ecumenism" "
“In this moment we are bearing all the weight of an aspiration that has not yet been realised, neither in the Middle East, nor elsewhere. It’s not enough to express in words willingness for dialogue, or be capable of small gestures of respect between religious leaders. We need to have the courage and the patience to forge ever wider and deeper links of brotherhood, to become seekers of peace and sowers of hope in this dark and apparently hopeless period”. So said the President of the Pontifical Council for the promotion of Christian unity on the occasion of a meeting on Vatican II’s declaration “ Nostra Aetate“, on the 38th anniversary of its publication (28 October 1965). The meeting was promoted in Rome by the Dionysia Centre for the arts and culture and by the Commission for religious relations with Judaism, a body established in 1974 and linked to the above-mentioned Pontifical Council. Stressing the importance of dialogue between Christians, Jews and Moslems, Kasper declared that “all the great religions have a common aspiration to peace” and that “the numerous steps taken, in relations between Church and Judaism, in the normalization of relations between Holy See and State of Israel, and in relations with the Islamic countries and Moslem religion”, do not “make the memory [of the conciliar declaration] or an examination of conscience superfluous”. We must, urged Cardinal Kasper, progress in dialogue, taking as our example “our Jewish brothers” for “their vigilance against intolerance and discrimination”. At the same time, he continued, “we feel the need to draw closer to our Moslem brothers who live with us in Europe and elsewhere, without anyone imputing to their faith the violence” that is perpetrated by some and “that they repudiate”.
