Pietro Parente, Antonio Piolanti, and Salvatore Garofalo, Dizionario di Teologia Dommatica (Rome: Editrice Studium, 3rd ed., 1952; Imprimatur 6 June 1952).
Pietro Parente (1891–1986) was an Italian priest and theologian, Ordinary Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Lateran University and at the Pontificia Università Urbaniana, and later Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Antonio Piolanti (1911–2001) was an Italian priest, Thomist, and Professor of Sacramental Theology at the Lateran University, of which he served as Rector from 1957 to 1969; he founded the journal Divinitas in 1954. Salvatore Garofalo (1911–1998) was an Italian priest, Scripture scholar, and Rector of the Pontificia Università Urbaniana from 1958 to 1971. All three received their formation within the pre-conciliar Schola Romana of the twentieth century.
The Dizionario was first published in 1943 and ran to at least four Italian editions; an English translation was published in the United States (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1951) under the title Dictionary of Dogmatic Theology. It carried an Imprimatur in each edition. The entries in the Italian original are signed with the author’s initials: P.P. for Parente, A.P. for Piolanti, and S.G. for Garofalo. Author attributions below follow those initials exactly.
All English translations of the Italian passages below are made directly from the original text and are the work of the compiler of this page. Every passage quoted appears in the 1952 third edition exactly as cited.
The passages collected here bear on the following themes: Deicide — the Jews as the killers of Christ and the city of the deicide; supersessionism — the Church as the true Israel and the definitive successor of the Synagogue, whose edifice has collapsed; the Mosaic law and its abrogation — the Jewish ceremonies as definitively abolished in the New Testament, the Old Priesthood as surpassed; the failure and reprobation of Israel — the Jewish people as having missed its divinely assigned goal; the Jews as adversaries of Christ and the Church — their spreading of calumnies against the Virgin birth, their role as persecutors; Jewish carnal messianism — the Rabbinic distortion of the Messianic prophecies into a material kingdom; the Diaspora; and the Inquisition against Jewish apostates. The framework of this dictionary is entirely pre-Nostra Aetate (1965).
I. “Killed by the Jews”: The Testimony of Aristides
Entry: Aristide — Antonio Piolanti [A.P.]
[Piolanti summarises the second-century Apology of Aristides of Athens (fl. c. 125 AD), one of the earliest Christian apologists, noting that its central argument for the superiority of the Christian “fourth genus” rests on the facts of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Piolanti reproduces the substance of Aristides’ formulation thus:]
«…Gesù, nato da una vergine, ucciso dai giudei, risuscitato e glorificato in cielo. La loro vita è conforme all’insegnamento del Maestro e costituisce l’unica forza morale, che sostiene il mondo.»
Translation:
“…Jesus, born of a virgin, killed by the Jews, risen and glorified in heaven. Their life is conformed to the teaching of the Master and constitutes the sole moral force that sustains the world.”
II. “The City in Which the Deicide Will Be Accomplished”
Entry: Gesù Cristo — Salvatore Garofalo [S.G.]
[Garofalo narrates the final days of Christ’s public ministry, describing the content of the eschatological discourse delivered in the Temple during Holy Week:]
«Il martedì è occupato da polemiche e minacce ai Farisei traditori di Dio, e dal grande discorso in cui Gesù annunzia la fine della città nella quale si compirà il deicidio e parla della fine del mondo che lo vedrà inevitabile giudice e incontrastato dominatore.»
Translation:
“Tuesday was occupied with polemics and threats against the Pharisees who were traitors to God, and with the great discourse in which Jesus announces the end of the city in which the deicide will be accomplished, and speaks of the end of the world, which shall see Him as inevitable judge and unchallenged lord.”
III. The Jews as Deniers of Christ’s Divinity and of the Church’s Divine Mission
Entry: Chiesa — Antonio Piolanti [A.P.]
[Piolanti draws an analogy between Christological errors and ecclesiological errors, identifying the Jews in both categories:]
«Come intorno a Cristo alcuni errarono negando la sua divinità (Giudei, Gentili, Razionalisti) altri rifiutando la sua umanità (Doceti, Fantasiasti), altri, separando le due nature (Nestoriani), altri assorbendone una nell’altra (Monofisiti); così quanto alla Chiesa alcuni negano la sua missione divina nel mondo (Giudei, Pagani, Razionalisti), altri negano la sua umanità o visibilità (Wycleff, Huss, Protestanti)…»
Translation:
“Just as some erred regarding Christ by denying His divinity (Jews, Gentiles, Rationalists), others by rejecting His humanity (Docetists, Phantasiasts), others by separating the two natures (Nestorians), others by absorbing one into the other (Monophysites); so with regard to the Church, some deny its divine mission in the world (Jews, Pagans, Rationalists), others deny its humanity or visibility (Wycliffe, Huss, Protestants)…”
IV. “The Old Religious Edifice Crumbles”: The Synagogue Superseded by the Church
Entry: Gesù Cristo — Salvatore Garofalo [S.G.]
