innovate, not to compromise, and certainly not to validate false religions.
Segment 4: The Danger of False Dialogue
Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has entered into endless dialogues with Jews, Muslims, Protestants, Buddhists, and even atheists.
But where are the conversions?
Where are the souls returning to the Church?
Instead of conversion, we’ve seen confusion. Instead of unity, we’ve seen doctrinal indifference. And the Jewish people, once prayed for solemnly in every traditional Good Friday liturgy, are now often treated as co-heirs to salvation without baptism, without faith in Christ.
This is a lie. And it is a betrayal of the Gospel.
Listen to St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church:
“The synagogue is not only a brothel and a theatre; it is also a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts... As for me, I hate the synagogue... I hate the Jews also.”
(Note: This quote must be contextualized carefully—not a call to hatred of persons, but a condemnation of religious obstinacy.)
He was not filled with hate he was filled with zeal for their conversion.
And he preached the truth so that they might be saved.
Segment 5: Saints Who Evangelized the Jews
Many of the saints worked for the conversion of the Jews.
• St. Vincent Ferrer preached with fiery charity, converting thousands of Jews in Spain to the Catholic faith.
• St. Louis IX, King of France, defended the faith publicly against Jewish opposition and organized public disputations to expose the truth of Christianity.
• St. Paul, our model for zeal, never ceased to preach Christ to his own people despite rejection and persecution.
True charity is not passive. It is not afraid of offense. It seeks the good of the soul even at great cost.
Segment 6: Final Thoughts and Prayer
Let us never be deceived by the modern idea that dialogue is a goal in itself. Dialogue is only valuable when it serves the eternal good of the other when it leads to conversion.
We must love the Jewish people, not with empty tolerance, but with the love that longs to see them embrace their true Messiah.
Let us pray for the Pope that he may fulfill his duty as Peter’s successor and not forsake the mission of the Church.
Let us close with the traditional prayer of the Church:
“Let us pray for the faithless Jews: that Almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Almighty and eternal God, who desirest that all men be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth, graciously hear our prayer for the blindness of the Jewish people: that recognizing the light of thy truth, which is Christ, they may be delivered from their darkness.
Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thank you for joining us today on Faithful and True. May we always stand for Christ, for truth, and for the salvation of all souls no matter the cost.
Until next time, stay faithful, stay prayerful, and stay true to the traditions of Holy Mother Church.
Faithful Fruits and Apostolic Zeal: A Reflection for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost
Epistle – Romans 6:19-23
"I speak an human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free men to justice. What fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord."