NEWS The Catholic Church Criticized Denial of Jewish Ties to Temple Mount in Meeting with Israeli Chief Rabbinate Delegation

By Pagine Ebraiche Staff
 
The delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews met in Rome last week. Among the topics discussed were the recent documents promoted in international forums which deny the ties between Judaism and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the Bet Hamikdash used to stand. 
 
“In discussions on current issues the principle of universal respect for the holy sites of each religion was affirmed; and note was made of attempts to deny the historical attachment of the Jewish people to their holiest site. The bilateral commission vigorously cautioned against the political and polemical denial of biblical history and called on all nations and faiths to respect this historic religious bond,” highlights the final joint statement. 
 
The Jewish delegation featured Chairman Rabbi Rasson Arussi, rabbi David Rosen, Rabbi Prof. Daniel Sperber, Rabbi Prof. Avraham Steinberg, Rabbi Moshe Dagan and Oded Wiener. The Catholic delegation featured Peter Cardinal Turkson (Chairman), Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M. Archbishop Bruno Forte, Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, Msgr. Pier Francesco Fumagalli, Fr. and Norbert J. Hofmann S.D.B.          
 
The meeting focused on “promoting peace in the face of violence in the name of religion.”
 
“Acknowledgement was made of the tragic sins of past violence that have been perpetrated in the name of religion, and the terrible blasphemous abuse of religion in current times that desecrates human life, denial of human liberty and differences, and posing critical challenges for our respective traditions”, reads the statement.