JEWS AND CHRISTIANS: COOPERATE TO BUILD A WORLD OF PEACE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 28, 2005 (VIS) - Yesterday evening, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Holy See Commission for Religious Relations with Jews, read out a Message from the Holy Father during an event held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Vatican Council II's Declaration "Nostra aetate."

  This anniversary, writes the Holy Father in his Message, "gives us abundant reason to express gratitude to Almighty God for the witness of all those who, despite a complex and often painful history, and especially after the tragic experience of the Shoah, which was inspired by a neo-pagan racist ideology, worked courageously to foster reconciliation and improved understanding between Christians and Jews.

  "In laying the foundations for a renewed relationship between the Jewish people and the Church, 'Nostra aetate' stressed the need to overcome past prejudices, misunderstandings, indifference, and the language of contempt and hostility. The declaration has been the occasion of greater mutual understanding and respect, cooperation and, often, friendship between Catholics and Jews."

  In considering 40 years "of fruitful contacts between the Church and the Jewish people," says Benedict XVI, "we need to renew our commitment to the work that yet remains to be done. In this regard, from the first days of my pontificate ... I have expressed my own firm determination to walk in the footsteps traced by my beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II."

  Dialogue between Jews and Christians, says the Pope, "must continue to enrich and deepen the bonds of friendship which have developed, while preaching and catechesis must be committed to ensuring that our mutual relations are presented in the light of the principles set forth by the Council."

  In closing, the Holy Father expresses the hope that "both in theological dialogue and in everyday contacts and collaboration, Christians and Jews will offer an ever more compelling shared witness to the One God and His commandments, the sanctity of life, the promotion of human dignity, the rights of the family and the need to build a world of justice, reconciliation and peace for future generations."
MESS/NOSTRA AETATE/KASPER                        VIS 20051028 (350)