Commemoration of 50th anniversary of death of Cardinal Bea

On 28 February Pope Francis welcomed in the Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace the participants attending the meeting marking the 50th anniversary of the death of Cardinal Augustin Bea, the first President of the then Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, instituted in 1960 before the Second Vatican Council. The commemorative meeting was organized by the “Cardinal Bea” Centre for Judaic Studies of the Pontifical Gregorian University together with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Centre for the Study of Christianity of the Jewish University of Jerusalem. In his address Pope Francis recalled “this outstanding figure and his decisive influence on several important documents of the Second Vatican Council", and reflecting that the “issues of the Church’s relationship with Judaism, Christian unity, and freedom of conscience and religion, remain significant and extremely timely”. In his own words to the Holy Father, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, reiterated the pioneering role of Cardinal Bea in a shared approach to biblical studies among Catholics, Protestants and Jews; in Jewish–Christian relations; and in the ecumenical dialogue.

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