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Documentation

THE FIRST ALEXANDRIA DECLARATION OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF THE HOLY LAND
Alexandria, 21-22 January, 2002


On January 21 and 22, 2002, religious leaders – Jews, Christians and Muslims – from Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority gathered in Alexandria, Egypt for a historic meeting. They had the support of their respective governments, and their aim was to call for an end to violence and to a return to negotiations for peace. At the end of their meeting, they issued the «First Alexandria Declaration of the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land», a declaration which is not to remain only words on paper, but which calls for a continuation of dialogue and for practical implementation. [R. K.]


In the name of God who is Almighty, Merciful and Compassionate, we, who have gathered as religious leaders from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities, pray for true peace in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and declare our commitment to ending the violence and bloodshed that denies the right of life and dignity.

According to our faith traditions, killing innocents in the name of God is a desecration of His Holy Name, and defames religion in the world. The violence in the Holy Land is an evil which must be opposed by all people of good faith. We seek to live together as neighbors respecting the integrity of each other’s historical and religious inheritance. We call upon all to oppose incitement, hatred and misrepresentation of the other.

1. The Holy Land is holy to all three of our faiths. Therefore, followers of the divine religions must respect its sanctity, and bloodshed must not be allowed to pollute it. The sanctity and integrity of the holy places must be preserved, and freedom of religious worship must be ensured for all.

2. Palestinians and Israelis must respect the divinely ordained purposes of the Creator by whose grace they live in the same land that is called holy.

3. We call on the political leaders of both peoples to work for a just, secure and durable solution in the spirit of the words of the Almighty and the Prophets.

4. As a first step now, we call for a religiously sanctioned cease-fire, respected and observed on all sides, and for the implementation of the Mitchell and Tenet recommendations, including the lifting of restrictions and return to negotiations.

5. We seek to help create an atmosphere where present and future generations will co-exist with mutual respect and trust in the other. We call on all to refrain from incitement and demonization, and to educate our future generations accordingly.

6. As religious leaders, we pledge ourselves to continue a joint quest for a just peace that leads to reconciliation in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, for the common good of all our peoples.

7. We announce the establishment of a permanent joint committee to carry out the recommendations of this declaration, and to engage with our respective political leadership accordingly.»



Delegates:

His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey;
His Eminence Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, Cairo, Egypt;
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Bakshi-Doron
Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel, Rabbi Michael Melchior
Rabbi of Tekoa, Rabbi Menachem Froman
International Director of Interreligious Affairs, American Jewish Committee, Rabbi David Rosen
Rabbi of Savyon, Rabbi David Brodman
Rabbi of Maalot Dafna, Rabbi Yitzak Ralbag
Chief Justice of the Sharia Courts, Sheikh Taisir Tamimi
Minister of State for the PA, Sheikh Tal El Sider
Mufti of the Armed Forces, Sheikh Abdelsalam Abu Schkedem
Mufti of Bethlehm, Sheikh Mohammed Taweel
Representative of the Greek Patriarch, Archbishop Aristichos
Latin Patriarch, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah
Melkite Archbishop, Archbishop Boutrous Mu’alem
Representative of the Armenian Patriarch, Archbishop Chinchinian
Bishop of Jerusalem, The Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El Assal



LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II TO ALL THE HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT
OF THE WORLD, Vatican, February 24, 2002
AND DECALOGUE OF ASSISI FOR PEACE, Assisi, January 24, 2002 (1)


To Their Excellencies Heads of State or Government

A month ago, the Day of Prayer for Peace in the world took place in Assisi. Today my thoughts turn spontaneously to those responsible for the social and political life of the countries that were represented there by the religious authorities of many nations.

The inspired reflections of these men and women, representatives of different religious confessions, their sincere desire to work for peace, and their common quest for the true progress of the whole human family, found a sublime and yet concrete form in the «Decalogue» proclaimed at the end of this exceptional day.

I have the honour of presenting to Your Excellency the text of this common agreement, convinced that these ten propositions can inspire the political and social action of your government.

I observed that those who took part in the Assisi Meeting were more than ever motivated by a common conviction: humanity must choose between love and hatred. All of them, feeling that they belong to one and the same human family, were able to express their aspiration through these ten points, convinced that if hatred destroys, love, on the contrary, builds up.

