Vatican, Chief Rabbinate slam assault on Armenian Patriarch

20/10/2004 13:08

By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent

The Holy See and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel this week issued a
joint condemnation of an assault on the Armenian Patriarch of
Jerusalem, when he was spat at by a yeshiva student in the Old City.

In a joint statement released Tuesday in Rome, the Vatican and the
Chief Rabbinate called on ?religious authorities to publicly protest
when actions of disrespect towards religious persons, symbols and Holy
Sites are committed.

The statement gave as an example ?the desecration of cemeteries and
the recent assault on the Armenian Patriarch.?

The statement also calls on ?all relevant authorities? to respect the
?sacred character of Jerusalem and to prevent overt and immodest
actions which offend the sensibilities of religious communities that
reside in Jerusalem and hold her dear.?

The common declaration came at the conclusion of a three-day meeting
of Catholic and Jewish officials in Grottaferrata, south of Rome,
constituting the 4th ?dialogue session? since June 2002 between the
Holy See and the Chief Rabbinate.

The discussions this time were focused on Judeo-Christian beliefs
regarding social justice and ethical behavior. Previous sessions have
concentrated on the dignity of Man, the value of human life and the
family, and the importance of Scripture for contemporary society.

The Vatican delegation to the meetings this week was headed by
Cardinal Jorge Meija, the former Vatican archivist. The Israeli
delegation was lead by Sh?ar Yishuv Cohen, the chief rabbi of Haifa,
and its members included Rabbi David Rosen, from the American Jewish
Committee, and chief rabbis of several other Israeli cities.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of a Vatican
commission for the relations with Judaism by Pope Paul the 6th , the
head of the commission, Cardinal Walter Kasper, and Cardinal Meija
will visit Rome Synagogue for the Shabbat services.

Also this week, Cardinal Kasper and Riccardo di Segni, the chief rabbi
of Rome, will open a seminar at one of the Vatican universities, which
will focus on Jewish-Catholic relations of the past few decades.