COMMISSION FOR RELIGIOUS RELATIONS WITH JEWS MARKS 30 YEARS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 19, 2004 (VIS) - Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, led by Rabbi Shar Yishuv Cohen and the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with Jews, headed by Cardinal Jorge Mejia, started three days of meetings and dialogue on October 17 in Grottaferrata, Italy. Participants have been discussing the theme, "A Common Vision of Social Justice and Ethical Behavior."

  The following statement to the press was issued today after the meeting:
 
  "1. We are not enemies, but unequivocal partners in articulating the essential moral values for the survival and welfare of human society.

  "2. Jerusalem has a sacred character for all the children of Abraham. We call on all relevant authorities to respect this character and to prevent actions which offend the sensibilities of religious communities that reside in Jerusalem and hold her dear.

  "3. We call on religious authorities to protest publicly when actions of disrespect towards religious persons, symbols and Holy Sites are committed, such as the desecration of cemeteries and the recent assaults on the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem. We call on them to educate their communities to behave with respect and dignity towards peoples and towards their attachment to their faith."

  According to a communique published yesterday afternoon, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews and Riccardo Segni, chief rabbi of Rome, will analyze the state of Jewish-Catholic dialogue during the first session today at 6 p.m. of a seminar on Catholic-Jewish dialogue that has been organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University.

  Pope Paul VI established the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews on October 22, 1974. In commemoration of that event. Cardinal Kasper, accompanied by  Cardinal Mejia and a delegation of the commission, will visit Rome's synagogue on Friday October 22 during which the Jewish community will gather for the celebration of Shabbat.
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