I hope that the spirit and commitment of Assisi will lead all people of goodwill to seek truth, justice, freedom and love, so that every human person may enjoy his inalienable rights and every people, peace. For her part, the Catholic Church, who trusts and hopes in «the God of love and peace» (II Cor 13,11), will continue to work for loyal dialogue, reciprocal forgiveness and mutual harmony to clear the way for people in this third millenium.

With gratitude to Your Excellency, for the attention you will be kind enough to give my Message, I take the present opportunity offered to assure you of my prayerful best wishes.
From the Vatican, 24 February 2002.



DECALOGUE OF ASSISI FOR PEACE
January 24, 2002
1. We commit ourselves to proclaiming our firm conviction that violence and terrorism are incompatible with the authentic spirit of religion, and, as we condemn every recourse to violence and war in the name of God or of religion, we commit ourselves to doing everything possible to eliminate the root causes of terrorism.

2. We commit ourselves to educating people to mutual respect and esteem, in order to help bring about a peaceful and fraternal coexistence between people of different ethnic groups, cultures and religions.

3. We commit ourselves to fostering the culture of dialogue, so that there will be an increase of understanding and mutual trust between individuals and among peoples, for these are the premises of authentic peace.

4. We commit ourselves to defending the right of everyone to live a decent life in accordance with their own cultural identity, and to form freely a family of his own.

5. We commit ourselves to frank and patient dialogue, refusing to consider our differences as an insurmountable barrier, but recognizing instead that to encounter the diversity of others can become an opportunity for greater reciprocal understanding.

6. We commit ourselves to forgiving one another for past and present errors and prejudices, and to supporting one another in a common effort both to overcome selfishness and arrogance, hatred and violence, and to learn from the past that peace without justice is no true peace.

7. We commit ourselves to taking the side of the poor and the helpless, to speaking out for those who have no voice and to working effectively to change these situations, out of the convinction that no one can be happy alone.

8. We commit ourselves to taking up the cry of those who refuse to be resigned to violence and evil, and we desire to make every effort possible to offer the men and women of our time real hope for justice and peace.

9. We commit ourselves to encouraging all efforts to promote friendship between peoples, for we are convinced that, in the absence of solidarity and understanding between peoples, technological progress exposes the world to a growing risk of destruction and death.

10. We commit ourselves to urging leaders of nations to make every effort to create and consolidate, on the national and international levels, a world of solidarity and peace based on justice.




EUROPEAN ENCOUNTER BETWEEN JEWS AND CATHOLICS ORGANIZED BY THE EUROPEAN JEWISH CONGRESS
Paris, January 28-29, 2002


On January 28 and 29, 2002, upon the initiative of the European Jewish Congress, Jews and Catholics met for two days in Paris. Futher down, a report is given.
The evening of January 28 was dedicated to the following theme: «After Vatican II and Nostra Aetate: the deepening of relations between Jews and Catholics in Europe during the pontificate of John Paul II». Below, we are publishing the Pope’s message as well as the talks given by Prof. J. Halpérin and J.M. Cardinal Lustiger. We thank the two speakers for authorizing us to publish them in SIDIC. The sub-titles were added by our redaction team.



THE POPE’S MESSAGE TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS EUROPEAN ENCOUNTER (2)

… Shalom, Peace!

With this biblical expression, I would like to extend my cordial greetings to all the participants in this encounter. Coming now, just after the recent Day of Prayer for Peace in the World held in Assisi on January 24, it is particularly timely. All the religions committed themselves to work for peace, thus offering a sign of hope for the world and reminding us that the spiritual and transcendant journey of humankind invites us to promote peace and respect for the dignity of every human person. Jews and Christians have a particular relationship with one another. The message which comes to us from the God of the Covenant with Moses, the patriarchs and the prophets belongs to our common heritage and invites us to work together for the life of the world, for the Most High calls us both to be holy as He Himself is holy, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Since the Second Vatican Council Declaration Nostra Aetate, much progress has been made towards better mutual understanding and reconciliation between our two communities – and I rejoice over this. A text such as Nostra Aetate constitutes a point of departure, a basis and a compass for future relations. After the painful events which marked the history of Europe, particularly during the 20th century, it is right to give new impetus to our relations so that the religious tradition which inspired the culture and the life of the continent might continue to be part of its soul, thus allowing it to be at the service of the growth of the whole human person and of every human person.

