The International Jewish-Catholic Liaison Committee met in Marseilles for three days last week. It was the second annual meeting of the committee established to implement a recommendation of a Rome meeting between leading Catholics and Jews two years ago; and designed to improve mutual understanding between the two faiths, to encourage exchange of information, and to foster cooperation in areas of common concern.
The Marseilles meeting was chaired by Msgr. Roger Etchegaray, the Archbishop of Marseilles, and Prof. Zvi Werblowsky of Jerusalem, the chairman of the Israeli Council for Inter-Religious Contacts. Among Catholics present, appointed by Cardinal J. Willebrands with the consent of the Pope, were the Bishop of Brooklyn, Msgr. Francis Mugavero, and the Rev. Cornelius Rijk who heads the office for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Vatican.
Jews present were Rabbi Balfour Brickner, director of inter-faith activities of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and Dr. Gerhard M. Riegner, secretary general of the World Jewish Congress.
There was an exchange of views in an atmosphere of frankness and cordiality. The liaison committee expressed its concern over increasing anti-Semitic manifestations in various parts of the world, and agreed to seek ways and means to combat this evil. Among the problems discussed were the situation of Catholics and Jews in the Soviet Union; the problem of international terrorism; evangelization, especially in the United States; and religious developments in Israel. After the meeting, both sides expressed the view that it had been an important contribution to a better understanding between the two faiths.
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