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Christians and Jews in the European Project
Remi Hoeckman, OP
1. Towards a European Identity
Victor Hugo is reported to have said in an address to the "Congress de la Paix" on 21 August 1849: "A day will come when you France, you Russia, you Italy, you England, you Germany, all you nations of this continent, without losing your distinctive qualities and your glorious individuality, you will merge together in a profound unity to construct the European Fraternity"'
At that time these words were prophetic and optimistic. They still are optimistic, but somehow the dream of a new and unified Europe seems to be coming true. It is not the dream of the Athenean Isocrates ("same blood", "same language", "same religion"), on the contrary; yet something like a common European identity is in the making, reaching beyond the Europe of the Twelve. But, then, what does "European identity" mean? Is it a sense of belonging; inclusive or exclusive? Is it a project, a task to be achieved? Or is it something which we already have to begin with, the result of a capacity to assimilate, integrate, harmonize differences? Is it (going to be) a quality rather than a quantity, more than the sum total of everybody and everything "European"? Is it a "matter of fate", a "matter of faith"?
Whatever the answers to these and many more questions may be, I think that the Europe which we are thinking and talking about, as a heritage of the past and as a project for the future, is both a "matter of fact" and "a matter of fate". After all Robert Schuman and Jean Monnet understood Europe’s
need for unity in the wake of war. It is going to be up to us, religious people, to decide whether it will also be a "matter of faith'; whether the Europe which has been the cradle of so much division in the past, is going to be a space for solidarity and unity in the future.
The Ecumenical Challenge
To me, the ecumenical challenge is obvious. And 1 think of the vision which appeared to Paul in the night. "There stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us". When he had seen the vision, Paul immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called him to proclaim the good news to them2. The preaching of the Gospel, Paul believed, was the help which the man from Macedonia had requested from him. Is it not the help which the future of Europe is now also request-mg from us? But we have learned in the meantime that a divided witness to the Gospel is going to be of little help in a process towards unity which is still very shaky, and which continues to be assaulted by dividing forces, sometimes even in the name of religion, and the Gospel, itself. That is why the Fifth European Ecumenical Encounter, which took place in Santiago de Compostela, on 13-17 November 1991, around the theme "Mission and Evangelization in Europe Today", was so important both as an ecumenical experience in itself, at this particular time, and as a forum for a growing ecumenical awareness of the challenges which the new Europe is presenting to the Churches. Examples are found in the report of the Encounter: "the evangelization of Europeans has a future provided we respect the complex spiritual destiny of this continent", and "in the present context when many people are rediscovering their national, cultural and ethnic values, we should as Christians do all we can to ensure that these values do not become totalitarian or unjust towards other groups, perhaps our adversaries or even our enemies"3.
The Encounter was also important from another point of view. We read in the-Report "As Christians we are beginning to rediscover our living roots in the people of Israel (cf.Rom.9:11); as citizens we are also the heirs of classical Greece and of the Enlightenment. Today we live side by side with Islam. Our plan envisages no religious monopoly in Europe; it is the proclamation of the grace of God for all men and women".4
II The New European Identity
Today Europe is engaged in a dialectical process of overcoming and becoming. It is trying to overcome a wide range of individualisms (national, political, ethnic, cultural, social, economic and religious) where the ones affirm themselves over against the others, even to the point of exterminating them, and where in the best of cases tolerance is being hailed as a high form of relational achievement, in order to become a community of communities based on mutual respect and solidarity, with a sense of unity in diversity, reciprocity and complementarities, common responsibility, and above all an awareness of the centrality of the human person, the human life, the human dignity and, connected with it, the integrity of creation. These would be the basic features of the new European identity. However this identity is not altogether new. It has a long history behind it in which Christianity has definitely had a first and constitutive role to play. Yet in this respect the Christian heritage has no claim of exclusivity.
On the occasion of the Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Catholic Bishops, the European Jewish Congress submitted a memorandum to the President of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. It called attention to the fact that there exists in Europe a great variety of religious, cultural and secular traditions (including the traditions of national, cultural and religious minorities) which constituted the richness and specificity of European Culture and which should all be recognized as legitimate expressions of the European identity. This memorandum stressed the principle of religious and cultural pluralism as one of the fundamental principles of modem Europe, and the necessity of respecting this principle in the decisions of the Synod which had proclaimed the evangelization of the new Europe as its principal aim.
