"It makes sense today to speak of the Judaic-Christian roots of Europe", because "Hebraism and Christianity have joined forces to build the continent, often covertly". These are the words that Giorgio Israel, mathematician and expert in histories of Hebraism, uttered this morning at the meeting of the dioceses of Latium at Fiuggi (Italy), named "Hebraism in Italy: identity, confrontation, dialogue". For centuries, "the identity of the Jews has only been defined by their faith", said the expert. Zionism has had the "merit" of "showing a new way, of giving content to the Jewish identity", in a "newly-found bond with the land, that welds the religious and the national identity together". For the Italian Jew added Israel -, the "central problem" is "its relationship with Christianity", because Italy is a Christian-Catholic country. And between Christians and Jews "there is never been any non-involvement, but there has always been a deep interaction that has even altered their mutual theologies". Nowadays concluded Israel -, "the ground seems to be clear of the stones that cluttered the path of dialogue", which is by now "open, but with no syncretism", as repeated by Benedict XVI. Hebraism and Christianity are allied in offering a humanistic view.
