Bishop Mark Brennan stood inside Temple Shalom in Wheeling, WV and received a public blessing from Rabbi Joshua Lief during a Shabbat service.
The image says more than the diocesan caption intended. A Catholic bishop, the public holder of apostolic office in West Virginia, entered a Jewish religious service and accepted a blessing from a rabbi as he approached retirement. The Diocese of Wheeling Charleston presented the episode as an expression of affection and interfaith goodwill. LifeSite reported that the June 5 service included a “special blessing” for Brennan, who retires July 1. Local coverage of Brennan’s tenure also describes him as a bishop known for interfaith outreach and warm relations with religious leaders outside the Church.
The immediate question for Catholics should concern the office Brennan carried into that room.
He appeared there as a successor of the Apostles. He entered with the symbolic weight of Catholic episcopal authority. The blessing he received took place inside a religious service conducted by a tradition that does not confess Jesus Christ as Lord.
That fact cannot be erased by pleasant words about friendship.
The issue in Wheeling is the public religious meaning of the act. Brennan’s presence and reception of the blessing created a visual catechism. It taught ordinary Catholics that apostolic office can be spiritually honored by a religion that rejects the central confession entrusted to the Apostles.
Continue reading at Hiraeth in Exile