Defending religious freedom

May Jews and Catholics join their voices so that “religious freedom and human rights be fully guaranteed to everyone and in every country of the world”: that’s the plea for common action expressed by Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism, speaking in Paris, where the 21st session of meetings between the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultation (IJCIC) and the Vatican Commission opened on 27 February (until 2 March). The meeting – which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year – is being attended by some seventy delegates from all over the world. The main speakers at the public inaugural session, held in the College des Barnardins in Paris, were Gilles Bernheim, Chief Rabbi of France, Richard Prasquier, chairman of the Council representing Jewish institutions in France (CRIF), Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism, and Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris. The meeting will conclude with the publication of a joint declaration. The gestures of reconciliation that are being made in Paris to mark the occasion are various and significant. The participants planted an oak tree in the city of Raincy (Seine-Saint-Denis) in memory of Ilan Halimi, a French Jew tortured and killed in 2006, and visited the memorial of the Shoah in Paris. In his speech during the inaugural session, the chairman of the CRIF Richard Prasquier announced the creation in Israel of a memorial dedicated to Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, tireless proponent of dialogue between the two religions. It will be situated in the Negev near Arad, on the route known in the Bible as the “Kings’ Road”.40 years of history and dialogue. In presenting the event, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of the capital, traced the 40 years of official dialogue between Jews and the Catholic Church. This half century of history – he said – has radically transformed the “age-old legacy of suspicions and ghosts of the past” which burdened mutual relations. “We have progressed a great deal, especially in the way in which Jews and Catholics relate to each other. We have, that is, clearly expressed that the objective of Catholics is not to convert Jews and that the objective of Jews is not to convert Catholics. We need, instead, to gain consciousness of what it is that unites us, of our different identities and to gauge how our common rooting in the Old Testament now calls us to common actions for society”. Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism, also traced the 40 years of official dialogue between the two faiths, calling them “an enormous miracle, fruit of the Holy Spirit”. “It seems to me – added the Cardinal – that over these 40 years, many prejudices and enmities have been overcome, that reconciliation and cooperation have increased and that personal relations of friendship have been enriched”. Declaring that the conciliar decree “Nostra Aetate” remains the “Magna Charta of our dialogue”, the “compass that will guide us to new objectives”, the cardinal added: “Our dialogue with the Jewish world is not a luxury, an option we can ignore. It is the very essence of our Christian identity. That’s why we have the obligation to continue the dialogue with the Jewish people”.The common challenges. In describing the “common challenges”, the Cardinal spoke of the defence of religious freedom in the world. “We have – he said – the common responsibility to work together for the good of humanity, rejecting every form of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholic and anti-Christian attitudes, and every form of discrimination, in order to work together for justice and solidarity, reconciliation and peace. In recent months – continued the Cardinal – our attention has been drawn by the persecution and killing of Christians in the Middle East. Statistically it is clear: at the world level Christians have become the most persecuted group. They have a need for special protection and the solidarity of religious leaders of all faiths in the world”. “Jews and Christians – concluded Cardinal Koch – can raise their voice together for the protection of those who are persecuted for religious reasons, wherever they live and whatever religious tradition they profess. It ought to be our task to give clear and public signals of solidarity and pray for our brothers and sisters in these difficult situations. In this sense, my hope is that our meeting here in Paris may be constructive and may deepen Jewish-Christian friendship. May this friendship bear witness to the world of our mutual understanding and respect, even in our diversity”.