Before quoting from this text, however, I would like to mention a similar concern which was strongly expressed at the Second Congress of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities, held in Rome on July 2-5 1994. Tullia Zevi, the President of the Union, answered the question "Who? How many? How shall we be in the year 2000?" by affirming "Our answer is the Culture, our own Culture!". And the President of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, a convinced Catholic responded "I would like, as Head of the State, to give thanks for your presence - your thinking and culture ... There are things which should never be - never become a museum, never become a library, even if widely consulted. You have led yourselves and Italy, (and I would say, also Europe!) to expect from you a living culture, a culture of today, a lively thought, a living tradition.[.. This your life as Jewish People should impose on each one of us a meditation, at least on one point: the integrity between its own thought, its own tradition, its own culture. This integrity is needed even today. I need it - people around you need it, because it is a human affliction to want to adapt to the times by fleeing from the values of our principles' 5.
These claims and affirmations correspond to those expressed by the European Jewish Congress. I quote a few paragraphs from their memorandum:
"It seems essential to us neither to ignore nor under- estimate the importance of the Jewish contribution to European civilization. On the other hand it is vital to take care that the particular memories of the fate of the Jews of Europe in the course of the centuries, be kept alive, in order to fight against any kind of intolerance. This applies particularly to those parts of Europe which for centuries have been the religious, cultural and social centres of Judaism, and where all the modem movements of Jewish civilization were born…
The efforts of the Catholic Church, in so far as they seek to reaffirm the status of religions and to restore religious liberty, especially in Central and Eastern Europe where it had been suppressed under the Communist regimes, represents a welcome initiative and we support every action which seeks to restore to religion and religious traditions the place which belongs to them on the European scene.
We congratulate the Church on its determination to act in all circumstances and without respite for the human rights and fundamental liberties, including religious liberty, and this all the more because the history of recent decades has tragically illustrated the dramatic consequences of the violations of these rights and liberties.
We warmly welcome and share in this stance and moreover we consider that there is a domain in which common and concerted action of the two communities, towards establishing an effective system of mutual protection, could be particularly beneficial for all”.
A number of members of the Synod referred to the contents of this memorandum in their interventions, and the Final Declaration of the Synod pointed in the same direction when it affirmed that "European culture has grown from many roots", specifically mentioning the spirit of ancient Greece, the Roman heritage, the elements borrowed from the Latin, Celtic, Germanic, Slav and Hungaro-Finnish peoples as well as the Jewish culture and Islamic influences. The Final Declaration also contained a special section in which it dealt specifically with the special relationship between the Church and the Jewish people:
"In the new order which has to be built in Europe and in the world, interreligious dialogue is highly important - especially dialogue with our "elder brothers", the Jews, whose faith and culture represent a constituent element in the development of European civilization…
The Church holds Christianity's and Judaism's common roots in highest esteem...
Fully aware of the spiritual heritage she shares with the Jewish people - above all in Sacred Scripture - the Church intends to work in the context of the new circumstances in Europe, to make a new springtime blossom through strengthening these links. In fact, different kinds of joint action between Christians and Jews - in full recognition of each other's religious differences and doctrines - could have the greatest significance for Europe's civil and religious future, and for this continent's duty towards the rest of the world".
Our informed Jewish partners do not deny that the Christian tradition is very much part of the basis of Europe, which is the meaning of the expression "Europe's Christian roots", and which does not imply a simple equivalence between Europe and Christianity'. In the words of the Final Declaration of the Synod,
"It can be said that the Christian religion gave Europe its own identity by establishing the basic principles of humanity in its common consciousness: first and foremost the concept of a transcendent God, utterly free yet ever involved, out of love, in the lives of human people through the incarnation and paschal mystery of his Son; the new and key concept of the human person and human dignity; the brotherhood of all as the prime principle uniting all sorts of people and peoples. However,...this cult of what is human - which is part of the shared heritage of Europe -has suffered considerably and changed a great deal in the course of time".
After having pointed out a main area of change, namely the fact that in the wake of the Englightenment there were efforts made to derive the values - which were the consequence of the Christian faith - from a new immanent basis, the Synod recognized the fact that today these Christian values are accepted "neither in the shared consciousness of many people nor in the provisions of civil laws", and, it seems to me, it made an implicit reference to the Shoah when it stated that this weakness did not become apparent until this current century. "Today", the Bishops said, "Europe must not simply appeal to its former Christian heritage, it must also "rediscover the ability to make decisions concerning its future in accordance with the person and message of Jesus Christ'. That is the aim of the so- called "new evangelization of Europe" (although it would indeed be more correct to speak about the evangelization of the new Europe), a Europe where the Christian faith is in many cases neither practised nor known in some areas, as a result of atheistic propaganda, or, more generally, as a result of secularization. In the mind of the Church, "the new evangelization is not a program for a so-called "restoration" of a bygone Europe, but rather it serves as an aid toward Europe's rediscovering its own Christian roots and establishing a more profound civilization, more Christian and therefore also more richly human".
