Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Pope Receives Jewish Welcome

Totally Jewish
by Justin Cohen - Monday 21st July 2008

Australia’s most senior rabbi has praised the Vatican for its part in helping create a better world after the horrors of the Holocaust, insisting that Benedict XVI’s meeting with Jewish and other faith leaders last week emphasised his “commitment to our ongoing dialogue”.

Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence’s comments came as he welcomed the Pope on behalf of the city’s Jewish community to a historic gathering at St Mary’s Cathedral last Thursday, part of the Pope’s first visit to the country since taking office.

The senior rabbi of Sydney's Great Synagogue said that through such encounters “the positives of faith are emphasised over the disagreements. Our shared concerns for the environment, for the preservation of our climate and biodiversity...Our reverence for the sanctity of life, for the dignity of humankind in the home and in the workplace; for social justice, freedom from oppression, discrimination or persecution”.

Judaism and Christianity, he said, "revere that moment almost 3,500 years ago, when the people of Israel heard the voice of God at Sinai.

“There, he entrusted us with the mission and the message of holy living and the celebration of God in all aspects of our lives and to share it with our world. Though we may differ profoundly in the details or interpretations, our shared points of origin should bind us together with an amity which is greater than the discord from our point of departure and our points of disagreement.”

Saying that there is “delight” in any such encounter with a person of the Pope's stature, he added: “On a personal level, I am bound to reflect that my grandparents, who were born in Berlin had to flee from there, just 70 years ago. Their parents, grandparents and siblings perished. When I am asked what it means for me to participate in this historic event, my very first reaction is that for them, and for their generation, such an encounter as today’s would have been unthinkable; it would be quite beyond their imagination.”
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 12:43 PM