By their respective identities, Jews and Christians are linked to one another and must strive toward a culture of dialogue such as the philosopher Martin Buber envisaged. It is up to us to transmit our common wealth and values to future generations so that human beings never again despise their brother or sister in humanity and that never again wars or conflicts are led in the name of an ideology which despises a culture or religion. On the contrary, the different religious traditions are called to put their heritage at the service of all in order to build together the common European house which is united in justice, peace, equity and solidarity. Then the word of God given by the prophet will begin to be realized (cf. Isa 11:6-9). Young people need our common witness and commitment so that they might believe, might sanctify the name of God through all of life and might hope in a future of the world which is rich in promise. Thus, young people will endeavor to strengthen fraternal bonds, to establish a renewed humanity…




«HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN JEWS AND CATHOLICS
DURING THE PONTIFICATE OF POPE JOHN PAUL II»
by Prof. Jean Halpérin
After rendering homage to Dr. Riegner, who, «for half a century was the principal craftsman and architect, on the Jewish side, of the renewal of dialogue between Jews and Christians», Prof. Halpérin continued:

… We are gathered here in order to analyze together, as lucidly as possible, the history which we can watch being written and lived. In doing so, we benefit from standing back, for we know from where we have come, even if we sometimes want to forget it. By the way, the program of this encounter speaks of a «deepening» or a «coming closer» in our relations, but I believe we are more in the presence of a real mutation.

As was already said, we have seminal events in mind, which have marked Pope John Paul II’s pontificate: his visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome on April 13, 1986, and the major speech he gave at the same time to the Jewish people and to the faithful of the apostolic Roman Church throughout the world on that occasion. And that other high point, the Pope’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land in March 2000, with the particularly strong moments at Yad vaShem and the Western Wall. As Cardinal Martini wrote: «Nothing is like it was before, a new page has been turned.»


Decisive preludes…

In truth, it is unthinkable not to mention here first of all the person and action of Cardinal Roncalli, who became Pope John XXIII, of blessed memory. With the collaboration of Cardinal Bea, he was the initiator of the historical turning point which was Vatican II and Nostra Aetate. It must be known that everything began in the aftermath of the Shoah, that is to say, after eighteen centuries of the teaching of contempt, to quote the phrase used by the historian Jules Isaac. And in bringing to mind that period, I am thinking of the time which is near, yet which today almost seems far away: the meeting at Seelisberg in 1947. A small seed which little by little germinated, thanks to Jules Isaac and Jacques Maritain, among others, and which brought about that the Churches went from the teaching of contempt to that of respect. It is useful to remember that the Seelisberg conference and the Ten Points which it adopted were an extra-ecclesial event which the Catholic hierarchy watched with distrust. And we know that until 1964, one year before Nostra Aetate, the Council of Christians and Jews was not encouraged or blessed by the hierarchy, which feared religious relativism. We had to wait until Paul VI before that precautionary measure toward the Council of Christians and Jews was lifted. Without these decisive preludes, nothing of what came after could have happened.


John Paul II’s action … luminously coherent …

As we know today, John Paul II’s action was not something sporadic, but rather it was repeated and almost always luminously coherent, and it is impressive to see with what continuity he insists on the topics which in his mind are the most fundamental. To such an extent that sometimes contrary or contradictory signs are no longer noticeable.

It is not enough to call to mind in an emblematic way John Paul II’s visit to the synagogue of Rome. We must learn or relearn to listen to what he said that day. As he himself said, the Pope’s visit must be appreciated both as a reality and as a symbol. It could have been simply a manifestation of protocol. But the way that encounter happened, the warmth which marked it and the words which were exchanged give the event a far greater significance. As several commentators remarked, of all the trips undertaken by John Paul II, even to the antipodes, the kilometer by means of which he crossed over the distance which separates the Vatican from the synagogue of Rome in some way constitutes his farthest trip, since we have to do with a journey across almost two thousand years of history - and what a history!