III The Contribution of the Religions in Building the New Europe.
That the Church is not just dreaming in a vacuum can be illustrated by the words spoken to the European Parliament in Strasbourg by its newly elected President, Klaus Haensch, on the future of the European Union:
"In the future, the peoples of Europe will once again be able to recognise their distinctive features: the diversity of cultures, the languages and the traditions do not constitute weakness but is the strength of Europe.
The optimistic belief that scientific and technological progress can lead to full humanity has given place to a profound mistrust with regard to the European form
of scientific and technical civilisation" 7.
In the mind of the Synod of Bishops, the Church believed to be an "expert in humanity".8 -borrowing the words from Paul VI - is called to respond to the aspiration for "more humanity" in a society which, while being in search for unity is, at the same time, caught in the cross-pressures of competing interests, loyalties, systems and dynamics which all seem to have lives of their own, irrespective of the whole, and of the very meaning of the human person whom, we believe, should be at the centre of it all.' 9. Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Redemptoris Missio, made an evaluation which is certainly applicable to the European reality:
"Our times are both momentous and fascinating, while on the one hand people seem to be pursuing material prosperity and to be sinking ever deeper into consumerism and materialism, on the other hand we are witnessing a desperate search for meaning, the need for an inner life, and the desire to learn new forms and methods of meditation and prayer. Not only in cultures with strong religious elements, but also in secularized societies, the spiritual dimension of life is being sought often as an antidote to dehumanization" 10
Religious Jews share with Christians the concern about what Rabbi Ronald Sobel called "the forces of irreligion that are addressed not to the dignity of the spirit but to the degradation of the soul".11 Rabbi Leon [Genial puts it in the realm of the interreligious encounter:
"Christians and Jews are encountering each other by facing God in new historical conditions. This is a response to God's call beyond Christian-Jewish voluntary or forced alienation. It is a time of joint response to the evils of the world".12
"The new challenge of our time is the recognition that we are distinct groups of faith and spirituality who now can meet face-to-face, acknowledging common ground of being„ that is God. It is also the challenge of being together witnessing God. It is the beginning of a new spiritual and historical juncture for Christians and Jews, a stage of history and spiritual testimony that we still need to comprehend and implement in our existence".13
Jews and Christians may, and do, perceive the voice of God differently. We may understand differently the words that God speaks ("Where are you?" "Where is your brother?" - Gen.3:9; 4:9). Yet we are challenged by these words to meet together in realizing our respective responses in the face of the challenges of history.
In a section on "The common responsibility of all who believe in God", the Synod of Bishops' Final Declaration paid also special attention to the Muslim presence in Europe,"not only because of past historical events, but in view of the present, and the future, with the prospect of vast migrations of people from Muslim countries [...] The fact of these migrations demands that with each passing day we understand other religions better, so as to establish fraternal dialogue with the people who follow these traditions and who live among us. It is together with them", the Synod said, "that we long to guarantee and promote social justice, the raising of moral standards, and peace and freedom for all. It is also by working together that we must conserve creation, entrusted by God to the people of today and of tomorrow. However", the bishops immediately added, "the legitimate respect for freedom and awareness of the values found in other religions should not lead to relativism, nor diminish the awareness of the urgency of fulfilling the command to proclaim Christ", since it is from Christ and his Gospel that the Church receives her mission, "to serve humanity"14 and to make her contribution to the new Europe "in terms of promoting human dignity, the respect for the inalienable right to human life, the right to freedom of conscience and - religious freedom, marriage and the family as the prime areas of social commitment and "humanization", charitable works, concern for the common good, political involvement, the preservation of creation, the evangelization of the world of culture and education, and involement in the means of social communications"15
In fact most of those items on the agenda which the Church has set for herself can be worked on in cooperation with the Jews, as I will illustrate in a moment. However, this Jewish-Christian cooperation is also a matter of faith, a matter of religious conviction. The Catholic Church in Council, "searching into her own mystery", recalled "the spiritual bond linking the people of the New Covenant with Abraham's stock",16 remembered that "she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom God [...I deigned to established the Ancient Covenant" - a Covenant which he never revoked (cf Rom.11:29),17 and thus, "mindful of her common patrimony with the Jews", condemned "the hatred, persecutions, and displays of anti- Semitism directed against the Jews at any time and from any source", recommending instead mutual understanding and respect. Since then, since the Council Declation Nostra Aetate, "two thousand years of previous [Christian-Jewish] relationship have been reversed,"18 declared Rabbi Ronald Sobel in 1985, and the examples of positive evaluation done by Jews could be endlessly multiplied.
