NEWS)

N

The American Friends of the Hebrew University

Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit

Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit

and The Jewish News

Catholics To Intensify
Interfaith Teaching

present

ISRAEL NOW:
Contemporary Issues and Answers

Sunday, May 3, 1992, 7:30 p.m.

Congregation Shaarey Zedek--Adler Hall
Bell Road at 11 Mile, Southfield

a forum including

EDY KAUFMAN

Executive Director, Harry S. Truman
Institute for the Advancement of Peace,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Visiting
Professor, American University and
University of Maryland, College Park

discussing

Prospects for Peace and Israeli-
Palestinian Relations

No registration fee
No solicitation of funds

Refreshments
Dietary laws observed

New York (JTA) — Jewish
and Catholic religious
leaders who met last week in
Poland, Czechoslovakia and
Hungary agreed that inten-
sified efforts are needed to
teach Catholic priests and
educators in those countries
about Judaism and their
church's relationship with
it.
The unprecedented joint
trip was arranged to imple-
ment a September 1990
document, known as the
Prague Declaration, that
called for concrete measures
to eradicate anti-Semitism
from Catholic teachings,
particularly in those Central
and Eastern European coun-
tries that were essentially
closed off to the West during
the era of Communist rule.
A statement signed by
both the Jews and the
Catholics at the conclusion
of the trip said that "priority
must be extended in each
country to the area of gen-
eral education and to the
training of educators."
Several of the Jewish dele-
gates met with Cardinal
Josef Glemp, the Polish
primate who in 1989 accused

Jews of exerting control over
the international media,
among other unflattering
charges.
While visiting the United
States last fall, Glemp ex-
pressed regret for his
remarks.
During the 45-minute ses-
sion, Glemp assured his Jew-
ish guests "that his concern
was ongoing, that anti-
Semitism is unworthy of our
civilization," Rabbi
Mordechai Waxman re-
ported from Warsaw.
While in Poland, the Jew-
ish and Catholic leaders
visited the Umschlagplatz,
where, during the Holo-
caust, Jews from the War-
saw Ghetto were assembled
for deportation to the death
camps.
They also paid an emo-
tional visit to Auschwitz and
checked on the progress of
the new convent being con-
structed some distance away
from the death camp. The
Carmelite nuns who now oc-
cupy a building on the
Auschwitz grounds are ex-
pected to move to the new
complex by the end of the
year.

Bishops Speak
On Anti-Semitism

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New York (JTA) —
Switzerland's Conference of
Catholic Bishops and repre-
sentatives of the country's
Jewish community have
signed a joint declaration
condemning anti- Semitism
as "a crime against God and
humanity."
The statement is Switzer-
land's implementation of the
1990 Prague declaration, ac-
cording to Michael Kohn,
president of the Swiss Jew-
ish community, and is meant
to mark increased under-
standing between Jews and
Catholics on the 500th an-
niversary of the expulsion of
Jews from Spain.
The Prague declaration
was issued in September
1990 by representatives of
the Vatican and the Interna-
tional Jewish Committee on
Interreligious Consulta-
tions, the Jewish partner in
interfaith dialogue. It states
that anti-Semitism is a sin,
and that concrete measures
must be taken to combat it.
The nine-page Swiss
declaration states that
"through misguided
preaching and catechisms,
the Church contributed to

the creation of the climate
that allowed the murderers
of the Nazi regime to carry
out their crimes against
Jews."
The joint declaration also
stresses the central role of
Israel in Judaism and em-
phasizes that the country's
legitimacy is based not only
on the Bible and tradition,
but also on international
law.
The policies of Israel's
government are open to
criticism, like those of any
other country, but Chris-
tians must accept Israel's
right to exist.
Archbishop Joseph Can-
dolfi, chairman of the Swiss
Bishops Conference, said
that the joint declaration
also aims at the general
problem of racism and
xenophobia when it says
that "current racism against
Turks, Tamils and black
Africans is a dreadful con-
tinuation of earlier hatred
against Jews."
With this statement, the
Swiss church joins Poland's
Catholic hierarchy in having
officially condemned anti-
Semitism.

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