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Editorial

The cover illustration is a new depiction of the well-known medieval symbol of Ecclesia and Synagoga. It was commissioned by Mary C. Boys, SNJM to accompany her book Has God Only One Blessing? Ecclesia and Synagoga both stand tall as representations of their respective faith communities, intent on moving forward together in parity and friendship. (cf. Langer review, p. 30)

This issue of SIDIC attempts to give this new Ecclesia and Synagoga a voice – to enable us to hear snippets of their conversation as they chart a new course together at the beginning of a new Christian millennium. In Tony Bayfield’s Catholics and Jews in Partnership we hear them speak of looking forward rather than back in a relationship which enters “into the very mind and heart of one’s dialogue partner.” Writing about the Millennium Conference with the Vatican which took place at the Sternberg Centre in London in May, 2000 Bayfield emphasizes that true dialogue must involve “engagement, wrestling...and sharing one’s own inner commitments and confusions.” This needs to occur, he says, especially “amongst those who are going to lead the Church and the Synagogue forward as leaders should.” (pp. 5-8)

Philip A. Cunningham’s article depicts Ecclesia and Synagoga wrestling together at Boston College in an effort to set their agenda for the twenty-first century. Discussing a conference on The Next Stage of Jewish and Christian Dialogue, Cunningham’s overview conveys the pervasive sense that “a new page is being turned” in Jewish-Christian conversations in theology, religious education, biblical studies, liturgy, ethics and history. It also indicates that “the unfamiliar intensity of such...encounters naturally triggers conflicting reactions...which can unconsciously motivate even those who have a long personal history in interreligious dialogue to feel a need to reinforce the boundary lines between the two traditions.” (pp. 2-5)

In the essay by Jean Dujardin Ecclesia and Synagoga celebrate, as “a definite cause of joy”, the recent Christian initiatives relating to repentance. Describing the March 2000 liturgy of repentance in Rome and Pope John Paul II’s symbolic gestures in Jerusalem as “evidence of an irreversible change in the Church,” Dujardin acknowledges that “fear and doubt have not completely disappeared in the Jewish community.” He notes, as well, the “cultural chasm” in theological words which “do not necessarily designate the same realities in Judaism as they do in Christianity.” After proposing several themes for the future dialogue, he indicates that the itinerary of the future is unforseeable and that the dialogue conversation will require “courage, uprightness and clear thinking” for Ecclesia and Synagoga to embrace this future together. (pp. 12-14)

In Envisioning the Future of Jewish-Christian Relations in Israel – through a dialogue among several members of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel – Ecclesia and Synagoga express their joint hope that the interfaith efforts of a minority in Israel will have a “leavening effect” on the broader very complex context. Their dialogue looks at the new challenge raised for contemporary Christianity by the establishment of the State of Israel. It illustrates the “slow process of mutual discovery and support” and the new sensitivity “to the theological concerns of Palestinian Christians.” Attention is given to the “Protestant theological divide” in Israel and to the problematic detachment of interreligious dialogue from politics. They express a desire to “highlight some of the rare but significant moments when good things happened between Jews and Christians” and to write large the significance of the symbolic gestures of Pope John Paul II during his recent pilgrimage. (pp. 8-12)

Ecclesia and Synagoga realize that “one does not erase so troubled a past in a few decades.” (Dujardin, p. 13) Gerhart M. Riegner’s Letter to the Editors most poignantly bears witness to this. His honest and forthright words show the courage and integrity needed to help ensure that Ecclesia and Synagoga, in this new millennium, will truly walk side by side on level ground. (p. 15)