A sign of hope

Jewish-Catholic dialogue “can become a sign of hope and inspiration for our troubled world”. Thus stated the final declaration of the 20th meeting of the Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC), held in Budapest on November 9-12 2008. The Committee is represented by a delegation of the Pontifical Council for Religious Relations with the Jews -chaired by Cardinal Walter Kasper – and by a delegation of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for Relations with the Catholic Church chaired by Rabbi David Rosen. The gathering was hosted by the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference and by the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Hungary. This is the second time that the ILC meeting is held in Eastern Europe. In 1990 there had been an ILC meeting in Prague where participants declared that anti-Semitism is “a sin against God and against humanity”. This year’s meeting was centered on the Role of Religion in Civil Society Today and the current state of Jewish-Catholic relations in Eastern Europe. A “growing friendship”. “In the past decades – is written in the text – Catholic-Jewish dialogue has been marked by a growing friendship and mutual understanding that have enabled us to build an atmosphere of trust and confidence”. “The new spirit of friendship and caring for one another is the most relevant token for our societies”. “Indicative” of this – states the declaration – was the “first ever” gathering of a group of young leaders, Catholic and Jews, who met for several days prior to the ILC meeting. The declaration points our that the Conference commenced on November 9th, the seventieth anniversary of “Kristallnacht”, and that “Pope Benedict XVI’s moving comments” on Kristallnacht during Sunday’s Angelus prayer “were noted and welcomed”. No to religiously motivated violence. In the joint declaration Catholics and Jews voice their condemnation of all acts of violence against Christians and of anti-Semitic episodes in the world. “We continue to deplore religiously motivated violence – they state – and take particular note of outbursts against Christians in India and Iraq and anti-Semitic episodes in Europe and the Middle East”. “We as religious leaders call on the members of our two traditions to accept their role in promoting respect and mutual understanding. Freedom of religion must be guaranteed to both individuals and communities by the respective religious traditions and civil authorities. Catholics and Jews have an ethical obligation to demonstrate religious responsibility for society and to educate future generations regarding religious values. This is especially important in the current time given the emergent expression of xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism in parts of Central and Eastern Europe”. The statement equally made mention of the present economic crisis, pointing out that blame for the crisis “should not be assigned to any particular religious, economic, social, ethnic or national group”. The impact of language. During the Conference, Catholics and Jews issued a statement requesting that the dialogue between the respective communities take place in a spirit of mutual respect. The ILC expressed its “deep regret” over “certain polemical and intemperate statements being made over the controversy concerning the role of Pope Pius XII during the Second World War”. Cardinal Walter Kasper and Rabbi David Rosen, co-chairpersons of the “International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee” jointly declared: “We reiterate our commitment for the promotion of a relationship based on mutual respect and sensitivity. Disagreements between us, that inevitably occur, must always be expressed in a manner that reflects this spirit and not in language that only exacerbates tension”. Cardinal Kasper noted that the concerns of the Jewish Community “have been clearly conveyed to the Holy See at the highest levels”. The Statement concluded by recalling that 10 days ago, during the audience with Pope Benedict XVI the International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations (IJCIC) requested that all archival material be made available for scholarly review before any far reaching “decisions are made by the Holy See regarding people and policies during World War II”.