[Garofalo narrates the moment at Caesarea Philippi when Peter’s confession marks the decisive rupture between the nascent Church and the Synagogue:]
«Da questo momento il distacco dalla Sinagoga si fa più evidente. Il vecchio edificio religioso crolla su se stesso e sulle sue rovine nasce la nuova casa di Dio che sarà aperta a tutte le genti.»
Translation:
“From this moment the separation from the Synagogue becomes more evident. The old religious edifice crumbles upon itself, and upon its ruins is born the new house of God that shall be open to all nations.“
V. The Church as the True Israel: Heir of the Old Testament Promises
Entry: Bibbia — Salvatore Garofalo [S.G.]
[Garofalo, treating the relationship between the two Testaments, states:]
«Il Vecchio Testamento, inizialmente patrimonio sacro del popolo ebraico che Dio elesse come depositario delle sue promesse di redenzione, passò poi, completato dal Nuovo Testamento, in legittima eredità alla Chiesa, che è il vero Israele, l’autentico popolo eletto, a favore del quale si realizzarono le antiche promesse divine.»
Translation:
“The Old Testament, initially the sacred patrimony of the Hebrew people whom God chose as the repository of His promises of redemption, passed thereafter, completed by the New Testament, as a rightful inheritance to the Church, which is the true Israel, the authentic chosen people, in whose favour the ancient divine promises were fulfilled.“
VI. The Old Priesthood “Now Surpassed and Abrogated”
Entry: Sacerdozio di Cristo — Pietro Parente [P.P.]
[In demonstrating the excellence of Christ’s priesthood as expounded by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Parente writes:]
«S. Paolo (agli Ebrei) commentando questo testo sviluppa ampiamente la dottrina del Sacerdozio di Cristo, di cui prova l’eccellenza in confronto col sacerdozio dell’Antico Testamento, che resta ormai superato e abrogato. Cristo è il Pontefice santo, immacolato, che offrendo il sacrificio di se stesso sulla Croce una sola volta ha operato per sempre la redenzione della umanità dal peccato.»
Translation:
“St. Paul (Epistle to the Hebrews), commenting on this text, develops at length the doctrine of the Priesthood of Christ, whose excellence he proves in comparison with the priesthood of the Old Testament, which is now surpassed and abrogated. Christ is the holy, immaculate High Priest who, by offering the sacrifice of Himself on the Cross once and for all, has accomplished forever the redemption of humanity from sin.”
VII. Jewish Ceremonies “Definitively Abrogated” in the New Testament
Entry: Superstizione — Antonio Piolanti [A.P.]
[Piolanti defines superstition as rendering divine worship in an unlawful manner, and includes in his examples the performance of Jewish rites:]
«Onora in modo indebito Dio colui che gli tributa un culto falso (per es. compiendo le cerimonie giudaiche, che nel N. T. sono definitivamente abrogate) o superfluo…»
Translation:
“He honours God in an unlawful manner who renders Him a false worship — for example, by performing the Jewish ceremonies, which in the New Testament are definitively abrogated — or a superfluous one…”
VIII. The Founding of the Synagogue as Type of the Founding of the Church
Entry: Primato di S. Pietro — Antonio Piolanti [A.P.]
[In expounding the significance of Christ’s renaming of Simon as “Peter” (rock), Piolanti draws a direct typological parallel with God’s renaming of Jacob as “Israel” for the founding of the Synagogue:]
«Secondo lo stile biblico il cambiamento del nome ha grande significato: quando Dio volle fondare il patriarcato scelse Abramo come capo e centro di quell’istituzione e gli mutò il nome di Abramo in Abraham, come quando istituì la Sinagoga scelse per capo un altro grande Patriarca mutandogli il nome di Giacobbe in quello d’Israele.»
