Text of Pope Benedict XVI's Address to Chief Rabbi's of Jerusalem
(12 May '09 - RV) 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 RabbiShlomo 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.