(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says due to “our common roots” with the Jewish people,
“a Christian cannot be anti-Semitic!” Listen to Tracey McClure's report:
The Pope was
speaking to a 30 strong delegation from the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious
Consultations (IJCIC) who gathered in the Apostolic Palace’s Hall of the Popes for
a private audience Monday. The IJCIC is committed to developing relations with the
Vatican’s Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews, the Orthodox Christian
Church, the World Council of Churches, and other international religious bodies.
Though
he acknowledged he has met “important personalities of the Jewish world,” Pope Francis
admitted this marked the first time he was addressing an official group of representatives
of Jewish organizations and communities. And as such, he wanted to recall that landmark
Second Vatican Council declaration Nostra Aetate which he described as a “key point
of reference for relations with the Jewish people.”
“The fundamental principles
expressed by the Declaration,” he continued, “have marked the path of greater awareness
and mutual understanding trodden these last decades by Jews and Catholics” – a path
very much supported, he noted, by his predecessors.
Pope Francis recalled his
own friendships with leaders of the Jewish world while he was Archbishop of Buenos
Aires, saying these “friendly relations are in a way the basis for the development
of a more official dialogue.”
The Pope encouraged those present to “follow
this path trying, as you do so, to involve younger generations.” “Humanity,” he said,
“needs our joint witness in favour of respect for the dignity of man and woman…and
in favour of peace.”
Below, please find a transcript of Pope Francis’
discourse to the IJCIC delegation:
Dear elder brothers and sisters,
Shalom! With this greeting, dear also to the Christian tradition, I am pleased
to welcome a delegation of representatives of the International Jewish Committee on
Interreligious Consultations. I greet Cardinal Koch, as well as the other members
and officials of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, with whom you
have continued a regular dialogue for more than forty years. The twenty-one meetings
held until today have certainly helped to reinforce mutual understanding and the links
of friendship between Jews and Catholics. I know that you are preparing the next
meeting in October in Madrid and that it will have as its theme Challenges to Faith
in Contemporary Society. Thank you for your commitment to this! In these first
months of my ministry I have already had the chance to meet important personalities
of the Jewish world, but this is the first time I have talked with an official group
of representatives of Jewish organizations and communities, and so I cannot fail to
mention what was solemnly stated by the Second Vatican Council in paragraph 4 of the
Declaration Nostra Aetate, as it remains for the Catholic Church a key point of reference
for relations with the Jewish people. In that Council text, the Church recognizes
that “the beginnings of its faith and election are to be found in the patriarchs,
Moses and prophets”. And, with regard to the Jews, the Council recalls the teaching
of Saint Paul, who wrote “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” and who also
firmly condemned hatred, persecution and all forms of anti-Semitism. Due to our common
roots, a Christian cannot be anti-Semitic! The fundamental principles expressed
by the Declaration have marked the path of greater awareness and mutual understanding
trodden these last decades by Jews and Catholics, a path which my predecessors have
strongly encouraged, both by very significant gestures and by the publication of a
series of documents to deepen the thinking about theological bases of the relations
between Jews and Christians. It is a journey for which we must surely give thanks
to God. Having said that, this is only the most visible element of a whole
movement to be found here and there throughout the world, as I know from personal
experience. During my time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, I had the joy of maintaining
relations of sincere friendship with leaders of the Jewish world. We talked often
of our respective religious identities, the image of man found in the Scriptures,
and how to keep an awareness of God alive in a world now secularized in many ways.
I met with them on various occasions to discuss the challenges which Jews and Christians
both face. But above all, as friends, we enjoyed each other’s company, we were all
enriched through encounter and dialogue, and we welcomed each other, and this helped
all of us grow as people and as believers. This has happened in many other places
in the world, and these friendly relations are in a way the basis for the development
of a more official dialogue. So I encourage you to follow this path trying, as you
do so, to involve younger generations. Humanity needs our joint witness in favour
of respect for the dignity of man and woman created in the image and likeness of God,
and in favour of peace which is above all God’s gift. As the prophet Jeremiah said,
“I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil,
to give you a future of hope” (29:11). With this word, Peace – Shalom – I conclude
my words, asking for your prayers and assuring you of my own.