Translation:
“According to the biblical style, the changing of the name has great significance: when God wished to found the patriarchate, He chose Abraham as head and centre of that institution and changed his name from Abram to Abraham; just as, when He established the Synagogue, He chose another great Patriarch as head, changing Jacob’s name to Israel.“
IX. “Israel Proved Unequal to the Task”: The Failure and Reprobation of the Jewish People
Entry: Gesù Cristo — Salvatore Garofalo [S.G.]
[In his entry on Christ, Garofalo enumerates the truths which constituted “stumbling-blocks” for Israel and draws the theological conclusion of national reprobation:]
«La divinità del Messia, la sua dolorosa passione, il carattere sopramondano del suo regno, l’unione di tutti gli uomini senza distinzione in un nuovo organismo dove circola la linfa vitale della grazia, una religione di libertà e di spirito, cioè di amore, furono gli scogli contro i quali urtò Israele. Traviato da capi e da sètte religiose incapaci di superare i fittizi schemi di pensiero e di azione creati da una sostanziale incomprensione dell’autentica Rivelazione di Dio; incapaci di distaccarsi dalla concezione di un regno del Messia ristretto nei confini di una sola nazione e nei limiti di una prosperità materiale, ossessionati da una pratica religiosa esteriore aggravata e viziata da una fungaia di precetti umani, il popolo d’Israele si dimostrò impari al compito e, come popolo, mancò la mèta segnatagli da Dio. Non fallì, però, il millenario piano divino e non furono frustrate le promesse antiche. Gli Apostoli sono l’autentico Israele per mezzo del quale vengono dati al mondo l’annunzio e i doni della redenzione.»
Translation:
“The divinity of the Messiah, His painful passion, the supramundane character of His kingdom, the union of all men without distinction in a new organism through which the vital sap of grace circulates, a religion of freedom and spirit — that is, of love — these were the rocks against which Israel crashed. Led astray by religious leaders and sects incapable of overcoming the fictitious schemes of thought and action created by a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s authentic Revelation; incapable of detaching themselves from the conception of a Messianic kingdom restricted within the borders of a single nation and within the limits of material prosperity, obsessed by an exterior religious practice burdened and vitiated by a proliferation of human precepts, the people of Israel proved unequal to the task and, as a people, missed the goal marked out for it by God. The millennial divine plan did not fail, however, nor were the ancient promises frustrated. The Apostles are the authentic Israel through whom the announcement and gifts of redemption are given to the world.”
X. Gnosticism and Judaism: “The Two Greatest Dangers” to Nascent Christianity
Entry: Gnosticismo — Pietro Parente [P.P.]
[Parente situates the threat of Gnosticism within the broader context of the two great adversaries of early Christianity:]
«Lo Gnosticismo fu uno dei più gravi pericoli per il Cristianesimo nascente: l’altro fu il Giudaismo. Per fortuna lo Gnosticismo fu antigiudaico. I Padri intuirono subito il pericolo e si adoperarono ad eliminarlo.»
Translation:
“Gnosticism was one of the gravest dangers for nascent Christianity: the other was Judaism. Fortunately, Gnosticism was anti-Jewish. The Fathers immediately perceived the danger and set themselves to eliminate it.”
XI. “The Jews Spread Infamous Fables” Against the Virginity of Mary
Entry: Verginità (di Maria) — Pietro Parente [P.P.]
[Parente enumerates the enemies of the dogma of the perpetual virginity of Mary throughout history, beginning with the Jews:]
«Più volte la verginità di Maria fu bersaglio di eretici: prima i Giudei sparsero favole nefande sulla concezione e la nascita di Gesù: li seguirono Cerinto e Celso.»
Translation:
“More than once the virginity of Mary was the target of heretics: first the Jews spread infamous fables about the conception and birth of Jesus: they were followed by Cerinthus and Celsus.”
XII. Expelled from the Synagogue, Betrayed by their Kinsmen: The First Christian Martyrs
Entry: Martirio — Pietro Parente [P.P.]
[Parente cites Christ’s prophecy of persecution against the Apostles, noting that the first persecutors would come from the Synagogue and from within the Jewish people itself:]
«Gesù medesimo profeticamente esorta i suoi discepoli ad essere testimoni della sua vita e delle sue parole… Anzi Egli predice fino al dettaglio la loro sorte: saranno scacciati dalla Sinagoga, traditi dai consanguinei, accusati e tradotti davanti a re e governatori, messi a morte per il suo nome.»
