Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale794

IV

Ad Internationalem Hebraicum Comitatum pro Interreligiosis consultationibus.*

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to welcome this delegation of the International Jewish

Committee on Interreligious Consultations. For over thirty years your Com-

mittee and the Holy See have had regular and fruitful contacts, which have

contributed to greater understanding and acceptance between Catholics and

Jews. I gladly take this occasion to reaffirm the Church's commitment to

implementing the principles set forth in the historic Declaration Nostra Aetate

of the Second Vatican Council. That Declaration, which firmly condemned all

forms of anti-Semitism, represented both a significant milestone in the long

history of Catholic-Jewish relations and a summons to a renewed theological

understanding of the relations between the Church and the Jewish People.

Christians today are increasingly conscious of the spiritual patrimony

they share with the people of the Torah, the people chosen by God in his

inexpressible mercy, a patrimony that calls for greater mutual appreciation,

respect and love.1 Jews too are challenged to discover what they have in

common with all who believe in the Lord, the God of Israel, who first reveal-

ed himself through his powerful and life-giving Word. As the Psalmist

reminds us, God's Word is a lamp and a light to our path; it keeps us alive

and gives us new life.2 That word spurs us to bear common witness to God's

love, mercy and truth. This is a vital service in our own time, threatened by

the loss of the spiritual and moral values which guarantee human dignity,

solidarity, justice and peace.

In our troubled world, so frequently marked by poverty, violence and

exploitation, dialogue between cultures and religions must more and more be

seen as a sacred duty incumbent upon all those who are committed to build-

ing a world worthy of man. The ability to accept and respect one another,

and to speak the truth in love, is essential for overcoming differences, pre-

venting misunderstandings and avoiding needless confrontations. As you

yourselves have experienced through the years in the meetings of the Inter-

* Die 30 Octobris 2008. 1 Cfr Nostra Aetate, 4. 2 Cfr Ps 119:105.