Debate over the Cross threatens Jewish participation in Assisi event

(August 08, 2011) Rome's Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, provoked by a statement from a leading Vatican official about the meaning of the Cross, has raised questions about whether he and other Italian Jews might pull out of the interfaith gathering for peace in Assisi. The debate began with Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, referred to the Cross as "the permanent and universal Yom Kippur." Rabbi Di Segni strongly objected, saying that the cardinal's statement trivialized the meaning of the Yom Kippur that Jews still observe. Seeking to find common ground without backing off his point, Cardinal Koch wrote in L'Osservatore Romano: "We absolutely maintain that the Jews should look at the Cross as we Christians do, in order to set out on the road to Assisi together." Cardinal Koch acknowledged that this discussion touches on one of the most central and sensitive questions in Catholic-Jewish dialogue: ...the question of how to reconcile the conviction, binding for Christians as well, that God's covenant with the people of Israel has permanent validity with the Christian faith in universal redemption in Jesus Christ, in such a way that, on the one side, the Jews should not get the impression that their religion is seen by Christians as obsolete, and on the other that Christians should not renounce any aspect of their faith.