Loving Israel, Loving Messiah, Loving the Church

To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son’s Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is “the world reconciled.” She is that bark which “in the full sail of the Lord’s cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world.” According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah’s ark, which alone saves from the flood. (CCC 845)

Catholics for Israel is a Catholic apostolate made up of Jewish and Gentile Catholics from Israel and the nations, faithful to the Magisterium of the Church.

Our mission has three closely related dimensions:

Loving Israel

• Building bridges between Israel and the Church;
• Fostering friendship between Jews and Christians;
• Studying and teaching the Jewish roots of the Catholic faith;
• Reflecting on the “mystery of Israel” and on the prophetic role of Israel today;
• Encouraging humble repentance for past sins of Christians against the Jewish people;
• Promoting justice, peace, and reconciliation between Jews and Arabs in the Holy Land, rooted in Jesus Christ;
• Informing Christians about the situation of the Church in the Middle East;
• Countering the anti-Israel bias prevalent in much of the secular media.

Loving Messiah

• Proclaiming the Messiah’s Gospel of peace to all people, in obedience to Jesus’ Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19);
• Bearing witness to the Gospel with humility and sensitivity among “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” while maintaining deep respect for Jewish faith and traditions (Matt 10:6);
• Providing resources that introduce the person of Jesus of Nazareth, with particular emphasis on his Jewishness (for example, The Messiah in the Tanakh).

Loving the Church

• Teaching the biblical and theological connections between the divine promises made to Israel and the Catholic faith;
• Fostering Christian unity and love for the Church by clarifying and highlighting the biblical and Jewish foundations of Catholic beliefs that are often disputed or rejected by other Christians;
• Providing multimedia resources for evangelization and catechesis, including our introductory online course on salvation history and the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church;
• Creating a home within the Church where Jews who encounter Christ and enter into communion with the Church can preserve the Jewish expression of their faith while living a genuinely Catholic life.

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Our Mission to Catholics:

Our mission to Catholics is to encourage a deeper conversion to and communion with Jesus the Messiah and a greater faithfulness to his Body, the Catholic Church, while reflecting on the “mystery of Israel” and God’s continued presence and action among the Jewish people and throughout their history. We seek to foster a greater understanding of the Jewish roots and heritage of the Catholic faith, encourage repentance for all forms of antisemitism, and foster a love for the Jewish people and for Israel. We also seek to counter the errors of “replacement theology” and “dual-covenant theology.” We wish to help create a home within the Church where Catholic Jews may live a genuinely Catholic faith while remaining fully faithful to their Jewish identity.

Our Mission to Other Christians:

Our mission to non-Catholic Christians is to provide resources that explain and clarify the biblical roots of the Catholic faith so that our brothers and sisters in Messiah may discover and receive as their own the fullness of Jesus’ gifts to them, particularly his gift of himself in the Eucharist and the other sacraments. We also invite them into full unity and communion with his Body, the Catholic Church, and with all the saints in heaven and on earth (CCC 816).

Our Mission to Messianic Jews:

Messianic Jews are Jews who believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. Catholics for Israel wishes to promote understanding, dialogue, and friendship between Catholics and Messianic Jews. Baptized believers in Yeshua are our brothers and sisters in the Messiah, united with us in a real though imperfect communion because of the differences that still divide our communities (CCC 838). We wish to provide resources that explain and clarify the biblical and Jewish roots of the Catholic faith so that our Messianic friends may embrace the fullness of Yeshua’s gifts, discover the fullest expression of their Jewish faith in him, and enter into full unity and communion with his Body, the Catholic Church, while remaining entirely faithful to their Jewish (and Messianic) roots.

Our Mission to Jews:

Our mission to the Jewish people is to provide resources for Jewish friends who wish to learn more about Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth and the Catholic faith. This includes the reasons why we believe Jesus is the Messiah of Israel who was foretold by the prophets; how the one God of Israel has revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a communion of three divine Persons; how God fulfills his promises to Israel through Jesus the Messiah and his Body, the Catholic Church, while remaining faithful to his irrevocable election of the Jewish people; how Jews who find the Messiah and enter the Church do not cease to be Jews or have to abandon their ancestral traditions, but become “fulfilled Jews” who receive forgiveness and eternal life, and share in God’s own nature (2 Pet 1:4).

Our Mission to Muslims:

God also lovingly calls Muslims to forgiveness, blessing, salvation, and eternal beatitude through the Messiah and his Church. This salvation also calls for reconciliation with the people of Israel, for “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22).

Our Mission to All:

God calls all people to repentance, forgiveness, salvation, and the gift of eternal life through Jesus the Messiah. Rooted in the olive tree of Israel, this salvation is offered to all nations through the Catholic Church. Our mission also includes countering the widespread anti-Israel bias in much of the media and in international public life.