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72

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1990

Vatican Official
Seeks Closer Ties

New York (JTA) — A top-
level Vatican official, echo-
ing statements made at last
week's meeting of Catholic
and Jewish leaders in
Prague, has denounced anti-
Semitism as a sin and called
for substantive measures to
create more understanding
between the Jewish and
Catholic communities.
Father Pier Francesco
Fumagalli, secretary of the
Vatican's Commission for
Religious Relations With the
Jews, made his remarks dur-
ing a two-day conference
commemorating the 25th
anniversary of "Nostra
Aetate."
Issued by the Second Vat-
ican Council in 1965, the
declaration called for an im-
proved relationship between
the Church and the Jewish
people.
Father Fumagalli ac-
knowledged that "the Jew-
ish people continue to have a
positive role within God's
unique design for the uni-
verse."
The next steps in the
evolution of the relationship
between the two faith com-
munities, Father Fumagalli
said, are "to include
teaching of these doctrines
in theological seminaries, to
move to counter anti-
Semitism and to educate
people with the knowledge of
different civilizations, re-
ligions and cultures."
The conference, held at
Fordham University and
sponsored with the coopera-
tion of the American Jewish
Committee, convened less
than a week after the Inter-
national Catholic-Jewish
Liaison Committee met in
Prague. At the Prague
meeting, leaders from the
two faiths called for strong
initiatives to be taken to
combat anti-Semitism in
Eastern Europe.
Father Fumagalli con-
firmed that a document pro-
viding a synthesis of Papal
history in relationship to the
Jews is now being prepared
by the Vatican,
He also called for "close
cooperation between the
International Jewish Com-
mittee on Interreligious
Consultations and the Vat-
ican Commission for Re-
ligious Relations With the
Jews, in order to avoid
future misunderstandings"
like the conflict over the es-
tablishment of a convent at
Auschwitz.
"We have a sacred duty to
create a community of

mutual esteem and recipro-
cal caring," Father
Fumagalli said, adding that
"We must promote true con-
ciliation."
Father Fumagalli did post-
graduate work in
paleography, literature and
language at the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem,
and admitted that he speaks
Hebrew more fluently than
he speaks English. He told
the audience of about 500
Catholic and Jewish leaders
and lay people that both
communities need to con-
tinue work on "teshuvah,"
or repentance.
He closed his remarks by
reciting in Hebrew Psalm
67, which is about nations
sharing God's blessings.
Rabbi A. James Rudin,
National Interreligious Af-
fairs director of the Ameri-
can Jewish Committee's In-
stitute of Human Relations,
noted that with the "explicit
mandate" issued by the Vat-
ican through the Papal
Commission and now Father
Fumagalli, "the full weight
and authority of the Church
at the highest level is in-
volved in the battle against
anti-Semitism."
At the opening dinner of
the Nostra Aetate con-
ference, Elie Wiesel observ-
ed that dramatic
breakthroughs have been
made in tensions between
the Church and the Jewish
people over the past 25
years.
"We were no longer accus-
ed of deicide," he said.
"Anti- Semitism was
`deplored,' if not denounced.
Dialogue between Catholics
and Jews was encouraged.
And the Jewish origins of
Christianity were emphasiz-
ed."
The Vatican has not yet of-
ficially recognized the State
of Israel, a step that the Vat-
ican-Jewish dialogue groups
are "pressing for," according
to Rabbi Rudin.
He emphasized, however,
that Father Fumagalli's
remarks were an important
step in bettering relations.
"We're trying to get rid of
1,900 years of bad relations
between us," he noted, "and
attitudes are one of the
hardest things to change."
More than 1,000 people at-
tended the two-day con-
ference, Rabbi Rudin said.
Those numbers reveal
"enormous thirst" for dia-
logue between Christians
and Jews, he added.

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