NEW YORK, USA - Roman Catholic and Jewish leaders, declaring hope for a new era in often-tense relations, said on Friday they had agreed not to try to influence each other's theology, called for protection of holy sites and the opening of all Vatican archives from the Second World War.
The international group of rabbis, priests, cardinals and academics said in a joint statement at the end of a three-day conference in New York that they were "determined to engage our leadership and laity in dialogue and cooperation."
One of the most difficult issues discussed was the document known as Dominus Jesus issued by the Vatican in September 2000 that appeared to assert the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church over other Christians and other religions, officials said.
Participants described as "an important new development" clarification by Vatican officials of aspects of Dominus Jesus.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, was quoted in the joint statement as saying the Dominus Jesus document "is an intra-Catholic document about interreligious dialogue addressed to Catholic theologians ... It does not enter into the Jewish-Catholic dialogue."
He added that there "is no missionary activity on the part of the church directed toward converting the Jews."
The group affirmed that a panel of Catholic and Jewish scholars, assigned to examine the role of Pope Pius XII during the Second World War when millions of Jews in Europe were killed by Nazi Germany, had asked last October for full access to the Holy See's wartime archives.
"They (the scholars) agree that the question of the role of the papacy during the war remains unresolved," said the statement by the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee, as the group is formally known. "While the opening of the Vatican archives will not definitely put this matter to rest, opening the archives will help remove the aura of suspicion and will contribute to a more mature level of understanding."
A reading of the full archives would help the scholars determine what Pope Pius XII did or did not know while the Nazis tried to exterminate the Jews and why he did not speak out more.
NEW ERA
"This is a beginning, hopefully of a new era, where it looked as if it might not be at the outset," said Israel Singer, head of the World Jewish Congress activist group. "That's big news for the last three days and hopefully big news for the years to come in this dialogue."
Cardinal Edward Cassidy of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, said the next meeting would be held in about three years. "We look to the future with great hope after this and we did set out some ideas about how we need to look together at what we can do together and a lot of emphasis on education."
The committee said in a separate joint declaration that religious freedom was increasingly under attack and condemned violence against holy places. It did not list cases of violence at religious sites but said the declaration grew out of attacks on Joseph's Tomb in Hebron, the destruction of giant Buddhas in Afghanistan by the ruling Taliban movement and massacres of Christians in Sudan or their forced conversion to Islam.
"We stand together as representatives of the Catholic and Jewish communities of faith in calling on men and women of all faiths to honor religious liberty and to treat the holy places of others with respect," the declaration said. "We call on people to reject attacks on religious liberty and violence against holy places as legitimate forms of political expression."
The committee was meeting for the 17th time. It includes representatives of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations and the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations.