{"id":17063,"date":"2016-02-05T00:15:32","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T08:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=17063"},"modified":"2016-02-07T08:01:38","modified_gmt":"2016-02-07T16:01:38","slug":"a-commitment-to-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/02\/05\/a-commitment-to-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"A commitment to dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus (CRC) committed last year to engage in \u201cshared and sincere dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Passed at the Second Vatican Council in 1965, the Nostra Aetate covers the Catholic Church\u2019s relationship with non-Christians. Among other points, the fourth section affirms Christianity\u2019s Jewish roots, states that Jews should not be blamed for Jesus\u2019 death and decries antisemitism. The joint declaration of CCCB and CRC, issued on Nov. 25, referred specifically to that fourth section, \u201cwhich profoundly changed Catholic-Jewish relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first national, bilateral dialogue between Catholics and Jews in Canada also took place on Nov. 25, in Ottawa. The joint initiative was launched the next day. It has several goals, including the strengthening of ties and increased understanding between the Catholic and Jewish communities; opposing \u201cantisemitism and all forms of hatred\u201d; advancing common interests in public policy, in areas such as social justice and religious freedom; and promoting civic engagement among Canadian Jews and Catholics.<\/p>\n

\"photo
Rabbi Robert Daum is a delegate to the Catholic-Jewish dialogue initiative. (photo from Robert Daum)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Jewish delegation to the dialogue comprises Dr. Robert Daum, Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Dr. Victor Goldbloom, Rabbi Reuben Poupko, Dr. Adele Reinhartz and Dr. Norman Tobias, while the Catholic delegation is Bishop John A. Boissonneau, Archbishop Paul-Andr\u00e9 Durocher, Sister Anne Anderson, Father Martin Moser, Sister Eileen Schuller and Father Herv\u00e9 Tremblay.<\/p>\n

\u201cJews must recognize that contemporary Catholicism was profoundly changed by Vatican II and that the historic denigration and demonization of Jews has been eliminated from Catholic teaching,\u201d said Frydman-Kohl, co-chair of the CRC \u2013 with Rabbi Jonathan Infeld and Rabbi Reuben Poupko \u2013 in a Nov. 26 statement about the dialogue. \u201cCatholics must comprehend that contemporary Jews and Judaism can only be understood through the twin experiences of the horrors of the Holocaust and the creative existence of the state of Israel. While differences between our two faith communities still exist, we have moved from disputation to dialogue, persecution to partnership, and confrontation to cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe initiative represents a very serious commitment on the part of the CCCB and of the CRC, and of the individual delegates who will be meeting twice a year for the next few years,\u201d said Daum, a fellow, diversity and innovation, Simon Fraser University\u2019s Centre for Dialogue, and an honorary associate professor, department of classical, Near Eastern and religious studies, University of British Columbia. \u201cI am sure that none of us would have agreed to undertake this work without an expectation that the process would make a contribution to Canadian society.\u201d<\/p>\n

CRC is an affiliate of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. \u201cAs faith communities active in public policy and public discourse, we have a responsibility to speak out against manifestations of hatred in society,\u201d said Nico Slobinsky, director of CIJA Pacific Region. \u201cOur voice is stronger when we speak out together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo
Nico Slobinsky, director of CIJA Pacific Region. (photo from Nico Slobinksy)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Slobinsky noted that CRC and CCCB wrote a letter, dated Dec. 15, to Minister of Foreign Affairs St\u00e9phane Dion, highlighting that \u201cChristians experience religious persecution more than any other faith group on a global scale and in absolute numbers\u201d and requesting that the \u201cGovernment of Canada make a priority of advocating for at-risk Christian communities throughout the Middle East and Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said CIJA has been \u201cadamant in speaking for the right of religious minorities when threatened.\u201d He described the \u201crange of policies CIJA advocates on, from affordable housing to government support for health care and public services run by Jewish social service agencies,\u201d and said he can see \u201cnatural areas of cooperation with faith communities like the Catholic community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the case of antisemitism,\u201d he added, \u201cgiven the sad history of Catholic discrimination and persecution of Jews, it is particularly poignant that Catholics condemn and actively counter antisemitism today, as evidenced in the pope\u2019s recent remarks,\u201d which continue the path of reconciliation that started at the Second Vatican Council.<\/p>\n

Slobinsky said the Nostra Aetate \u201chas had a profound impact within the Church leadership and clergy, though it is largely unknown by average Catholics and Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daum described it as \u201ca very important document. Because of that document, for example, I worked for the American Jewish Committee and the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Francisco for three years when I was working on my PhD at Berkeley. I was a guest lecturer on the topic of Judaism in five Roman Catholic high schools, so that the students could have the opportunity to learn about Judaism from a Jewish scholar.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike any historic document, the impact will vary from place to place, and from decade to decade, but one has to bear in mind that this relationship goes back many centuries. And there have been some very important statements issued by Jewish and Roman Catholic scholars over the past several years, including in recent months. These are related developments, which is very encouraging and very interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the dialogue initiative, Daum said, \u201cWe are bringing ourselves to this initiative as Jews and as Canadians, and our dialogue partners are bringing themselves as Catholics and as Canadians \u2013 in our diversity and in our unity, we will get to know each other and each other\u2019s community better with each meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zach Sagorin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus (CRC) committed last year to engage in \u201cshared and sincere dialogue.\u201d Passed at the Second Vatican Council in 1965, the Nostra Aetate covers the Catholic Church\u2019s relationship with non-Christians. Among other points, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5099,5286,458,5287,5285,5284,1797],"class_list":["post-17063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","tag-catholic-jewish-relations","tag-cccb","tag-cija","tag-crc","tag-nico-slobinsky","tag-nostra-aetate","tag-robert-daum"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17063\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}