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Outstanding events
The Editors

76. CAMBRIDGE, England (R.N.S) - More than seventy leading scholars
and experts from both sides of the Atlantic and representing several deno
minations, took part, August 7-15, 1966, in an international"donference on
Christian-Jewish relations. Four vital issues were discussed:

1. The implications of the statements of Vatican Council II and the World Council of Churches, with particular reference to educational progress in both Christian and Jewish communities.

2. The mEaning of 'dialogue' in the context of Jewish-Christian relations, its possibilities and its limitations.

3. The relevance to the contemporary situation of the principles set'out in the Declaration on the Fundamental Postulates of Christianity and Judaism in relation to Human Order, which was adopted at an international conference of Christians and Jews at Oxford in August, 1946.

4. The challenge to Jaws and Christians of the rise of neoNazism and of current racial, religious and other forms of group tensions.

The resolution on "the Christian-Jewish dialogue" which was .adopted by the conference, stated that dialogue should be based "on an unconditional respect for the integrity of conscience and for the freedom and uniqueness of each participant....", and should avoid "any attempt to undermine the beliefs of any of the participants". This did not preclude the right of each participant to "the full opportunity to express his own position in all freedom".

77. DECLARATION of the FIFTH.PLENARY ASSEMBLY of the. WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS Brussels, Belgium, 31 July 9-August, 1966

HUMAN RIGHTS. "The Assembly also welcomes the adoption by the Ecumenical: Council-of.the Roman Catholic Church of a Declaration on Religious Liberty. The implementation of this historic Declaration, particularly on the local level, could bring about a radical transformation in the climate of religious opinion and in particular help to eradicate the misuse and degradation of theological doctrine as a justification for discrimination and group hatred.
While these and like measures adopted by international bodies are unreservedly welcomed by the assembly because of the objectives they embody, their real value must depend on their. implementation..,. and their faithful application....."

78. An Opinion Expressed.......
WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
In a talk at the Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation, Dr. Eugene CARSON BLAKE,. General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, criticised discussion at the Ecumenical Council, Vatican II, which resulted in the recent Declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions.

Certainly, all Christians, if they thought about the matter, would agree that God alone is the Judge of men, and that any usurpation of His prerogative of judgement is as great a sin as any it would presume to absolve".

Dr. Blake said that the "sorry history of religious prejudice is perhaps the chief reason that many modern men reject God and any religious understanding of life".

"Both Christians and Jews", he said, " have used their faith in God as an excuse for religious prejudice and persecution. While it is true that in quantity the persecution of Jews by Christians is overwhelming, it needs to be remembered that in quality, this persecution is not different from that visited upon the first Christians by Jewish religious leaders"..

Dr. Blake spoke of the need for Jews and Christians to work together in the struggle against secularism. "It is my conviction", he said, " that Judaism and Christianity have a common mission to the modern world, to reveal by their words and actions their common conviction that God is, and that men may come to know Him and obey Him".

Such a mission cannot be undertaken, however, "unless we are willing to understand better than we have, the central differences in our faith". The dilution of either Judaism or Christianity into "a kind of syncretistic tolerance", he said, would result in "the collapse of faith in God and the end of high religion in favour of secularism".
The New York Times - 15.11.65

and

A CLARIFICATION....

77. Commentary by Rev. Gregory BAUM, O.S.A., on Part 4 of the Declaration - Relationship of the Church to Judaism:

"The Conciliar statement was addressed to Christians. It intended to clarify Christian teaching in areas where, in a more or less remote past, an anti-Jewish tone had deformed the pure presentation of the Gospel. The statement was, therefore, a Christian affair. It was not written as a special favour to the Jewish community or the Synagogue.
… in, the Conciliar statement, the Catholic Church was concerned with her own part and her own integrity.

"In the Conciliar statement, the Church had no intention of telling the Jewish people who they are. There would have been something aggressive, or at least condescending about a Christian Church intending to tell the Jews whether, or in what sense, they were God's chosen people, or in what sense they were, or were not responsible for what Christians regard as their great failure. If Jewish readers understood the text as addressed to them, it is not surprising that some of them were disturbed and slightly insulted.... the Conciliar document represents an examination of the Christian conscience.

"The document is meant to teach the Catholic Church. The anti-Jewish tone of much Christian preaching in the past was based on certain false theological presuppositions, and it is the intention of-theConciliar statement to correct these, in order to remove from Christian teaching anything that could cause contempt and hatred of the Jews".
Bulletin from the Centre for Biblical and Jewish Studies. London.

POPE RECEIVES B'NAI B'RITH LEADERS ROME, December 20, 1966. (JTA)

78. Pope PAUL VI yesterday received B'nai B'rith leaders in a private audience for a twenty-minute discussion of efforts by the United Nations and the Catholic Church to promote human rights and religious liberty.

The delegation included B'nai B'rith President William WEXLER and Saul JOFTES, Secretary-General of the organisation's International Council.

The Pope showed great interest in the structure and activities of B'nai B'rith, and in the progress in contacts between Catholics and Jews in the United States.

The B'nai B'rith leaders told the Pope of their recent visit to Austria, and their talks with Cardinal KOENIG, one of the key figures in the fight. for the adoption of the Ecumenical Council's Declaration on the Jews.

The B'nai B'rith leaders also expressed Jewry's concern at the recrudescence of anti-semitism, and stressed the value of the Council's Declaration and necessity for its implementation.
The Pope assured them that the implementation of the Council's decision is the foremost task and duty of the Church at present.
Daily News Bulletin - 21.12.66.