November-December 2007 
Year 14    No.126
Love thy Neighbour


Shalom!  

Excerpts from a joint communiqué from the archbishop of Canterbury and
the chief rabbis of Israel

Jerusalem, October 31, 2007

The second meeting of the chief rabbis of Israel and the archbishop of Canterbury took place in Jerusalem on October 31, 2007 according to the provisions of the joint declaration signed by them on September 5, 2006/ 12th Elul 5766.

The most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger of Israel met to take further their friendly relationship and the mutual interests of the people of their countries.

"We recall our meeting in Lambeth in September last year and the historic nature of the declaration which we signed together. We reaffirm all that we said in that declaration and have today taken forward our relationship and our work towards greater understanding and mutual respect between our communities.

"Since that meeting there have been further developments in the holy land and in the wider region, some positive and some worrying. We are very concerned about the well-being of the ever increasing numbers of refugees from Iraq and about the plight of religious minorities, in particular Christian communities in Iraq and elsewhere in the region; we call for the release of hostages and in particular for the release of Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit. Continuing use of aggressive language by President Ahmadinejad of Iran towards Israel is wholly unacceptable to us. We also note, however, the renewed energy towards a comprehensive peace in the region and the many initiatives, religious and secular, being taken to overcome divisions and to seek reconciliation. In particular in this respect, we commend the work of the many organisations that seek to work together from different perspectives for the common good.

"We discussed together some recent developments and initiatives by religious leaders and scholars which aim to strengthen the means by which religious communities can cooperate with each other in the search for a world more attuned to the love of god for creation.

"In particular, we welcomed the recent meeting of religious leaders held at the invitation of the St Egidio community when the archbishop of Canterbury and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger were able to meet together with his holiness Pope Benedict and with the leaders of many other religious traditions. We look forward to additional opportunities that further the important work of universal religious solidarity.

"In this connection, we noted the recent letter from Muslim scholars and religious leaders to the Christian churches. The "Common Word", though addressed to Christian churches, also makes clear its respect for Hebrew scripture in citing directly from the Book of Deuteronomy and in acknowledging the inspiration that this provided for their understanding of the Koranic teachings on the unity and love of god and of neighbour. In promoting these values we commit ourselves and encourage all religious leaders to ensure that no materials are disseminated by our communities that work against this vision. We have agreed that in responding to the "Common Word" it will be important to consider carefully together how the perspectives of Christians and Jews are properly held together.

"At the end of our meeting we give thanks to god for the sacred gift of life and for stirring up in our hearts the desire to see god’s will for good fully expressed in human lives. We restate our concern for all hostages and for the many innocent victims of violence; we pray for peace and for peacemakers; we reaffirm our commitment to each other and our firm intent to continue this dialogue on the basis of mutual respect under god."

www.anglicancommunion.org

 


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