Archbishop Gądecki during the celebration of the 25th Day of Judaism: I thank God that this initiative is still alive

“Let us be ready to deepen dialogue in a spirit of loyalty and friendship, with mutual respect for our deepest convictions, based on those elements of Revelation which are common to us,” Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki encouraged.

He stressed that for the past 25 years, “the aim of the Day of Judaism in the Catholic Church in Poland has invariably been to pray together and reflect on the relationship between the two religions and to develop a Christian-Jewish dialogue. There is a deeper awareness of the fact that both our religions - fully aware of the many ties between them, and especially aware of the 'bond' of which the Council speaks - want to be recognized and respected, each in its own identity, without any syncretism or ambiguous appropriation”.

The president of the Episcopate acknowledged, however, that despite the passing of these 25 years and the great efforts made on both sides, “we are still far from removing all prejudices and finding the right language to show the true face of Jews and Judaism, as well as Christians and Christianity”.

In his speech, Archbishop Gądecki recalled how this day was established in the Church. He said that 25 years ago, after talks he held with Italian organizers of St. John Paul's visit to the Roman synagogue (April 13, 1986), he brought to a session of the Polish Bishops’ Conference a project to establish a National Day of Judaism in the Catholic Church in Poland, also known as the Day of Dialogue with Judaism. “This project was accepted and Poland became the second, after Italy, European country in which such celebrations began to be organized. Later, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland joined the initiative. The first such day was celebrated centrally in Krakow (17.01.1998),” he said.

“Today I thank God for the fact that this initiative did not die a natural death, but is alive and after 25 years, we can celebrate this national day in Poznan on January 17,” he stressed.

Translation: Sr. Amata J. Nowaszewska / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference