Letter 29
To my colleague in Christ,
The question of the Jews is one on which I hold views that I know are not universally shared among my fellow bishops, and I will state them plainly.
Forced conversion is wrong. I do not think this requires elaborate argument. A person who is baptized under compulsion is not a Christian; baptism requires faith, and faith cannot be compelled. A Jew who is forced to receive baptism and then continues to practice Jewish rites privately — as happens, as we know happens — has not been converted; he has been driven underground. The practical result of forced conversion is not the salvation of souls but the creation of a population that is nominally Christian, resentful, and practicing a kind of secret double life that is good for no one.
The canon law on this point is, in my reading, clear. Councils have repeatedly stated that Jews are not to be compelled to accept baptism. The recent royal legislation in this kingdom has pushed in a troubling direction, and I have said so to those who have the authority to hear it.
What I do believe the church should do: engage with Jews honestly, treat them with justice, protect them from violence, and make the Christian faith as attractive as possible through the quality of Christian life and witness. Some will convert, genuinely and freely. That is good. The others have the right to live as Jews.
I recognize this is a position that will make me unpopular in some quarters. I hold it nonetheless.
Your brother,
Braulio
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.