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Editorial

This issue of SIDIC provides a ‘window’ to the Christian-Jewish encounter in Latin America as it has developed since the promulgation of Nostra Aetate. Three Jewish ‘voices’ speak of this experience in South America. Rabbi Leon Klenicki presents a brief overview of the past 32 years, while Rabbis Abraham Skorka and Henry I. Sobel express a hope and vision for interfaith dialogue for the future. Klenicki reviews some of the efforts by representatives of CELAM (the Episcopal Conference of Latin America) and Jewish organizations in the various countries. Skorka, writing from Argentina and the experience of societies shaped for many years by feudalism and military dictatorship, speaks about what true dialogue can and must mean in Latin America’s interfaith effort “to remove the prejudicial barriers which are separating people’s hearts.” In Jesus and Judaism, Sobel looks at developments in Catholic-Jewish understanding through developments in our understanding of Jesus the Jew. Writing from Brazil, he emphasizes the fundamental importance of recognizing Jesus “as a sower of peace” and “an essential link between the two faiths.” [José Bison’s article, Brazil – Perspectives on Catholic-Jewish Dialogue for the Year 2000 (in SIDIC, No. 1, 1999) provides a Catholic perspective on these developments and needs.] The experience of Central America is briefly represented by an overview of efforts in Costa Rica from 1954 to 2000.

This issue combines the News and Documentation sections since the major documentation of the past several months originated in or is related to two major newsworthy events: the Lent 2000 Universal Prayer for Forgiveness at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and the March 2000 papal visit to the State of Israel.

The Lent 2000 section presents those excerpts from the Universal Prayer and the accompanying theological document, Memory and Reconciliation, which relate to Christians and Jews and the confession of sins against the people of Israel. These excerpts are followed by a statement of response from the International Council of Christians and Jews. The section concludes with a Lenten statement of response from the Committee for Catholic-Jewish Relations (Bishops’ Conference, England and Wales) to We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah.

The section on Pope John Paul II’s visit to Israel includes the major addresses by the Pope on March 21 and 23 and his prayer at the Western Wall on March 26. The March 23 address by Prime Minister Ehud Barak follows.

John T. Pawlikowski’s brief report on Yeshiva University’s Conference on Polish-Jewish Relations provides an update to the presentations on Poland in SIDIC No. 2, 1999 on Eastern and Central Europe. Rabbi Eric Yoffie’s inspiring address on Advances and Tensions in Catholic-Jewish Relations: A Way Forward prepares us for the next issue of SIDIC which will present hopes and visions from various parts of the world for the future of the Christian-Jewish encounter.