PARIS, MARCH 27, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A dozen cardinals and bishops from around the world visited New York this week to meet with some of the highest authorities of orthodox Judaism there.
A communiqué published Thursday by the Archdiocese of Paris, reported that the delegation, led by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris and president of the episcopal conference of France, was composed of prelates from Europe, Asia and Africa.
The meetings ended Wednesday and took place «within John Paul II’s and Benedict XVI’s action to build an effective fraternity with our elder brothers in the faith,» the note said.
The prelates were received Monday at New York’s Jewish Heritage Museum by Rabbi Israel Remedar, former president of the World Jewish Congress, and Rabbi Bernard Lander, founder-president of Touro College.
They visited an exhibit on the million and a half Ukrainian Jews who were killed between 1941 and 1944. They also met privately with some of the highest authorities of Yeshiva University, whose teaching is focused on the theme «Bringing Wisdom to Life.»
The note explained that the meetings, initiated in 2003 by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris, who died in 2007, are «a form of religious and pastoral dialogue,» dictated by the common necessity «religious brotherhood at the service of society.»
«The extremely cordial climate, the mutual trust built over many years, the growing depth and frankness of the exchanges, confirm the absolutely unique character of these meetings, more than 40 years after the ‘Nostra Aetate’ declaration of Vatican Council II,» explained the communiqué of the Diocese of Paris.
The prelates also stopped in Washington, D.C., to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum and meet with the bishops of the U.S. episcopal conference. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the conference’s president, personally greeted the prelates.
