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Resolution on Interfaith Relations Adopted by the 12th Plenary

Assembly of the World Jewish Congress in Brussels
Bélgica (2005/01)

1. The WJC recognizes the crucial importance of interfaith dialogue in reaching mutual understanding and appreciation based on what we have in common and with respect for where we differ.

2. The WJC considers that it has a leading role in stressing and deepening the dialogue between the Jewish people and other religions and that this task must have a permanent and prominent place in its agenda

3. The WJC has an essential role in strengthening and broadening the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, the body which conducts the institutional dialogue with other religions and in encouraging all IJCIC members to be full partners in these efforts.

4. The WJC calls upon religious institutions and individuals of all faiths to stand in the forefront of the struggle against anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, and vilification of the state of Israel. The WJC calls upon them to introduce a curriculum in religious educational institutions that will inculcate a message of respect and pluralism.

5. The WJC acknowledges the heroism of catholic individuals and institutions that sheltered Jewish children during the Holocaust. It is disturbed, however, by reports that the return of these children to the Jewish fold may have been deliberately blocked. It calls upon the Catholic Church to grant full and unfettered access to its archival holdings so that those who wish to return to their Jewish heritage and to be reunited with their families, are given the option of doing so.