Rabbi James Rudin summed it up best of all when he wrote: "We are all the children of Vatican II. 19. And this reminds me of the Pope's historic visit to the Synagogue of Rome on 13 April 1986 when he said, referring to Vatican II and Nostra Aetate: "The Jewish religion is not extrinsic to us, but in a certain way is intrinsic to our own religion. With Judaism, therefore, we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers".
It is clear that in the mind of the Catholic Church our relations with the Jewish people are not just a "matter of fact" or a "matter of fate" (as a result of history, in a spirit of blame and feelings of guilt, or as a result of being thrown together into the European venture), but also a "matter of faith", because our relations "are part of the very fabric of our religious commitment and our respective vocations as Christians and Jews", Pope John Paul II has affirmed.20 "Truly, this is God's doing", Rabbi Sobel commented on the development of Jewish-Catholic relations since Vatican II. "In the past years we God's children, both Jew and Catholic, have come to realize that in a world of many currents and crosscurrents Judaism and Christianity are not so much on opposite sides of the fence as we are on the same side; that though we shall never share some of the same theological convictions we do share many of the same human dreams; that though we shall probe the mystery of God each in our own way [...] we view our world today with the same anguish and the events of our time with the same apprehension “ 21. In other words, what is a "matter of faith" must also become a "matter of fact". "Jewish- Christian relations are never an academic exercise", the Pope told the Jews. we need "to translate them into daily practice everywhere", 22 and, in this case, into our contribution to the building of a new Europe.
The statement issued in Prague (6 September 1990) by the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC), echoed the same thing: "After two millennia of estrangement and hostility, we have a sacred duty as Catholics and Jews to strive to create a genuine culture of mutual esteem and reciprocal caring", it said. In this way "Catholic-Jewish dialogue can become a sign of hope and inspiration to other religions, races and ethnic groups to turn away from contempt, toward realizing authentic human fraternity. The new spirit of friendship and caring for one another may be the most important symbol that we have to offer to our troubled world"(23) And Pope John Paul II may have had this statement in mind when he sent a message to the people of his native land on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
I quote: "As Christians and Jews, following the example of the faith of Abraham, we are called to be a blessing for the world (cf Gen.] 2:2 ft). This is the common task awaiting us, Christians and Jews, to be first a blessing to one another.
Indeed we have come to realize that we need to go beyond a mere peaceful co-existence, which is always dangerously fragile , especially in times of crisis. "Prague challenged us to look forward and to work together, not only in order to better our own relations, but so as to contribute to the well-being of this world in which we live and to which we have a particular responsibility".24 I would like to quote a phrase of Rabbi Irving Greenberg which he pronounced in February 1994 in Jerusalem at the International Jewish- Christian Conference on "Religious Leadership in Secular Society". He said: "Although the halakha is a touch more accepting of abortion, I sleep better at night knowing that the Catholic Church's opposition keeps at bay the potential cheapening of life.
IV Jews and Christians Responding Together to Concrete Challenges
The agenda we had before us in Jerusalem at our ILC meeting was intended to carry forward what took place at the Prague meeting when we decided to seek to become more effective instruments to respond to and, indeed, anticipate a variety of challenges in today's world to which both our communities are called to respond. Our discussion centred on the Family and Ecology, which are certainly two major challenges which we need to face. We wanted to find out to what extent Jews and Christians can respond together on the basis of their respective faith traditions to challenges such as these. As it turned out, we were somewhat surprised, Jews and Catholics alike, to learn how broad the areas of convergence with regard to the theme discussed really are - cf. our Common Declaration on the Family. As Rabbi Norman Solomon remarked in his paper on Ecology:
"As well as a common interest, Jews and Catholics share a biblical tradition on creation, and can jointly affirm a wide range of values relating to the created world. Our methodologies, superficially at least, differ. Catholics are apt to decide problems on the basis of the principles of moral theology; whereas Jews are apt to draw on the specific provisions of halakha. Yet this difference is more apparent than real.”