The meeting in the synagogue of Rome … in complete equality …

When faced with the Catholic Church, so much suffering, so many snubs and injustices are ingrained in Jewish consciousness and memory on an existential and a theological level that I have to emphasize first of all the character of complete equality which marked the encounter in the synagogue of Rome. This atmosphere of equality is in itself without precedent, as was the visit itself of a pope to a synagogue. It is also very significant that John Paul II insisted on affirming with force that he is the faithful heir of John XXIII, of blessed memory, who emotionally really does symbolize for Jews the act of repentance and the opening of the Catholic Church. The Pope’s speech has, among other merits, that of affirming the irreversible character of Nostra Aetate no. 4 and of the Guildelines and Suggestions of 1974, and this was certainly useful. In addition, it strongly underlines the Church’s will to substitute definitively the teaching of respect for that of contempt. The pope’s message allows us to hope that the way is now irrevocably barred to any risk of returning to what was. It reaffirms in clear terms the will to overcome the age-old prejudices, in spite of difficulties. And even more, perhaps in a way that was unprecedented, it explicitly puts aside the theology of substitution and of appropriation.

It was encouraging to hear the pope say that this encounter, after John XXIII’s pontificate and the Second Vatican Council, puts an end to a long period upon which people will never be able to reflect enough in view of drawing out from it all the lessons which it imposes. The frank and sincere fraternal dialogue between the Church and the Jewish people benefits from the light shed by the affirmation that the Church has links with Judaism which it has with no other religion. We have taken note of the fact that we are «the beloved brothers, in a certain sense, the elder brothers.»

We also note with interest that all supposedly theological justification for discriminatory measures, or, worse still, for persecutions, is unfounded. I quote John Paul II: «It is not legitimate to say that the Jews are rejected or cursed, as if this could be deduced from the Sacred Scriptures, as it is true that the divine promise is irrevocable.» For both communities it is important to be reminded that the differences between them have not disappeared. I again quote John Paul II: «In full awareness of the bonds which unite them, each of them hears itself being recognized and respected in its own identity, leaving aside all syncretism and ambiguous appropriation.» In the measure in which the pope took care to say clearly that we are only at the beginning of the road and that there remains an enormous amount to be done in order to get rid of the prejudices and misunderstandings that have accumulated throughout the centuries, a way filled with creative hope was opened up. It is indeed on the basis of dialogue conducted in loyalty and friendship and in rigorous respect for the intimate convictions of both sides, that we can envisage working together for the good of the whole of humanity.

It is not unimportant that on this occasion, the pope emphasized the need to rediscover the ethical values inscribed in the Decalogue and that we were explicitly reminded of the fact that the Hebrew Bible is the source of love of the neighbor and of the foreigner, as also of the duty to come to the aid of the widow and the orphan.

As we can see, everything that John Paul II said in the Great Synagogue of Rome on April 13, 1986 is of real importance. There can be no doubt that this audacious meditation on the relationship between the Church and Judaism will remain the reference text for a long time. In many ways, we can find there words of acknowledgment and restitution. May they be fully heard by the Church as a whole and by its faithful.


The Polish pope’s journey…

But we mustn’t limit ourselves to the speech in the synagogue. We must also call to mind the address to the representatives of the Jewish community in Mainz on November 17, 1980; the speech in Rome on March 6, 1982, to the delegates of the Bishops’ Conferences and other experts in Jewish-Christian relations, including non-Catholics; the words spoken to the representatives of the Jewish community in Warsaw in 1987. And here I would like to give homage to the courageous work of the sorely missed pioneer Jerzy Turowicz, of blessed memory, and to greet the presence here of Stefan Wilkanowicz, who continues to hold the blazing torch which gave light to our history with the Znak movement. I would like to let you hear one of Pope John Paul II’s sentences in Warsaw: «I think today, perhaps more than ever before, the nation of Israel is at the center of the attention of the nations of the world. Through it, you have become a strong voice of warning for the whole of humanity, for all nations, all powers of this world, all systems and every human person.»

