Catholic World News News Feature

Holy See, Grand Rabbinate join in condemnation of violence December 04, 2003

Catholic and Jewish leaders have joined in a statement condemning terrorist acts that target religious worshippers, and calling for an end to violence, particularly in the Holy Land.

Representatives of the Holy See joined with the Grand Rabbinate of Israel in the statement in a 10-point statement, calling upon all religious leaders to educate their followers in pursuit of peace. In a point clearly intended for the Islamic world, the statement "asked in particular for all the sons of Abraham, and all believers, to lay down the weapons of war and destruction."

Jewish officials indicated their satisfaction with recent statements in which Vatican officials firmly condemned terrorist activities. Cardinal Jorge Mejia, who headed the Holy See's delegation to this week's meeting in Jerusalem, wrote: "To attack people at their house of worship is not only cruel but also ignoble and incompatible with acceptable norms of human behavior." Pope John Paul recently repeated his condemnation of any effort to use religious faith as an incitement to violence.

The statement was the product of the 3rd meeting in a series of exchanges between the Holy See and the Grand Rabbinate. The discussions are designed to focus on the Scriptures, and this year's topic was "the central role of Sacred Scripture for contemporary society."