In fact, although the ILC is not a place for theological dialogue, and theology as such is not on the agenda, we do meet as representatives of two faith communities who share a common spiritual heritage on which a common action in certain areas of life can be based. In the words of the Jewish scholar, Geoffrey Wigoder, "our entire way of life is permeated by the God concept". Wigoder spoke these words at the opening of the ILC Jerusalem meeting, and although he was referring them to Judaism, they are equally valid as far as Christians are concerned.
With regard to concrete Jewish-Christian cooperation I would like to mention the following areas. First of all, a constant item on our ILC agenda has been the fight against anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia. We have been engaged together in concrete steps. Our Prague meeting adopted a series of practical recommendations on the methods which should be used to combat anti-semitism. And in February 1992, a joint delegation visited Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia with the intention of helping to implement the resolution taken in Prague. It was felt that the experience was very useful and that similar joint visits should be undertaken elsewhere.
Another area in which Christian-Jewish cooperation is taking place is the field of education. As Geoffrey Wigoder pointed out, "we well know the abyss of ignorance in both our communities concerning the other, which includes dangerous myths, stereotypes and prejudices". And at our meeting in Baltimore in 1992, I was able to affirm from the Catholic point of view'. 25
"Intuition discovery and vision have met with positive response in both our communities. They have laid bare wrong approaches, mentalities and attitudes, and principles which had been forgotten or obscured. They have produced guidelines for change and made suggestions for implementation. The objective now is to make the contents of those principles and guidelines really affect, by means of education, the wider community, and therefore, in the first place, the educators of the wider community, i.e. our theologians, priest, teachers and catechists".
But I added that if it is clear that any further progress to be made in developing good relations between us will largely depend on our educational programmes, it is equally clear - and I always insist on this - that this process ought to happen both ways. On this level reciprocity is definitely a must.
A third field of cooperation is the advancement and protection of human rights. At a meeting which took place in the Vatican on 18 February 1993, we explored together the possibilities in the light of the Vienna United Nations World Conference on Human Rights which was to take place soon afterwards. Our discussion demonstrated a clear convergence of views and showed that the concerns of the Jewish organizations were very similar to those expressed by the Holy See at the first Session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Conference.26 In particular there was a strong convergence of views in the following matters: the universality of human rights; the recognition of the collectivity (the group) as the subject of rights; the importance of freedom of religion; the need for effective procedures for dealing with violation of human rights.
Furthermore, I already mentioned our intention to engage in cooperation in the field of ecology, while, with regard to the family, we were able to issue at the end of our meeting in Jerusalem a Joint Declaration on the Family, which stressed convergent values in the light of the threats to the institution of the family in the modem world.
V The Credibility of Religions Depends on their Mutual Respect
To conclude this reflection and this overview I would like to stress that we have by no means exhausted the possibilities of effective Jewish-Christian cooperation in many areas, but we are on our way, and this is in no small way due to the fact that through our "searching into our own . mystery", and through the experience of interreligious encounter and interfaith dialogue, we have started to create theological space for one another. European history has taught us that when there is no theological space for others, the consequences of it can be very bitter indeed. In this century the horrifying events of the Shoah are a terrible illustration of this. In the words of Norman Solomon:
"The denial of theological space leads to the denial of space in society, to the denial of human rights. The exclusion of Jews from normal society and occupations in the Middle Ages, the enactment of discriminatory legislation, the false allegations, expulsions and persecutions, all followed from the denial of theological space"27
Today the Church has come to realize again that "the history of Israel did not end in 70 C.E", but that "it continued, especially in a numerous Diaspora which allowed Israel to carry to the whole world a witness - often heroic - of its fidelity to the one God [...], while preserving the memory of the land of their forefathers at the heart of their hope (Passover Seder) [...] The permanence of Israel LI is a historic fact and a sign to be interpreted within God's design [...] It remains a chosen people"28 - cf. Rom.9:4-5 - for God does not repent of the gifts he makes nor of the calls he issues (cf. . Rom 11:28-29).29 The Jewish people do have their space in Christian theology, and their very history of suffering, when this space was denied them, qualifies them even more to be our partners in the European project i.e. the task to make space for God, for one another, and indeed for everybody else in the new Europe.