We must also remember the speech given by Pope John Paul II to the International Liaison Committee between Catholics and Jews in Rome in October 1985 on the 20th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, and his letter to Cardinal Cassidy presenting the pontifical document, «We Remember» of March 16, 1998.

And we cannot forget to mention the intra-ecclesial colloquium held in the Vatican in 1997 on «The Roots of Anitjudaism in the Christian milieu», prepared by Fr. Cottier. So many prominent facts which illuminate the path of the Polish pope.

For the sake of remembering, we should surely also call to mind the intervention of Cardinal Etchegaray in the previous period, at the Synod of Bishops in 1983, when he asked the Church to exercise its mission of reconciliation and repentance toward the Jewish people. But there is still more. Not only the thirty-five interventions counted in twenty-one years of pontificate by Fr. Michel Remaud in his book, «Chrétiens et juifs entre le passé et l’avenir» (Christians and Jews between the past and the future), but also all the impulses given by the pope to national bishops’ conferences and to several bishops’ synods, as well as the place he gives to Old Testament references and sources, in particular in his homilies and during general audiences. As proof I want to mention only the most recent which he gave last November 14 and 28, commenting on Psalm 117 and Psalm 119. Consequently, this gives an indication of a thread running through all of Pope John Paul II’s theology and doctrine.


… and others …

Let us also take this opportunity to call to mind the role of several dignitaries of the Church, such as Cardinal Decourtray and Msgr. Rossano, of blessed memory, or Cardinals König and Martini, and others more. And since we are in Paris, how could we not remember with as much emotion as gratitude that great text which, by its vigor and its clarity, remains foundational: The Pastoral Guidelines of the French Episcopal Committee for Relations with Judaism, of Easter 1973, which Chief Rabbi Kaplan, of blessed memory, welcomed immediately with so much accuracy. This text was published by the French Bishops’ Conference on April 16, 1973.


A radically new phase …

As we can see, John Paul II’s pontificate is not simply a time frame, but a particularly rich and significant chapter in relations between the Catholic Church and the Jews. If I wanted to point out some of the major stages in this pontificate, this was not so as to give us pleasure, but to allow us to appreciate lucidly its historical significance. Again, we must say clearly that we must not commit the error of seeing in it an end, but rather the opening and the beginning of a radically new, unprecedented phase. As Cardinal Willebrands told us in October 1985, you cannot repair or eliminate almost twenty centuries of errors, of ommissions and of misunderstandings in twenty years.

In the above, when giving the historical outline of our relations since the beginning of John Paul II’s pontificate, I alluded to what I called «contrary and contradictory signs». So as to avoid all confusion, and out of concern for the truth, I think I must quote as examples the crisis around the Auschwitz Carmel, the surprising beatification of Pius IX, and also the reactions that were aroused in the Vatican by the «Preliminary Report» of the Joint Commission of six Catholic and Jewish historians and by the forty-seven pertinent questions that that commission unanimously asked in order to be able to continue the work that had been confided to them.

As the Talmud says, all beginnings are difficult. Let us be watchful so that the dynamics at work will cause this beginning to be extended and deepened in a way that is irreversible. Much has already been done. An enormous amount remains to be accomplished. For this, both sides will need a lot of good will, perseverance, vigilance, memory and hope. So that together, after having overcome our mental habits, our prejudices, our distrust and our suspicions, we might be able to teach future generations how they must assume together the common responsibility which our sources and our common vocation impose on us.




«WHAT FUTURE HAS JOHN PAUL II OPENED?»
by Jean Marie Cardinal Lustiger


Those who signed the Seelisberg points hoped.

Jules Issac knocked at the door.

The Second Vatican Council opened it with the declaration Nostra Aetate.

From there on, we had to advance on the road of mutual recognition between Jews and Christians. But it was impossible to weigh up in profit and loss two thousand blood-soaked years. So as to map out roads for the future, we had to be clear about the past and assume it.

Pope John Paul II went about this task with audacity, love and respect, in spite of the fact that he was not understood and met with contradiction. He was prepared for that. He knew the Jewish condition. He had neighbors, fellow students and friends who were Jewish. He was familiar with their customs and with their memory of persecutions. He saw their annihilation in his crushed homeland. After the war, his knowledge of the world and of history unfurled in the old culture of Central Europe, to which so many Jewish intellectuals and artists contributed. He is the first pope to have known through his own experience the world of Central European Jewish communities which have now disappeared.

