2016 PLENARY ASSEMBLY
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE CRRJ

 

COMMISSION FOR RELIGIOUS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWS

Rev. Norbert Hofmann, SDB

 

1. Fiftieth Anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Ætate (n. 4)

For the 50th Anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Ætate (n. 4), document approved by the Second Vatican Council on 28 October 1965, several initiatives have been organised. On October 28, 2015, at St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis with a general audience dedicated to the Conciliar Declaration, officially launched the commemoration of Nostra Ætate, also inviting various representatives of world religions to join this event. On that occasion the Pope urged the representatives of different religions to pray and to work together to solve the problems facing humanity. One common priority to all world religions should mainly be the promotion of justice and peace as well as commitment to the poor, the sick and the marginalized he affirmed. As for the dialogue with Judaism, Pope Francis observed that: “Deserving of special gratitude to God is the veritable transformation of Christian-Jewish relations in these 50 years. Indifference and opposition have changed into cooperation and benevolence. From enemies and strangers we have become friends and brothers. The Council, with the Declaration Nostra Ætate, has indicated the way: ‘yes’ to rediscovering Christianity’s Jewish roots ; ‘no’ to every form of anti-Semitism and blame for every wrong, discrimination and persecution deriving from it”. This General Audience was part of a series of celebrations held in Rome, organized by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Pontifical Gregorian University. These celebrations also included a Congress, which was attended by over 250 representatives from all world religions, and dealt with three main issues: “Violence and Commitment of Religions for Peace”, “The Challenge of Religious Freedom” and “The Education and the Transmission of Values”. In addition to Rome, events were held in other parts of the world to celebrate Nostra Ætate. In Washington, in May 2015, the American Episcopal Conference and the Catholic University of America have organized an important event which was attended by the President and the Secretary of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. In Tel Aviv, in December 2015, the President and the Secretary of the Commission participated in a conference entitled ‘In Out Times: Documents and Articles on the Catholic Church and the Jewish People in the Wake of the Shoah’. Besides Israel and the United States which are the main countries for dialogue with Judaism because of a major Jews presence, the President and the Secretary of the Commission also took part in other commemorations in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Basel and Frankfurt.

 

2. Visit of Pope Francis to the Synagogue of Rome and to Auschwitz-Birkenau

During the year of celebration of the reconciliation document, Pope Francis has intervened through significant gestures and words. Last January 17th he visited the synagogue in Rome. Before him, already Pope John Paul II (13 April 1986) and Pope Benedict XVI (17 January 2010) had visited the synagogue; Pope Francis has thus continued ‘a good tradition’. In his speech he emphasized the spiritual bond between Jews and Christians, saying we are all brothers and sisters before God: “ Over time, a spiritual bond has been formed, fostering an authentic relationship of friendship and inspiring a common commitment. In interreligious dialogue it is fundamental that we encounter each other as brothers and sisters before our Creator and that we praise him; and that we respect and appreciate each other, and try to cooperate. And in the Jewish-Christian dialogue there is a unique and particular bond, by virtue of the Jewish roots of Christianity: Jews and Christians must therefore consider themselves brothers, united in the same God and by a rich common spiritual patrimony (cf. Declaration Nostra Ætate, n. 4), on which to build and to continue building the future.”

On the 29th of July 2016, Pope Francis visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. The visit was suggestive and evocative. The meditation and the prayer of the Pope, in the locality where so many Jews were humiliated and murdered during the Shoah, was touching and moving. In such a place, words can often be misunderstood, but prayer entrusts the pain to God himself so that he may receive it and transform it.

 

3. The new document of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews

The idea of drafting and publishing a document of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews had already been considered for the 40th Anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Ætate, in 2005. An idea that, for various reasons, was never realized on that occasion. Considered in retrospective, it is better to have waited, since the theological questions contained in the document have in the meantime been thoroughly and ardently discussed especially in the last 10 years.

Under the title ‘For the Gifts and the Calling of God are irrevocable’ (Rm 11. 29), on December 10th 2015, the new document for the 50th Anniversary of Nostra Ætate (n. 4) was published. These reflections are meant to acknowledge, with gratitude, all that was possible to achieve in Jewish-Catholic relations over the past decades and at the same time provide a new impetus for the future. By reaffirming the special status of Jewish-Catholic relations in the wider context of interreligious dialogue, theological questions are addressed such as the importance of revelation, the relation between the Old and the New Covenant, the relation between the universality of salvation through Jesus Christ and the belief that God’s Covenant with Israel was never revoked, and the evangelizing task of the Church in reference to Judaism.

The document is in no way intended to put a final point to these discussions. It rather aims at being a stimulus to the continuation and deepening of the theological dimension of the Jewish-Catholic dialogue. The Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews relies on the resolution set by Pope Francis himself, namely to ensure that the Jewish-Catholic dialogue acquires greater intensity and extent from the theological point of view. The document was drafted not only on the basis of the Catholic faith assertions, but considering also the positions of our dialogue partners. At a certain point while drafting the document, Jewish consultors have been in fact involved when asked for an opinion on the adequacy of the text relating to Judaism. In the text there are references not only to the Old and the New Testament but also to the Mishna and the Talmud. The drafting of the document lasted two and a half years, as the initial version dates back to 2013. Pope Benedict XVI had already approved the writing of such a document, but it was only with the agreement of Pope Francis shortly after his election that drafting started.

