|
After visiting the Western Wall on 12 May 2009, the Holy Father
met with Jerusalem's chief Sephardic rabbi and chief Ashkenazi
rabbi at the Heichal Shlomo Center. Distinguished Rabbis,
Dear Friends,
I am grateful for the invitation to visit Heichal Shlomo and to meet
with you during this trip of mine to the Holy Land as Bishop of Rome. I
thank Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger for
their warm words of welcome and the desire they have expressed to
continue strengthening the bonds of friendship which the Catholic Church
and the Chief Rabbinate have labored so diligently to forge over the
past decades. Your visits to the Vatican in 2003 and 2005 are a sign of
the good will which characterizes our developing relations.
Distinguished Rabbis, I reciprocate by expressing my own respect and
esteem for you and your communities. I assure you of my desire to deepen
mutual understanding and cooperation between the Holy See, the Chief
Rabbinate of Israel and Jewish people throughout the world.
A great source of satisfaction for me since the beginning of my
pontificate has been the fruit yielded by the ongoing dialogue between
the Delegation of the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with
the Jews and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s Delegation for Relations
with the Catholic Church. I wish to thank the members of both
delegations for their dedication and hard work in implementing this
initiative, so earnestly desired by my esteemed predecessor Pope John
Paul II, as he said during the Great Jubilee Year of 2000.
Our encounter today is a most fitting occasion to give thanks to the
Almighty for the many blessings which have accompanied the dialogue
conducted by the Bilateral Commission, and to look forward with
expectation to its future sessions. The willingness of the delegates to
discuss openly and patiently not only points of agreement, but also
points of difference, has already paved the way to more effective
collaboration in public life. Jews and Christians alike are concerned to
ensure respect for the sacredness of human life, the centrality of the
family, a sound education for the young, and the freedom of religion and
conscience for a healthy society. These themes of dialogue represent
only the initial phases of what we trust will be a steady, progressive
journey towards an enhanced mutual understanding.
An indication of the potential of this series of meetings is readily
seen in our shared concern in the face of moral relativism and the
offences it spawns against the dignity of the human person. In
approaching the most urgent ethical questions of our day, our two
communities are challenged to engage people of good will at the level of
reason, while simultaneously pointing to the religious foundations which
best sustain lasting moral values. May the dialogue that has begun
continue to generate ideas on how Christians and Jews can work together
to heighten society’s appreciation of the distinctive contribution of
our religious and ethical traditions. Here in Israel, given that
Christians constitute only a small portion of the total population, they
particularly value opportunities for dialogue with their Jewish
neighbors.
Trust is undeniably an essential element of effective dialogue. Today
I have the opportunity to repeat that the Catholic Church is irrevocably
committed to the path chosen at the Second Vatican Council for a genuine
and lasting reconciliation between Christians and Jews. As the
Declaration Nostra Aetate makes clear, the Church continues to value the
spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews and desires an ever
deeper mutual understanding and respect through biblical and theological
studies as well as fraternal dialogues. May the seven Bilateral
Commission meetings which have already taken place between the Holy See
and the Chief Rabbinate stand as evidence! I am thus grateful for your
reciprocal assurance that the relationship between the Catholic Church
and the Chief Rabbinate will continue to grow in respect and
understanding in the future.
My friends, I express again my deep appreciation for the welcome you
have extended to me today. I am confident that our friendship will
continue to set an example of trust in dialogue for Jews and Christians
throughout the world. Looking at the accomplishments achieved thus far,
and drawing our inspiration from the Holy Scriptures, we can confidently
look forward to even stronger cooperation between our communities –
together with all people of good will – in decrying hatred and
oppression throughout the world. I pray that God, who searches our
hearts and knows our thoughts (Ps 139:23), will continue to enlighten us
with his wisdom, so that we may follow his commandments to love him with
all our heart, soul and strength (cf. Dt 6:5), and to love our neighbor
as ourselves (Lev 19:18). Thank you.
[Original text: English] |