VIS: 30 years of Vatican commission for relations with Jews

VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
SALA STAMPA DELLA SANTA SEDE – OFICINA DE PRENSA DE LA SANTA SEDE
BUREAU DE PRESSE DU SAINT- SIÈGE – PRESSEAMT DES HEILIGEN STUHLS
HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE
10.19.2004
Fourteenth Year – N.177

COMMISSION FOR RELIGIOUS RELATIONS WITH JEWS MARKS 30 YEARS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 19, 2004 (VIS) – Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of
Israel, led by Rabbi Shar Yishuv Cohen and the Holy See’s Commission for
Religious Relations with Jews, headed by Cardinal Jorge Mejia, started three
days of meetings and dialogue on October 17 in Grottaferrata, Italy.
Participants have been discussing the theme, “A Common Vision of Social
Justice and Ethical Behavior.”

The following statement to the press was issued today after the meeting:

“1. We are not enemies, but unequivocal partners in articulating the
essential moral values for the survival and welfare of human society.

“2. Jerusalem has a sacred character for all the children of Abraham. We
call on all relevant authorities to respect this character and to prevent
actions which offend the sensibilities of religious communities that reside
in Jerusalem and hold her dear.

“3. We call on religious authorities to protest publicly when actions of
disrespect towards religious persons, symbols and Holy Sites are committed,
such as the desecration of cemeteries and the recent assaults on the
Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem. We call on them to educate their
communities to behave with respect and dignity towards peoples and towards
their attachment to their faith.”

According to a communique published yesterday afternoon, Cardinal Walter
Kasper, president of the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews and
Riccardo Segni, chief rabbi of Rome, will analyze the state of
Jewish-Catholic dialogue during the first session today at 6 p.m. of a
seminar on Catholic-Jewish dialogue that has been organized by the
Pontifical Gregorian University.

Pope Paul VI established the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews
on October 22, 1974. In commemoration of that event. Cardinal Kasper,
accompanied by Cardinal Mejia and a delegation of the commission, will
visit Rome’s synagogue on Friday October 22 during which the Jewish
community will gather for the celebration of Shabbat.
…/JEWISH CATHOLIC DIALOGUE/KASPER:MEJIAVIS 041019 (330)