Can Jewish Catholics escape their roots? – UnHerd

Although Elmaleh won t reveal whether he has converted in real life, he has described his relationship to Catholicism as one of attraction, curiosity, love and called the Virgin Mary my most beautiful crush . His meeting with the Pope left him profoundly moved. He s an extraordinary person, he said afterwards, charismatic, humble, inspiring, joyous.

Yet Elmaleh isn t the only famous Jew to hear the siren call of the Good News. Shia LaBeouf, the star of Transformers, converted after playing the 20th-century priest Padre Pio in a drama released last year. They join a vibrant community of Jewish converts to Catholicism known as Jewish Catholics, or Hebrew Catholics. It is unknown exactly how many there are around the world, but a rough estimate would put them in the hundreds, if not in the thousands. Among them are Fr. David Neuhaus, a Jesuit who served as the Patriarchal Vicar of the Hebrew Catholic Vicariate in Jerusalem, and Fr. Antoine Lévy, a Dominican currently conducting doctoral research at the University of Tel Aviv.

Both clerics converted in their twenties, and neither repudiate their Jewish identity. On the contrary, Neuhaus tells me he s conscious of the fact I m not just a Catholic like all other Catholics, but I m from a Jewish family and part of Jewish history . That last point is crucial: Jewish identity is bigger than just practising Judaism. Many secular Jews know little about the Torah, but still feel a strong connection to Jewish peoplehood and traditions.

via unherd.com

Mazel Tov.