I do believe that Jews and Christians can, and should, stand together in responding to the task.. We are learning that today we not only have an opportunity to speak to each other in a new way, but that we have a responsibility to speak together to the world in a new way, the newness being in our acceptance of a common heritage which calls for a joint effort to try to effectively signify at least the possibility of human brotherhood in the face of the evils such as racism, exclusion, alienation, anti-semitism, xenophobia - which keep creeping into our society and undermine the foundations of the European dream. As Irving Greenberg put it in his paper which
quoted before: "How can Judaism and Christianity reassert religious leadership in a secular age? The first answer is that whatever Judaism and Christianity try to do, they will have to do together and to each other first. Their moral and cultural credibility depends on overcoming the legacy and image of their mutual hatefulness; it depends on their ability to set a standard of mutual respect that, at the minimum, equals the best standard that modem culture holds up as worthy of admiration [...] Whatever the differences and conflicts between them, they are lumped together in the same past of the cultural spectrum from the perspective of the secular majority in the West. Thus, their authority is hopelessly tied one to the other by what they have in common and the gulf between that and the view of religion's despisers". In other words, we are linked for good, and hopefully, for the good of the new Europe.
NotesRemi Hoeckman op is Secretary of the Holy Sees Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.
This is the text of a lecture given at the Sixth "Lutherheider Forum", (Aachen, Germany) on 14-17 December 1994.
1 - Cf Grigorios D. Papathomas: Le Patriarcat oecumenique de Constantinople, les Eglises autociphales orthodoxy, de Chypre et de Grece, et la Politeia monastique du Mont Athos dans l'Europe unit, vol.IL Paris 1994, p. 826.
2 - Acts 16:9-10.
3 - Cf The Report of the meeting in Catholic International, yo1.3, n.2, 15-31 January 1992, pp.88-93. The Fifth Ecumenical Encounter was held jointly by the Conference of European Churches (CEO, which is the regional ecumenical organization of the Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Churches of the whole of Europe) and the Council of European Bishops Conferences (CCEE).
4 - Ibid
5 - In Shalom-Mensile ebraico d ‘infonnazione, 31 July 1994, p 10
6 - Final Declaration of the Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, published in Catholic International vol.3, n.5, 1-14 March 1992.
7 Published in French in "L'Europe au Ill des jours", Service &Information Pastorale Europeenne Catholique, Sipeca n.101-102, aout-septembre 1994, p.11
8 - Cf. Paul Ws address to Representatives of States, 4 October
1965, quoted in the Apostolic Constitution on Catholic Universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, n3.
9 - "The true vocation of the human person is central to the Church's self-understanding in terms of task and mission": Remi Haeckman, "The Role of the Catholic University in the Evangelization of Culture" in Seminarian, A XXX, 1990, n.4, pp.687-698.
10 - N.38
11 - Rabbi Ronald B. Sobel in his address to Pope John Paul II on 19 Audi 1985, on the occasion of a theological colloquium held at the Pontifical Unicrsity of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome, where Catholic and Jewish scholars commemorated the 20th anniversary of Vatican Ws Declaration Nostra Aerate.
12 - "The Once and Future Dialogue: Christian-Jewish Relations at the Turning Point", in PACE (Issues), May 1993, p.I5.
13 - "On Christianity-Toward a Process of Spiritual and Historical Healing: Understanding the Other as a Person of God", in In Dialogue (ADL, New York), n.1, 1992, p.21.
14 - "The Final Declaration" refers to Vatican Ifs Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, n.40 and 42.
15 - "The Flan' Declaration" refers to John Paul Ifs Apostolic Exhortation Christfrde/es Laid, n.37-44
16 - Vatican Ws Declaration Nostra Adage, n.4.
17 - Cf. John Paul Its address to Jewish Representatives in Mainz on 17 November 1980.
18 - Op. cit:.
19 - "Catholics, Jews: 20 Good Years", in The New York Times, 23 February 1985.
20 - Statement by John Paul II to the Jewish and Christian participants of the Angelicum Colloquium, op.cit
21 - Op.cii
22 - Statement by John Paul II, op ca.
23 - This Committee is the official link between the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC). The ILC meets every two years. Its Steering Committee meets at least once a year. This and other Statements are published in the Information Service of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
24 - Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy in his opening address at the ILC Jerusalem meeting in May 1994
25 - Remi Hoeckman, "The Teaching on Jews and Judaism in Catholic. Education" in Seminarium, A.XXXII, 1992, n.2 pp.346-359.
26 - CI The United National document A/Conf 157/PC/6 of 22 August 1991.
27 - "Making Spaces for Other', in Interchange, vol.2, n.3, 31 July 1994. pp.13-14.
28 - 'Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church'', published by the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews on 24 June 1985. Cf. Fifteen Years of Catholic-Jewish Dialogue 1979-1985, Rome, 1988, pp.306-314.
29 - Cf Nostra Aetate, n 4