At the time when Karol Wojtila began his pontificate, the generation of Shoah contemporaries, at least those of Europe, had begun to exit from their silence. Then, those who «didn’t know» experienced the feeling of nothingness which marks this generation, the nothingness of exterminated lives, the nothingness of beliefs and hopes, the nothingness of memory. From then on, Auschwitz became for everyone the symbol of a memory that is burned to ashes. Auschwitz sends everything which preceded it, the former Europe, to nothingness. For the last twenty years, incidents between Jews and Christians, that were picked up immediately by the media, reawakened polemics, nourished suspicion, reopened wounds, those of the Shoah and those of the centuries during which Jews were periodically persecuted in Christian Europe. Who would not have the bitter feeling that these fragile relations constantly risk being broken? However, in these circumstances enough people of heart and of truth could be found to bring peace to the conflicts that arose again, to dissipate the lack of understanding and to reestablish trust.


Initiatives of brilliant symbolic significance…

John Paul II, for his part, took initiatives of brilliant symbolic significance. He could only take them thanks to the will and courage of the Jewish leaders.

I will leave aside the diplomatic agreement concluded between the State of Israel and the Vatican. The text surprises by its religious and historical content.

Here, I will mention two gestures, among many others, which show to the eyes of world opinion what the Church thus committed wants.

The pope’s visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome: his photograph with the Chief Rabbi did more than a long speech.

His pilgrimage to the Holy Land, his visit in Israel, his prayer at the Western Wall deeply moved the most hostile, indifferent or sceptical minds.

At the same time, Pope John Paul II developed some very significant teaching on the relationship of Christians with the Jewish people. The pope asks Christians to discover the Jewish people with new eyes, not only in the Bible but also in the history of the past two millenia. Numerous addresses given throughout the years by the highest authority in the Christian world will, I hope, be collected in a volume. They call philosophers and theologians, historians and sociologists and also politicians to new work. For this reflection grasps human history in the light of Revelation. It invites us to understand the significance for all people of the election of the Jewish people. To ignore or to deny this election would deprive the history of salvation, which is the basis of the Christian faith, of all meaning, and maybe the same is true for all of human history.


Retying the broken knots…

An enormous job has thus been accomplished in the minds of both Christians and Jews: making clear and acknowledging Christian responsibility in the drama of the Second World War. Retying the broken knots in a common history, a common culture of two thousand years. Telling one another the accumulated grievances in their truth, even if this is cruel, so that there may no longer be things unsaid between the heirs of that history.

Thus reestablishing the continuity of European history above the nothingness of the Shoah, refinding a dialogue that was begun, broken, taken up again over the last two thousand years. In this way, we discover together that Auschwitz did not stop history since, assuming all of the past, we have the common will to live our common future at the service of humanity.

Who will tell the spiritual grandeur of all those who were the craftspeople, who will tell the faith and generosity of which they gave proof? Here, I greet in particular the memory of Dr. Riegner who consecrated all his strength to this. Who will tell of the divine inspiration which guided them? Who will tell of the prayer of so many men and women who thus carried this plan before God? Little by little we are perceiving in this time of hardship and hatred that «righteous people» wrote a history made up of kindness, respect, humanity and sanctity, manifesting the power of the biblical Word.


A real dialogue can begin again…

We have arrived at a historical moment when real dialogue, that was interrupted almost two thousand years ago, can begin again, a dialogue, it is true, that was continued in a low voice by eminent minds that are too quickly forgotten. This dialogue will certainly not suppress the opposition or the differences between Jews and Christians. The continued deepening of the Word of God will make us understand with respect what the Spirit gives to each one to understand and to believe. Christians and Jews will necessarily discover one another with a more lively and stronger vision of the greatness of God’s gift and of the beauty of the human person’s destiny.

