| We hope the Jewish people will
acknowledge that the Church condemns all anti-Semitism
After celebrating Mass at the
chapel of the Cenacle on Thursday morning, 23 March, the Holy
Father paid a courtesy call on Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Israel Meir
Lau and Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron at Hechal
Shlomo, the headquarters of the Chief Rabbinate. During the
meeting the Pope made a few remarks in English. Here is the
text.
Very Reverend Chief
Rabbis,
It is with deep respect that I visit you here today and thank
you for receiving
me at Hechal Shlomo.
Truly this is a
uniquely significant meeting which—I
hope and pray—will lead to increasing
contacts between Christians and Jews, aimed at achieving
an ever deeper understanding of the historical and theological
relationship between our
respective religious heritages. Personally, I have
always wanted to be counted among those who work, on both sides,
to overcome old
prejudices and to secure ever wider and fuller recognition
of the spiritual patrimony
shared by Jews and Christians. I repeat what I
said on the occasion of my visit to the Jewish Community in
Rome, that we
Christians recognize that the Jewish religious heritage is
intrinsic to our
own faith: "you are our elder brothers" (cf. Address
at the Synagogue of
Rome, 13 April 1986, n. 4). We hope that the Jewish people will
acknowledge that the Church utterly condemns anti-Semitism and
every form of racism as
being altogether opposed to the principles of Christianity.
We must work together to build a future in which there will
be no more anti-Judaism among Christians or anti-Christian
sentiment among Jews.
There is much that we have in common. There is so much that
we can do together
for peace, for justice, for a more human and fraternal world.
May the Lord of heaven and
earth lead us to a new and fruitful era of mutual
respect and cooperation, for the benefit of all! Thank you.
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