The B.C. Catholic Newspaper

August 16, 2004

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In a Nutshell

"You are our dearly beloved brothers, and, in a certain way, ... you are our elder brothers," Pope John Paul II once said to the Jewish community.

Local Catholic-Jewish dialogues try to develop trust, knowing that we live in a world where human diversity often yields conflict.

Pope John Paul has called for Holocaust education on every level of Catholic education.

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Food for Thought
		"Jews and Christians have a special relationship," Pope John Paul II said in a 2002 letter. They share a "common heritage," part of which is "a message that comes to us from the God of the covenant with Moses, the patriarchs and the prophets." This message invites Jews and Christians "to collaborate in the life of the world." The pope's letter came on the eve of a European meeting of Christians and Jews. Writing to Cardinal Walter Kasper, who heads the Vatican office for relations with the Jews, the pope pointed to the contemporary progress in Catholic-Jewish relations. "Jews and Christians are bound to one another because of their respective identity," the pope wrote. He said: "It is our task to pass on to new generations the treasures and values we have in common so that never again will man despise his own brother in humanity and never again will conflicts or wars be unleashed in the name of an ideology that despises a culture or religion." The pope said that "the different religious traditions are called, together, to put their patrimony at the service of all," affirming "ties of brotherhood" in order to "establish a renewed humanity." full story

Pope John Paul II and the Jews

By Eugene Fisher

Catholic News Service

Jews in 1978 were not at all sure what to make of a Polish pope. Yet he has come, despite a number of difficult controversies over the years, to symbolize for them much of what is best in Christianity.

Pope John Paul II was the first pope to visit a death camp, Auschwitz, in 1979. Auschwitz is the symbolic center of Jewish remembrance of the Shoah (Holocaust).

full story

Catholic-Jewish Dialogue in a Parish

By Joanne S. Sanders

Catholic News Service

My husband is a permanent deacon. He and I met a wonderful Jewish rabbi in a neighboring community about five years ago. This rabbi has been an inspiration to us as well as a valuable resource to our parish community.

Part of our commitment to the church as a couple is focused on planning and presenting various adult faith-formation sessions for our parish. Each year in the fall and spring we have a series of Scripture study sessions on various books of the Bible.

full story

The Bible and the Jews

By Father Lawrence Boadt, CSP

Catholic News Service

As a biblical teacher who has spent his life teaching the beauty and the power of God's revelation in the Old Testament, I see that today we truly have entered a new age of God's grace to the church. We are rediscovering the gift that Jews are to Christians.

To be Catholic is to be rooted in God's revelation through Israel and its holy Scriptures, and through Jesus Christ and his teaching in the New Testament. We cannot really know God simply by admiring the created world and its beauty. Rather, God chose to initiate a personal relationship with us, enabling us to know his purposes and thoughts, and to experience his nearness.

full story

	Faith in the Marketplace
		This Week's Discussion Point: Give one reason why the Catholic-Jewish dialogue might matter to you.
		Selected Response From Readers:

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This week:

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Pro-life Democrats rally during Boston convention

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