As a whole, the new document of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews was received very positively, especially by our Jewish dialogue partners. On the basis of this document, new theological conversations have been launched in May 2016, by the Woolf Institute of Cambridge in which also our Commission takes part. One of its goals is to further promote theological dialogue.

 

4. Dialogue with the ‘International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations’ (IJCIC)

The ‘International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations’ (IJCIC) still represents the official Jewish partner for the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. It gathers almost all the major Jewish organizations, a few of which have their headquarters in the USA. The IJCIC started its activities in 1970; already the following year, the first joint conference was organized in Paris. The meetings which have since been held regularly every two years are an expression of the work of the so-called ‘International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee’ (ILC), and they generate collaboration between the IJCIC and our Commission.

The last joint conference was organized in collaboration with the Polish Bishops’ Conference in Warsaw, 4-7 April 2016. It focused on the challenges religion must face regarding the current crisis of the refugees arriving in Europe (“The ‘Other’ in Jewish and Catholic Tradition: Refugees in Today’s World”), and reflected on the common Jewish-Christian heritage, on the need and the duty to help the poor, the increasing persecution of Christians and the growing anti-Semitism. The adoption of a common stand, made public at the end of the meeting, testifies that we can align together to face specific social challenges based on shared values. Collaboration with the IJCIC proved very fruitful over the years and it was not limited merely to joint conferences. Ultimately, it is a permanent co-operation of regular on-going contacts in order to prepare and carry out joint projects.

 

5. The Participation of Future Generations in Dialogue

A joint initiative with the IJCIC started seven years ago to encourage generational replacement in Jewish-Christian relations. Both sides are in fact convinced of the importance of forming and involving in dialogue the younger generation, to ensure the future of Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Inspired by this motivation, the ‘Emerging Leadership Conferences’ for youth were started, with the financial support of major sponsors. The first of these Conferences was organized in June 2009 at Castel Gandolfo, in collaboration with the Focolare Movement. About fifty young people, Jews and Catholics from around the world gathered on that occasion for four days to discuss the theme ‘Discovering Common Values’. In the light of the success of the gathering, it was decided to organize such reunions every two years, alternated with ILC sessions. Thus the second Conference for Jews and Catholic Youth took place in June 2012, in the neighbourhood of New York on the theme ‘Catholics and Jews: Our Common Values, Our Common Roots” and the third in Berlin at the beginning of July 2014, under the title ‘Challenges to Faith in Contemporary Society’. At the end of June of that year, the fourth ‘Emerging Leadership Conference’ entitled ‘Religion and Politics – Faith in a Time of Turmoil’ was held in Jerusalem. In general, young participants were enthusiastic about the experience made through these conferences. Basically, they are provided with ideas and impulses that would later motivate them to concretely promote Jewish-Catholic relations in their own local environment.

 

6. Dialogue with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel

Worth mentioning, besides dialogue with the IJCIC, is the institutional encounter with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which can be considered the result of the meeting between Pope John Paul II and the Chief Rabbis of Israel on the occasion of the Pope’s visit to Israel in March 2000. The first encounter took place in June 2002, in Jerusalem and since then thirteen such meetings have been held alternately in Rome and Jerusalem. Due to the entry into office of two new Chief Rabbis in Israel in July 2013 and the appointment of the General Secretary of the Chief Rabbinate in the summer of 2014, no meeting was held in that year. Only in December 2015, there has been another gathering in Jerusalem to discuss the theme ‘And you should love the stranger as yourself – Migrants and Refugees: Threat or Opportunity”. The next meeting is scheduled for the end of November 2016 in Rome under the title ‘Promoting Peace in the Face of Violence in the Name of Religion’. The two delegations are relatively restricted, counting about fifteen participants, which enables personal and intense discussions on the various issues. Dialogue with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has therefore enabled greater openness of Orthodox Judaism to the Catholic Church on an international level. At the end of each meeting a joint declaration is released and published. If we take a look at the fourteen years of dialogue, we can conclude with gratitude that an intense collaboration and a fraternal friendship has developed among participants.

 

7. Future Perspectives for Dialogue with the Jews

The work achieved in these years and the reflections deriving from it suggest future prospects to aspire to. Firstly, it is necessary to continue dialogue with the IJCIC with dynamism, patience and perseverance, giving new impulses and expanding new horizons, while carrying on with the same spirit and with the same regularity the dialogue with the Chief Rabbinate.

According to Pope Francis, the dialogue currently has three major objectives: the forming  to dialogue of future generations, the deepening of theological dialogue and collaboration in the field of human activities. It is not therefore a matter of mere conversations and conferences: Jews and Christians must jointly commit in favour of the marginalized, the poor, the needy and the sick. Thus dialogue must continue with intensity, conviction, vigour and enthusiasm. Dialoguing and collaborating with these sentiments and with these inspirations, both communities can become together a blessing for humanity.