The meeting between Jews and Christians, French and Israeli, aimed to present the positive results of the dialogue that has taken place in France and to encourage a similar movement in Israel. It was a time of intense dialogue and very enriching encounters, no doubt with a renewed awareness of the richness of Jewish-Christian relations in this early part of the 21st century.
Richard Prasquier, President of CRIF, opened the colloquium warmly, after thanking the leading figures present for their participation. He was followed by Monsignor Marcuzzo, the delegate of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who reminded the audience that, in its essence, the Church is a reality defined by dialogue. By the Church’s very history, Christians are called to enter into dialogue with Jews within the Church itself. “Either we enter into dialogue or we disappear”, he said, emphasising that dialogue is a matter of life, values and theological reflection.
Father Patrick Desbois, speaking of Jewish-Christian dialogue today, insisted that: “Dialogue has begun and is holding its own, because in each generation there have been men and women on both sides who have been willing to give up something of their ordinary life in order for dialogue to be preserved. We cannot dispense ourselves from that because the Christian’s personal calling is in part a call to sacrifice. Those who have carried and still carry this dialogue have only been able to do so by paying a price. For 2000 years, history has been deeply marked by sin, and sin never dies! Tomorrow, it will no longer be the same stalwarts, but pray that these “bridgeheads” will hold out and be willing to sacrifice some of their reputation."
In Jerusalem and in Tiberias, we were able to observe that not only is Jewish-Christian dialogue not in decline, but on the contrary it is going from strength to strength. For CRIF, as the organiser of the gathering, it was worth the wager.
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