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Inter-religious agencies and dialogues

• Christian - Jewish Dialogue of Montreal (CJDM)
  • Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (February 25, 2004)
  • Statement on the use of terrorism (April 19, 2004)
  • Nostra Aetate at 40: Achievements and Challenges in Christian-Jewish Relations (October 11, 2005)
• Dialogue judéo-chrétien de Montréal (DJCM)
  • Déclaration sur le recours au terrorisme (19 avril 2004)
  • La Passion du Christ de Mel Gibson (25 février 2004)
  • 40 ans après Nostra Aetate : réalisations et défis des relations entre chrétiens et Juifs (11 octobre 2005)
• Ecumenical Institute for Jewish - Christian Studies, Southfield, Michigan
  • Antichrist
    "On January 14, 1999, Dr. Jerry Falwell spoke to some 1,500 Christians at a prophecy conference in Kingsport, Tennessee. In the days leading up to the twenty-first century, Christian prophecy conferences are common occurrences in small towns across America; what made this particular conference unique was Falwell's outlandish claim about "the Antichrist."
  • Appreciating our Muslim Neighbors (James R. Lyons)
  • Death and Mourning: Jewish Rituals
    "Questions often arise regarding Jewish mourning rituals and whether it is acceptable for non-Jews to participate in these rituals. This paper is an attempt to briefly describe the appropriate rituals and to answer these questions."
  • Jewish-Christian relations have roots in Yom Kippur (David Blewett)
    "The person truly committed to Christian-Jewish relations echoes the prayer of David: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24). Without that humble self-examination there can be no dialogue."
  • Particularism, Universalism and Fundamentalism in Today's World (James R. Lyons)
  • Torah and Nomos as Theological Necessity (James R. Lyons)
  • What the Protestant Churches are saying about Jews and Judaism (David Blewett)
    "We are on the brink of a second Reformation – if we get serious about our church statements on Jews and Judaism. Let me explain."
• Alexandria Interreligious Conference
  • The First Alexandria Declaration (2002)
• International Conference of Christians and Jews
  • The Ten Points of Seelisberg (1947)
• International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ )
  • Jews and Christians in Search of a Common Religious Basis for Contributing Towards a Better World (1993)

Roman Catholic - Jewish

• International Catholic - Jewish Historical Commission
  • Statement on the Vatican's World War II archival material (December 7, 1999)
• International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee
  • A Common Declaration on Anti-Semitism (1990)
  • A Common Declaration on the Family (1994)
  • A Common Declaration on the Environment  (1998)
  • Joint Communiqué on the 16th Meeting (1998)
  • Joint Communiqué on the 17th Meeting (2001)
  • A Declaration on Protecting Religious Freedom and Holy Sites (2001)
  • Recommendation on Education in Catholic and Jewish Seminaries and Theological Schools (2001)
• Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel (1993)
• Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews & the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Communiqué (2003)
• National Jewish / Catholic Consultation, USA
  • To end the death penalty (1999)
• National Conference of Catholic Bishops (USA), U.S. Catholic Conference, and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith
  • Within Context: Guidelines for the Catechetical Presentation of Jews and Judaism in the New Testament (1986, updated 1993)
• Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and the National Council of Synagogues
  • Children and the Environment: A Joint Reflection (2000)
  • A Joint Condemnation of Acts of Religious Hatred (2000)
  • Filled with Sadness, Charged with Hope: A Joint Reflection on the Events of Sept 11 (2001)
  • Joint Reflections on Covenant and Mission (2002)