Translation:
“Jesus Himself prophetically exhorts His disciples to be witnesses of His life and words… Indeed, He predicts their fate down to the detail: they shall be expelled from the Synagogue, betrayed by their own kinsmen, accused and brought before kings and governors, put to death for His name.“
XIII. Divorce Conceded to the Jews “on Account of the Hardness of Their Hearts”
Entry: Divorzio — Antonio Piolanti [A.P.]
[In tracing the history of divorce legislation, Piolanti identifies the Old Testament concession of divorce as a special dispensation for the Jews alone, grounded in their moral incapacity:]
«Il divorzio in senso stretto fu concesso da Dio ai Giudei “ob duritiam cordis eorum” e penetrò così profondamente nel costume romano e barbarico da rendere particolarmente difficile alla Chiesa il compito di far accettare dai fedeli e dai legislatori il principio dell’indissolubilità del vincolo coniugale…»
Translation:
“Divorce in the strict sense was conceded by God to the Jews “on account of the hardness of their hearts” and penetrated so deeply into Roman and barbarian custom as to make the Church’s task of obtaining acceptance of the principle of the indissolubility of the marital bond from the faithful and from legislators particularly difficult…”
XIV. Jewish Carnal Messianism: The Rabbis’ Distortion of the Messianic Prophecies
Entry: Millenarismo — Pietro Parente [P.P.]
[Parente traces the origin of the Millenarism condemned by the Church to the Jewish carnal interpretation of the Messianic prophecies:]
«[Il Millenarismo è un] concetto d’origine giudaica sviluppatosi sul ceppo delle tradizioni messianiche. I profeti predicevano un regno del futuro Messia come un’età aurea ricca di gloria e di felicità: i Rabbini si dilettarono a descrivere a vivi colori quel regno, accentuandone il carattere materiale e fissandone la durata per mille anni, seguiti dal giudizio universale e dalla fine del mondo.»
Translation:
“[Millenarism is a] concept of Jewish origin, developed on the stock of the Messianic traditions. The prophets foretold the kingdom of the future Messiah as a golden age rich in glory and happiness: the Rabbis delighted in describing that kingdom in vivid colours, accentuating its material character and fixing its duration at a thousand years, followed by the universal judgment and the end of the world.”
XV. The Masoretes: Jewish Doctors Who Fixed the Old Testament Text
Entry: Masoretico — Salvatore Garofalo [S.G.]
[Garofalo describes the Massoretic text and its Jewish editors:]
«La Masorà, iniziatasi fin dall’età degli Scribi (V-IV sec. a. C.), fu codificata dai dottori ebrei della Accademia di Tiberiade tra il VI-X secolo della nostra era, e tende alla migliore conservazione ed intelligenza del testo ebraico.»
Translation:
“The Masorah, begun already in the age of the Scribes (5th–4th century BC), was codified by the Jewish doctors of the Academy of Tiberias between the 6th and 10th centuries of our era, and tends toward the better preservation and understanding of the Hebrew text.”
XVI. “The Jews Invaded the West”: The Diaspora
Entry: Diaspora — Salvatore Garofalo [S.G.]
[Garofalo describes the Jewish Diaspora and its expansion into the West, culminating in the occupation of Rome as the principal centre of diffusion:]
«Le più antiche dispersioni degli Ebrei datano dalla caduta del regno d’Israele nel 722 a. C. e del regno di Giuda nel 598 a. C., quando gli Assiri e i Babilonesi, per stroncare ogni velleità di rivolta, trasferirono la parte migliore del popolo in altre regioni lontane. In seguito gli Ebrei si dispersero per il mondo anche per ragioni commerciali, ed in ciò il loro istinto di nomadi era favorito dalla meravigliosa rete stradale dell’antichità. […] Dal 1° sec. a. C. Roma fu il centro principale donde i Giudei invasero l’Occidente.»
Translation:
“The most ancient dispersions of the Jews date from the fall of the kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and of the kingdom of Judah in 598 BC, when the Assyrians and Babylonians, in order to crush any will to revolt, transferred the best part of the people to other distant regions. Subsequently the Jews dispersed themselves throughout the world also for commercial reasons, in which their nomadic instinct was favoured by the marvellous road-network of antiquity. […] From the 1st century BC, Rome was the principal centre from which the Jews invaded the West.“
XVII. The Inquisition Against Jewish Apostates
Entry: Inquisizione — Antonio Piolanti [A.P.]
