CARDINAL CASSIDY: DEVELOPMENTS IN JEWISH-CATHOLIC RELATIONS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 7, 2000 (VIS) - Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, president of the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews, spoke yesterday at the University of Pennsylvania at the invitation of the Penn Newman-Hillel Ad Hoc Committee on Christian Jewish Relations. His address was entitled "Developments in Jewish-Catholic Relations. A New Spirit for a New Millennium."

Cardinal Cassidy highlighted the attention given by Pope John Paul II in his 22-year pontificate to building a better Jewish-Catholic relationship. He pointed to the Pope's visits to Rome's synagogue in 1986 and to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, his numerous public statements regarding Catholic-Jewish relations, his meetings with representatives of the Jewish people and his pilgrimage this past March to the Holy Land, including a visit to the Yad Vashem memorial.

The cardinal also quoted the Holy Father on the need for a Jewish-Catholic theological dialogue: "Theological reflection is part of the human intelligence and gives witness to our conscious acceptance of God's will."

During his stay in Philadelphia, Cardinal Cassidy celebrated Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and received an award from the Catholic Leadership Institute.

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