The establishment of a new Vatican Commission for Relations with the Jews was welcomed by the five major Jewish organizations which make up the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC). In a joint statement, the co-secretaries of IJCIC noted that the new Vatican Commission grew out of a series of annual consultations between representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and their organizations. “These consultations have been marked increasingly by a spirit of friendship and candor, by a desire for mutual helpfulness in areas of common concern,” the co-secretaries said.
Signing the statement were Dr. Gerhart Riegner, secretary general. World Jewish Congress; Rabbi Henry Siegman, executive vice-president. Synagogue Council of America; Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, director of interreligious affairs, American Jewish Committee; Rabbi Solomon Bernards, director of interreligious affairs. Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith; and Prof. Shmaryahu Talmon, chairman. Israel Interfaith Committee. Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein, Congregation Kebillath Jeshurun, New York, serves as chairman of the Committee.
The next meeting between representatives of IJCIC and the newly established Vatican Commission for Relations with the Jews will take place in Rome, Jan. 14-16, 1975. The co-secretaries expressed the hope that the new Commission and the forthcoming deliberations in Jan. “will further advance that movement toward mutual trust and cooperation in the interests of our respective communities and of the entire human family.”
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