Delegations rep-resenting-the Vatican and world Jewish communities met in Antwerp last week to evaluate Catholic-Jewish relations on a global scale, it was reported today by Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, national director of interreligious affairs of the American Jewish Committee, who participated in the third annual conference as co-secretary of a joint Vatican and international Jewish body.
“It was by far the most constructive and mutually helpful” conference, he noted. “Concerns were expressed and shared over the situation of Christian partners in mixed immigrant families in Israel, about the urgent plight of Israeli POWs in Egypt and Syria in whose behalf the Vatican has made several interventions, and about the continued harassment of Soviet Jewry.”
In addition, a joint communique was issued by both delegations summarizing their agreements. These ranged from “a commitment to pursue common studies of the moral and spiritual foundations of human rights and religious freedom, to examining the relationship of our Biblical traditions to modern nationalism and building world community, and to undertaking joint efforts to combat racism and anti-Semitism throughout the world,” Rabbi Tanenbaum reported. He noted that the most valuable aspect of the meeting was “the growth in genuine friendship and reciprocal understanding between the Catholic and Jewish representatives.”
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