[Piolanti distinguishes between the medieval Inquisition and the Spanish Inquisition, explaining the purpose of the latter:]
«Totalmente diversa è l’Inquisizione Spagnola istituita, per istanza di Ferdinando e Isabella, da Sisto IV (1478) per procedere giudizialmente contro gli apostati (ebrei, battezzati e recidivi), che diventò ben presto uno strumento di politica in mano dei re spagnoli.»
Translation:
“Totally different is the Spanish Inquisition, established at the instance of Ferdinand and Isabella by Sixtus IV (1478) to proceed judicially against apostates (Jews who had been baptised and who relapsed), which soon became an instrument of politics in the hands of the Spanish kings.”
XVIII. The Jews and the Iconoclast Persecution
Entry: Iconoclasti — Pietro Parente [P.P.]
[Parente, discussing the possible motives behind the Emperor Leo III’s war against sacred images, notes one historical hypothesis concerning Jewish interests:]
«Politicamente non è chiaro per qual motivo Leone III abbia intrapreso questa lotta… alcuni pensano che l’imperatore volesse così favorire giudei e musulmani, che militavano in gran numero nel suo esercito…»
Translation:
“Politically it is not clear for what motive Leo III undertook this struggle… some think that the emperor wished thereby to favour Jews and Muslims, who served in great numbers in his army…”
XIX. Matteo’s Gospel Written to Demonstrate to the Jews that Jesus Was the Messiah
Entry: Evangeli — Salvatore Garofalo [S.G.]
[Garofalo explains the purpose of each of the four Gospels, beginning with Matthew:]
«Matteo, chiamato all’apostolato dalla dogana di Cafarnao, scrisse il suo evangelo con l’intento di dimostrare ai Giudei di Palestina che Gesù era l’atteso Messia perché in lui si compivano tutte le profezie antiche.»
Translation:
“Matthew, called to the apostolate from the customs-house of Capernaum, wrote his Gospel with the intent of demonstrating to the Jews of Palestine that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, because in Him all the ancient prophecies were fulfilled.“
XX. Christ Risen Attested Publicly “Before the Jews Who Would Have Had to Refute Them”
Entry: Risurrezione di Cristo — Pietro Parente [P.P.]
[Parente marshals the evidence for the historical reality of the Resurrection, noting that it was attested by witnesses before the very Jews who would have had every interest and opportunity to refute it:]
«…Cristo redivivo in tutta la sua fisica realtà testimoniato da persone ineccepibili, come Pietro e Paolo, in pubblico, davanti ai Giudei che avrebbero dovuto, se potevano, smentirli…»
Translation:
“…Christ risen in all His physical reality, attested by irreproachable persons such as Peter and Paul, in public, before the Jews who would have had to refute them, if they could…”
XXI. The Canon of Scripture: Jews and Protestants Who Reject the Deuterocanonicals
Entry: Canone (della Bibbia) — Salvatore Garofalo [S.G.]
[Garofalo notes the rejection of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament by Jews and Protestants alike:]
«Attualmente gli Ebrei, seguiti dai Protestanti che hanno influito anche sulle cristianità dissidenti, ripudiano i seguenti libri deuterocanonici del Vecchio Testamento: Tobia, Giuditta, Sapienza, Ecclesiastico, Baruc, I e II dei Maccabei, brani di Ester e Daniele…»
Translation:
“Currently the Jews, followed by the Protestants who have also influenced the dissident Christian communities, repudiate the following deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, I and II Maccabees, and portions of Esther and Daniel…”
Sources
All passages are from: Pietro Parente, Antonio Piolanti, Salvatore Garofalo, Dizionario di Teologia Dommatica, 3rd ed. (Rome: Editrice Studium, 1952). Imprimatur: 6 June 1952, Aloysius, Bishop of Tivoli.
The PDF of this edition was accessed at: http://www.gianfrancobertagni.it/materiali/cristianesimo/Pietro%20Parente%20-%20Antonio%20Piolanti%20-%20Salvatore%20Garofalo,%20Dizionario%20di%20Teologia%20dommatica.pdf
For the English translation of this dictionary, see: Pietro Parente, Antonio Piolanti, Salvatore Garofalo, Dictionary of Dogmatic Theology, trans. Emmanuel Doronzo, O.M.I. (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1951).
For secondary information on the authors, see:
- Wikipedia, “Antonio Piolanti”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Piolanti
- Wikipedia, “Pietro Parente”: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Parente
- Wikidata, “Antonio Piolanti”: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q604237