Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - “In the years following the Council, my predecessors Pope Paul VI and, in a particular way, Pope John Paul II, took significant steps towards improving relations with the Jewish people. It i s my intention to continue along this path” Pope Benedict XVI said on June 9 when he received in audience in the Hall of Popes in the Vatican a Delegation of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations.
The Pope mentioned the 40th anniversary of the “Nostra aetate” declaration issued by the Second Vatican Council which is the basis for the Catholic Church’s relations with the Jewish people. “The Council affirmed the Church’s conviction that, in the mystery of the divine election, the beginnings of her faith are already to be found in Abraham, Moses and the Prophets..- Pope Benedict XVI said -. On the basis of this spiritual patrimony and the teaching of the Gospel, it called for greater mutual understanding and esteem between Christians and Jews and deplored all manifestations of hatred, persecution and antisemitism (Nostra Aetate, 4). At the very beginning of my Pontificate, I wish to assure you that the Church remains firmly committed, in her catechesis and in every aspect of her life, to implementing this decisive teaching.”
Recalling that the history of relations between Catholics and Jews “has been complex and often painful”, the Pope said he was sure “that the "spiritual patrimony" treasured by Christian and Jews is itself the source of the wisdom and inspiration capable of guiding us toward “a future of hope”...“remembrance of the past remains for both communities a moral imperative and a source of purification in our efforts to pray and work for reconciliation, justice, respect for human dignity and for that peace which is ultimately a gift from the Lord himself. Of its very nature this imperative must include a continued reflection on the profound historical, moral and theological questions presented by the experience of the Shoah.”
Thanking God for the progress made in recent years the Pope encouraged those present to “persevere in your important task of laying the foundations for continual dialogue and building a reconciled world, a world ever more in harmony with the will of the Creator”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 10/6/2005, righe 26, parole 368)