Christian Churches

• Alliance of Baptists
  • Statement on Baptist-Jewish Relations  (1995)
• American Lutheran Church (a predecessor body to the ELCA)
  • The American Lutheran Church and the Jewish Community (General Conference, 1974)
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
  • Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to the Jewish Community (1994)
  • Guidelines for Lutheran-Jewish Relations (1998)
• Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD)
  • Christians and Jews (1975)
  • Points for Orientation on Christians and Jews (Synod of the Evangelical Church of [West] Berlin, 1984)
  • Towards Renovation of the Relationship of Christians and Jews (Synod of the Evangelical Church of the Rhineland (FRG), 1980)
• Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE)
  "The LCJE is a network of organizations and individuals who seek to facilitate and strengthen the gospel proclamation to Jewish people throughout the world. The representatives serve as a catalyst to increase cooperative ventures and to coordinate efforts between mission agencies, Messianic congregations, denominations and theological institutions."
  [Note: Many ecumenical and inter-religious agencies reject the notion of Christian evangelism of Jews. This document is included here for information.]
  • Jewish Evangelism on the Eve of the Third Millennium
    "The sixth international conference of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE) met August 12-17, 1999. One hundred thirty participants from 16 countries convened in New York." [ English only ]
• Presbyterian Church (USA)
  • A Theological Understanding of the Relationship Between Christians and Jews (General Assembly, 1987)
• Episcopal Church (USA)
  • A Resolution of the 1979 General Convention (General Convention, 1979)
  • Guidelines for Christian-Jewish Relations (General Convention, 1988)
• Roman Catholic Church (see below)
• Swiss Protestant Federation
  • Reflections on the Problem Church-Israel  (Central Board, 1977)
• The United Church of Canada
  • Bearing Faithful Witness: United Church - Jewish Relations Today
    "... The United Church, in its support of multiculturalism, pluralism and a more inclusive ecumenism, has an interest in interfaith dialogue with all religions. However, no other religion is as closely related to Christianity as Judaism. The Christian God is the God of Israel. Jesus and all the apostles were of Israel. Christian Scripture includes the Scriptures of Israel. The New Testament extends the concepts, forms and even content of the Scriptures of Israel. The hope of Israel is the Christian hope, too: Earth under God's rule in peace, prosperity and justice for all. This document proposes guidelines for the relationship with Jews and Judaism and for the related interpretation of Scripture within The United Church of Canada. ..." (from the Introduction )
    • download a PDF version of the document. [100 pages / 345 KB / PDF]
    • Bearing Faithful Witness contained a theological statement for the United Church of Canada. The 36th General Council (1997) asked that the membership of the church be given the lifetime of two General Councils to consider the statement. Initial responses have led to revisions in the statement and this was reported to the 37th General Council in 2000. That Council asked that the Proposed Statement be circulated for comment through the church. View the new proposed statement. Comments were due June 1, 2002.
  • That We May Know Each Other: United Church-Muslim Relations Today
    "Toward a United Church of Canada understanding of the relationship between Christianity and Islam in the Canadian Context. That We May Know Each Other is a new study document on United Church-Muslim relations in Canada today. The resource can be used in congregational studies and then used to form responses to the proposed statement on the relationship of the United Church and Muslims in Canada. These responses will be used as a basis for developing a final statement to be presented for approval at General Council 39 in the summer of 2006. That We May Know Each Other is available on-line in PDF format [below] and as a print resource through UCRD. Congregations can request a complimentary copy at that time (with an accompanying four-session study process). Congregations and other United Church groups are then invited to respond to the proposed Muslim-United Church relations statement, offering final responses by May 1, 2005. Feedback on the study document is also welcome." [from the UCC website]
    • Download the Report [99 pp / 445 KB / PDF]
    • Download the Study Guide [27 pp / 190 KB / PDF]
• United Church of Christ (USA)
  • The Relationship Between the United Church of Christ & the Jewish Community (General Synod 16, 1987)
  • A Message to the Churches (UCC Theological Panel on Jewish-Christian Relations, 1990) 
• United Methodist Church in the U.S.A.
  • Statement on Inter-religious Dialogue: Jews and Christians (General Conference, 1972)

Ecumenical agencies

• Canadian Council of Churches / Conseil Canadien des Églises
  • Christian Approaches to People of Other Faiths (Commission on Faith and Witness, May 1996)
    Report of a Consultation on Interfaith Relations including different denominational perspectives on interfaith relations. (Commission Foi et Témoignage, mai 1996)
    Compte rendu d'une consultation sur les relations interreligieuses, où l'on retrouve différentes perspectives confessionnelles sur les relations interreligieuses. [en anglais seulement ]
• National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCCC/USA)
  • Interfaith Relations and the Churches (1999)
• Texas Conference of Churches
  • Dialogue: A Contemporary Alternative to Proselytization (1982)
• World Council of Churches
  • The Church and the Jewish People (Commission on Faith and Order, 1967)
  • Ecumenical Considerations on Jewish-Christian Dialogue (Executive Committee, 1982)

Ecumenical consultations and dialogues

• Canadian Church leaders statement on Anti-Semitism (2003)
  "Nine church leaders, representing many of the Christian churches in Canada and working through the facilitation of the Canadian Council of Churches, of which they are members, call upon all within church communities and all Canadians to resist anti-Semitism in this country."
• Hungarian Bishops and Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary
  • Joint Statement on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Holocaust (1994)
• New York Bishops of the Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic communities
  • Ecumenical Statement on Christian-Jewish Dialogue (1996)

Jewish documents

• Ehud Barak, "Address During Papal Visit to Yad Vashem," March 23, 2000
• The Central Conference of American Rabbis and The Rabbinical Assembly, "The CCAR and The Rabbinical Assembly Recognize Bonds between the Jewish and Catholic Communities," March 2000
• National Jewish Scholars Project of the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies, "Dabru Emet - A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity," September 10, 2000.