The dialogue which was carried on between John Paul II and Emmanuel Levinas is an illustration of this. Biblical revelation, as Jewish Tradition receives it and to which the Church adheres by its faith in Christ, is an inexhaustible treasure for the future of humanity. Here are two examples:

For Christians, what wealth it will be to welcome the election of Israel as a basic fact of human history, and consequently to consider their own vocation in that light! Even more, as mutual understanding develops, Jewish and Christian thinkers will know how to work together to take into account all of civilisations’ religious forms at the service of Peace. A few days ago, in Assisi, the pope showed the way…

Another example: for two thousand years, Jewish reflection on chapters 42 to 54 of Isaiah has been very circumspect, as if these chapters had been monopolized by the Christians. However, how could we not make a new start, without any preliminary refusals, and discuss with one another such topics as sin, evil and suffering, repentance, to which God calls the human person in order to give his forgiveness, the hope of redemption. The fear of hurting one another, of wanting to conquer, as was the case in the disputationes of past centuries, must not bury that prophetic word at a time when the nations see their hope for happiness and their certainty of misfortune growing constantly, at a time when the fears and the risks seem to be greater than ever before because of the new powers conquered by human beings.

On these two points, which are the most sensitive of all, election and redemption, only a new beginning in dialogue between Christians and Jews will allow us to welcome in all its newness the divine light given to humanity.

Thus, it seems to me that a common future between Jews and Christians cannot be reduced to sorting out disputes that constantly come up. We cannot be satisfied with good and peaceful understanding or even with a solidarity that is at the service of the good of humanity. Our common future will consist in work on what we have in common and on what is proper to each of us, a work which must no longer hinder differences and legitimately recognized tensions. These differences and these tensions are themselves a stimulus for us to go not toward mutual concessions, as is the case in negotiations or a business deal, but towards a deepening which is ever more open and stringent, towards a more total docility to God, each according to their vocation. In this way, this fruitful tension can be at the service of humanity as a source of inspiration for the peace and happiness of all.

By their respective identities, Jews and Christians are linked to one another and must strive toward a culture of dialogue… Young people need our common witness and commitment so that they might believe, might sanctify the name of God through all of life and might hope in a future of the world which is rich in promise.



THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THEIR SACRED SCRIPTURE IN THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE
A new document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission
by Johannes Beutler, SJ, Rome


In November 2001, a new document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission was published with the title, «The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible». It bears the date of the Feast of the Ascension, 2001. The original French version has been translated in the meantime into English, Italian, German, Spanish, and Polish. First reactions, also from the side of Jewish commentators, have been positive. The document consists of four parts which shall be presented briefly.



1. The Sacred Scriptures of the Jewish people are a fundamental part of the Christian Bible
As Christianity has its origin in Judaism, so also the Christian Bible has its roots in the Bible of the Jewish people. In fact, for the first decades of church history, the Holy Scriptures of the Jews were the only Bible of the Christians. The document underlines the fact that «the New Testament recognizes the authority of the Sacred Scriptures of the Jewish people». «As it is written» is a frequent formula, which gives the quotation an unquestionable authority. The Scriptures must be «fulfilled». This «fulfillment» means at the same time accordance with the Scriptures and discontinuity: a breaking open of boundaries towards new forms of the realization of God’s plan of salvation. The document underlines structural similarities between Jewish and Christian tradition concerning Scripture: both traditions have their Sacred Books (partly in common), both know a tradition which can be added to this Scripture, but also limits to this addition. As only Law, Prophets and some Sacred Writings recognized as Scripture can be read in synagogal liturgy, so also the Christian Bible, read in liturgy, remains the foundation of Christian faith, to which nothing of substance can be added.


