(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
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Benedict XVI's Address to Chief Rabbi of Rome
"The
Catholic Church Is Close to You and Is Your Friend"
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 16, 2006 (Zenit.org).-
Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today at an audience
attended by Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni of Rome and a delegation from the
Jewish community.
* * *
Illustrious Chief Rabbi,
Dear Friends: "Shalom!"
"The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation" (Exodus
15:2): This was the song of Moses and of the children of Israel, when the Lord
saved his people as they crossed the sea. Isaiah sang in the same way: "Behold,
God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is
my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation" (12:2).
Your visit fills me with joy, and it motivates me to renew with you this song of
thanksgiving for salvation. The people of Israel have been liberated many times
from the hands of their enemies and, in times of anti-Semitism, in the dramatic
moments of the Shoah, the hand of the Almighty guided and sustained them. The
favor of the God of the Covenant has always accompanied them, giving them the
strength to overcome trials. Your Jewish community, present in the city of Rome
for more than 2,000 years, can also bear witness to this divine loving
attention.
The Catholic Church is close to you and is your friend. Yes, we love you and
cannot but love you, "through the Fathers": Because of them you are very dear to
us and favorite brothers (cf. Romans 11:28b). Following the Second Vatican
Council the reciprocal esteem and trust between us has increased. Ever more
fraternal and cordial contacts have developed, becoming even more intense during
the pontificate of my venerated predecessor, John Paul II.
In Christ we partake in your heritage of the Fathers, in order to serve the
Almighty, "with one accord" (Zephaniah 3:9), grafted onto the one "holy tree" of
the people of God. As Christians, this fact makes us aware that, with you, we
share in the responsibility of cooperating for the good of all people, in
justice and peace, in truth and freedom, in holiness and love.
Keeping in mind this shared mission, we cannot fail to denounce and fight firmly
against the hatred and misunderstanding, the injustice and violence that
continue to worry the soul of men and women of good will. In this context, how
can we not be pained and concerned over the renewal of manifestations of
anti-Semitism?
Esteemed Lord Chief Rabbi, a short time ago you were entrusted with the
spiritual guidance of the Roman Jewish community; you have assumed this
responsibility with the wealth of your experience as scholar and doctor, who
have shared the joys and sorrows of so many people. To you I express my
heartfelt best wishes for your mission and assure you of both my and my
collaborators' esteem and cordial friendship. Many are the needs and challenges
of Rome and the world, which invite us to unite our hands and hearts in concrete
initiatives of solidarity, "tzedek" (justice) and "tzedekah" (charity).
Together, we can work to transmit the torch of the Ten Commandments and of hope
to the young generations."
May the Eternal watch over you and over the whole Jewish community of Rome! In
this particular circumstance, I take up the prayer of Pope Clement I, invoking
the blessings of Heaven upon all of you. "Give us and all who inhabit the earth
concord and peace, as you gave our fathers when they invoked your name in faith
and truth" ("To the Corinthians" 60,4). "Shalom!"