Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Pope Benedict meets with Anti-Defamation League officials

Interreligious tolerance not enough, authentic respect needed, Pope tells Jewish ADL

Vatican City, Oct. 12, 2006 (CNA) - Pope Benedict XVI met today with members of the New York based Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The Holy Father told the Jewish group that the challenge of interreligious dialogue is to build relationships which go beyond tolerance to authentic respect.

The Pope welcomed the group, recalling the many meetings between the ADL and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and affirming his own desire to continue meeting representative groups of the Jewish people.

“In our world today,” the Pope began, “religious, political, academic and economic leaders are being seriously challenged to improve the level of dialogue between peoples and between cultures. To do this effectively requires a deepening of our mutual understanding and a shared dedication to building a society of ever greater justice and peace.”

“We need to know each other better and, on the strength of that mutual discovery, to build relationships not just of tolerance but of authentic respect,” the Holy Father said.

“Indeed,” he continued, “Jews, Christians and Muslims share many common convictions, and there are numerous areas of humanitarian and social engagement in which we can and must cooperate.”

Recalling the words of “Nostra Aetate,” the Church’s document on relations with non-Christian religions, Pope Benedict recalled the “Jewish roots” of the Christian faith and the need to create new bonds of friendship and collaboration between the Church and the Jewish people.
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ADL Officials Meet With Pope Benedict XVI
20:36 Oct 12, '06 / 20 Tishrei 5767

(IsraelNN.com) An official delegation from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) met with Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday and asked him to help protect Jews from Iran. "We hope you will declare the Church's commitment to do everything in its power to prevent another Holocaust against the Jewish people from any part of the globe, including Iran," said ADL executive director Abe Foxman.

The Catholic pope responded by expressing his condemnation of anti-Semitism but made no specific reference to Iran, saying that “the Church deplores all forms of hatred or persecution directed against the Jews and all displays of anti-Semitism at any time and from any source.” He offered a prayer that “the Eternal One, our Father in heaven, bless every effort to eliminate from our world any misuse of religion as an excuse for hatred or violence.”
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And, also:

Pope Assures ADL Leaders He Is A Moral Voice Against Anti-Semitism

New York, NY, October 12, 2006 … In a private audience today with leaders from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI issued his strongest declaration against anti-Semitism since assuming the papacy, telling the visiting delegation of Jewish leaders that he would, "be a strong, constant voice against anti-Semitism."

"I will always be there for you in fighting anti-Semitism," Pope Benedict personally assured Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, in informal words following his prepared remarks to the delegation.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 4:56 PM