Meeting with Representatives of the Jewish Community (17 November 1980)

On 17 November 1980, the Holy Father met with representatives of the Jewish Community in Mainz, to whom he spoke of "the spiritual inheritance of Israel for the Church."

Shalom!
Honored gentlemen, dear brothers!

I thank them for the kind and sincere words of welcome. This meeting was a matter close to my heart in the context of this apostolic journey, and I thank you for responding to my request. May God's blessings be upon this hour!

1. If Christians are to see themselves as brothers to all men and act accordingly, how much more so is this sacred obligation when dealing with members of the Jewish people! In the "Declaration on the relationship between the Church and Judaism" from April of this year, the bishops of the Federal Republic of Germany put the sentence at the beginning: "Whoever encounters Jesus Christ encounters Judaism". I would also like to adopt this word as my own. Indeed, the Church's faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of David and the Son of Abraham, contains what the bishops in that declaration call "the spiritual inheritance of Israel for the Church," a living inheritance shared by us Catholic Christians in its depth and its wealth wants to be understood and preserved.

2. The concrete fraternal relations between Jews and Catholics in Germany acquire a very special value against the dark background of the persecution and attempted eradication of Judaism in this country. The innocent victims in Germany and elsewhere, the families destroyed or dispersed, the cultural values ​​and art treasures destroyed forever are tragic proof of where discrimination and contempt for human dignity can lead, especially when they are animated by perverse theories about an alleged inequality of human beings races or about the division of people into "valuable" and "livable" versus those "not worth living". Before God all people are equally valuable and important.

In this spirit, Christians also worked during the persecution, often at the risk of their lives, to prevent or alleviate the suffering of their Jewish brothers. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and thanks to you. The same applies to those who, as Christians, affirmed their membership of the Jewish people and followed the suffering of their brothers and sisters to the end - like the great Edith Stein, with her monastery name Theresia Benedikta vom Kreuz, whose memory is rightly held in high honour .

I would also like to mention Franz Rosenzweig and Martin Buber, who, through their creative use of the Jewish and German languages, created an admirable bridge for a deeper encounter between the two cultural areas.

In your greeting you yourself emphasize that the Catholics and the Church have made a decisive contribution to the many efforts to build up a new coexistence with the Jewish fellow citizens in this country. This recognition and the necessary cooperation on your part fills me with joy. For my part, I would also like to express my grateful admiration for your initiatives in this regard, including the most recent founding of your university in Heidelberg.

3. The depth and richness of our common heritage are revealed to us particularly in benevolent dialogue and trusting cooperation. I am pleased that all of this is being cultivated consciously and purposefully in this country. Many public and private initiatives in the pastoral, academic and social areas serve this purpose, even on very solemn occasions such as the recent Catholic Day in Berlin. The meeting of the International Liaison Committee between the Roman Catholic Church and Judaism last year in Regensburg was also an encouraging sign.

It is not just about correcting a false religious view of the Jewish people, which in part caused the misjudgments and persecutions in the course of history, but above all about the dialogue between the two religions which - with Islam - gave the world faith in were allowed to give the one, inexpressible God who speaks to us and want to serve him on behalf of the whole world.

The first dimension of this dialogue, namely the encounter between the people of God of the Old Covenant, which God has never annulled, and those of the New Covenant, is at the same time a dialogue within our Church, as it were between the first and second parts of its Bible. On this the guidelines for the implementation of the Council declaration ”Nostra aetate” say: ”One must endeavor to better understand what is of intrinsic and lasting value in the Old Testament...since later interpretation in the light of the New Testament, which gives it its full meaning, is not devalued, so that rather a mutual illumination and interpretation results".

A second dimension of our dialogue - the real and central one - is the encounter between today's Christian Churches and today's people of the covenant made with Moses.

Here it is important "that Christians - according to the post-conciliar guidelines - strive to better understand the basic components of the religious tradition of Judaism and that they learn which basic features are essential for the lived religious reality of the Jews according to their own understanding " (Introduction). The way to get to know each other is through dialogue. I thank you, venerable brothers, that you too lead it with that "openness and widening of the spirit", with that "tact" and with that "cautiousness" which the above-mentioned guidelines commend to us Catholics. One fruit of such a dialogue and a signpost for its fruitful continuation is the statement by the German bishops quoted at the beginning “on the relationship between the Church and Judaism” from April of this year. It is my urgent wish that this declaration becomes the intellectual property of all Catholics in Germany!

I would like to briefly address a third dimension of our dialogue. The German bishops devote the final chapter of their declaration to the tasks that we have in common. As sons of Abraham, Jews and Christians are called to be a blessing to the world by working together for peace and justice among all people and peoples, in the fullness and depth that God Himself intended for us, and with the willingness to make the sacrifices that this lofty goal may require. The more this sacred obligation characterizes our encounter, the more it blesses us as well.

4. In the light of this Abrahamic promise and calling, I look with you to the destiny and role of your people among the nations. I am happy to pray with you for the fullness of Shalom for all your brothers in the people and faith and also for the country that all Jews look at with special reverence. Our century saw the first pilgrimage of a Pope to the Holy Land. The words of Paul VI. As we enter Jerusalem, I would like to end by repeating: “In your desires and prayers, pray with us for unity and peace in this unique land visited by God! Let us pray together here for the grace of a true and deep brotherhood between all people, between all peoples! ... Happy be they that love you. Yes, peace dwell in your walls, Prosperity in your palaces. I ask you peace

May all peoples in Jerusalem soon be reconciled and blessed in Abraham! He, the Unspeakable, of whom his creation speaks to us, He who does not force his humanity to do good and yet guides it. He who reveals himself in our destiny and keeps silent. He who chooses us to be his people for everyone: he may lead us on his way into his future!

His name be praised! Amen.

© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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