2. Fundamental themes in the Jewish Scriptures and their reception into faith in Christ

The Jewish and Christian Bible are closely linked not only formally but also in content. The document chooses nine fundamental themes or areas where such correspondence can be shown: (1) Revelation of God, (2) the Human Person: Greatness and Wretchedness, (3) God, Liberator and Saviour, (4) the Election of Israel, (5) the Covenant, (6) the Law, (7) Prayer and Cult, Jerusalem and Temple, (8) Divine Reproaches and Condemnations, and (9) the Promises. Of particular interest for contemporary Jewish-Christian dialogue are sections (4) and (5). The document maintains that God’s election of Israel is irrevocable. The main text for this vision is – on the basis of God’s promises of old – chapters 9-11 of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. The Gentiles can also participate in the election of God’s chosen people. Not the branch carries the root, but the root the branch. From this perspective follows that God’s covenant with his people is irrevocable. Like the exilic and postexilic prophets, the New Testament emphasizes more strongly such forms and expressions of covenant that are based on the sole decree of God, like the covenant with Noah, with Abraham and with David, more than the covenant at Sinai which was based at the same time on Israel’s fidelity to the Law. The Christians apply to themselves the promise of the «New Covenant» of Jer 31:31-34; cf. Ezek 36:25f., knowing well that this promise was given to Israel and is only open for a new interpretation including also Gentiles coming to eschatological salvation. At this point the question arises, how a new reading of the Scripture of Israel is possible without depriving it of its original meaning. The document deals with this question in the beginning and at the end of Part 2. At this point, the concept of «re-reading» is introduced. As there are forms of «re-reading» in the Jewish Bible itself, so there are also forms of «re-reading» this Scripture with the eyes of Christian faith (nos. 19-22). The theoretical justification for this process can be seen in contemporary semiotics which underlines that texts do not simply «have» a meaning but receive it again and again from their readers and hearers according to their individual and cultural predispositions, their horizon of understanding. The same idea is expressed at the end of the section, where the discovery of new dimensions of meaning in a text is compared to the «revelation» of a film which uncovers new forms and colours that were invisible until then, but already latently present in it (no. 64).


3. The Jews in the New Testament

Only after looking at the relationship between the Jewish and the Christian Bible, the document turns to the relationship between Jews and Christians in biblical perspective. The first thing to be said is that Judaism and Christianity were not distinct units from the beginning. Christianity has its origin within the Judaism of the Second Temple Period, a time when the Jewish people were divided into a number of groups and movements to which the first Christian communities initially belonged. The closest neighbours seem to have been the Pharisees, and the fact that they are treated in the New Testament more polemically than others rather confirms this thesis: it is normally with the closest neighbours that there is more dispute and strife. Alleged Antijudaism in the New Testament does not find a basis in the texts themselves. This holds true even for controversial passages like 1 Thess 2:14-16, where Paul is rather polemical in view of the concrete Jews of Jerusalem who were opposed to his preaching; or of John 8:31-59, the famous passage about the «Jews» being «sons of the devil». It can be shown that this passage deals with Jews who had come to an initial faith in Jesus (John 8:30). In general, the negative way «the Jews» are represented in the Fourth Gospel reflects tensions at the end of the first century between both communities and cannot be used as a justification for Antijudaism at later periods.


4. Conclusions

The conclusions of the document are of a general and pastoral nature. Generally speaking, the New Testament is incomprehensible without the Old Testament. The document affirms in an impressive image: «Without the Old Testament, the New Testament would be an incomprehensible book, a plant deprived of its roots and destined to dry up and wither» (no. 84). Both Books have much more in common than is often realized: «... it was wrong, in past times, to unilaterally insist on it (the discontinuity) to the extent of taking no account of the fundamental continuity» (ibid.). From this insight follow the pastoral conclusions. They remind the readers of the recent developments in the teaching and the praxis of the church since the Declaration «Nostra Aetate» of the Second Vatican Council (1965), Pope John Paul II’s encounter with the representatives of the Jewish community in Germany (1980), his visit to the Roman Synagogue (1986) and his visit to the Holy Land in the year of the Jubilee (2000). What the Pope said on the occasion of his historical visit to the Roman Synagogue can be considered a manifesto of Jewish-Christian relations which will be basic for any further development: «The Jewish religion is not ‘extrinsic’ to us, but in a certain manner, it is ‘intrinsic’ to our religion. We have therefore a relationship with it which we do not have with any other religion. You are our favoured brothers and, in a certain way, one can say our elder brothers» (no. 86). The right attitude of Christians towards their «elder brothers» is therefore respect and deep appreciation. Thus, the document concludes: «It is greatly to be desired that prejudice and misunderstanding be gradually eliminated on both sides, in favour of a better understanding of the patrimony they share and to strengthen the links that bind them» (no. 87).


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1 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters...
2 Published in l’Osservatore Romano, French edition, on February 5, 2002