Roman Catholic documents

• Second Vatican Council
  • Nostra Aetate, Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (1965)
  • Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (excerpt)
• The Holy See (Vatican Curia)
  • Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews
    • Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Declaration  Nostra Aetate, No. 4 (1974)
    • Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church (1985)
    • We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah (1998)
    • Kasper video-stream on relations with Jews (2002)
      German theologian Cardinal Walter Kasper is the president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews as well as the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.  In speeches delivered at Boston College and Brandeis University, he sought to clarify the Church's position on several controversial issues.  Among them, the Church's history of forced conversion of the Jews, and the contemporary debate over the proposed canonization of Pope Pius XII, accused by some of failing to oppose the Holocaust. This lecture is available on streaming video from WGBH Boston.
  • Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
    • Declaration Dominus Iesus on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church (2000)
  • International Theological Commission
    • Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Faults of the Past (1999)
  • Pontifical Biblical Commission
    • The Historical Truth of the Gospels (1964)
    • Scripture and Christology (1984)
    • The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (1993)
    • The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible (2001)
  • Pontifical Justice and Peace Commission
    • The Church and Racism (1988)
• Bishops' conferences
  • United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
    • "Guidelines for Catholic-Jewish Relations" (1967)
    • "Statement on Catholic-Jewish Relations" (1975)
    • "Guidelines for Catholic-Jewish Relations" (1985)
    • Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion (1988)
    • God's Mercy Endures Forever: Guidelines on the Presentation of Jews and Judaism in Catholic Preaching (1988)
    • Catholic Teaching on the Shoah: Implementing the Holy See's We Remember (2001)
  • French Bishops
    • Jewish-Christian Relations (Committee for Relations with Jews, 1973)
    • Declaration of Repentance (1997)
  • West German Bishops
    • The Church and the Jews (1980)
  • Bishops of West Germany, Austria & Berlin
    • Accepting the Burden of History: Common Declaration on the 50th Anniversary of the Pogroms Against the Jewish Community on the Night of 9-10 November 1938 (1988) Marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Kristallnacht.
  • Polish Bishops
    • Pastoral Letter on Jewish-Catholic Relations (1991)
    • The Victims of Nazi Ideology (1995)
    • Letter on the Occasion of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000
  • German Bishops
    • An Opportunity to Re-examine Relationships with Jews (1995) Statement on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the extermination camp at Auschwitz, 27 January 1945.
  • Dutch Bishops
    • Supported by One Root: Our Relationship to Judaism (1995)
  • Swiss Bishops
    • Confronting the Debate About the Role of Switzerland during the Second World War (1997)
  • Episcopal Conference of Italy
    • Letter to the Jewish Community of Italy (Secretariat for Ecumenism and Dialogue, 1997)
• John Paul II - Letters and Addresses  
  • To Representatives of Jewish Organizations, March 12, 1979
  • To Jewish representatives in Mainz, West Germany - Nov. 17, 1980
  • To Experts Gathered by the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews - March 6, 1982
  • At the Great Synagogue of Rome - April 13, 1986
  • On the 50th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - April 6, 1993
  • To the Pontifical Biblical Commission - April 11, 1997
  • Good Friday - April 10, 1998
  • Address to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - January 28, 2000
  • Jubilee 2000 Observances
    • Interreligious Assembly - October 28, 1999
    • At Mount Sinai - February 26, 2000
    • Day of Pardon Mass - March 12, 2000
    • Arrival in Tel Aviv - March 21, 2000
    • Arrival in Bethlehem - March 22, 2000
    • Address at the Dheisheh Refugee Camp - March 22, 2000
    • Meeting with Israel's Two Chief Rabbis - March 23, 2000
    • Meeting with President Weisman - March 23, 2000
    • Address at Yad Vashem - March 23, 2000
    • Address at Jerusalem Interreligious Meeting - March 23, 2000
    • Homily on the Mount of the Beatitudes - March 24, 2000
    • Western Wall Prayer - March 26, 2000
  • Comments on the Camp David Summit - July 23, 2000
  • Homily at the Beatifications of Pius IX, John XXIII, Tommaso Reggio, William Chaminade and Columba Marmion - Sept. 3, 2000  
  • Address to the New Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the Holy See - September 7, 2000
  • Address to the New Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Holy See - Sept. 18, 2000
  • Message to Lisbon Interreligious Conference - September 21, 2000. 
  • Comments by Pope John Paul II on Dominus Iesus -  October 1, 2000
  • General Audience Comments on Interreligious Dialogue - November 29, 2000
  • Address to the All-Ukranian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations - June 24, 2001
  • Address to Representatives of the World of Culture, Kazakhstan - September 24, 2001

Educational resources

• Walking God's Paths: A Multimedia Process for Catholic-Jewish Dialogue
• Criteria for Assessing the Presentation of Jews and Judaism in Christian Teaching and Homiletic Materials
• Some Principles for Interreligious Dialogue
• Suggested Passion Narrative Readings for Liturgical Use during Holy Week
• Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion
• A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict