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ACCJ welcomes ‘Walking Together’ document

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27 March 2023

In praise of Walking Together

The Australian Council of Christians and Jews (ACCJ) welcomes the Catholic Church’s new document highlighting Christianity’s unique relationship with Judaism.

The document, Walking Together: Catholics and Jews in the Australian Context, highlights the increasingly positive relations between the Christian and Jewish traditions since the development of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.

Dr Ron Hoenig, chair of the ACCJ, said: “This statement by Australia’s Catholic bishops is yet another step along the pathway of understanding between Christianity and the Jewish tradition, and demonstrates the increasingly positive relationship between the two traditions in Australia.”

“It demonstrates the leading role of the Catholic Church in making amends for past wrongs and enriching the quality of the dialogue between Jews and Christians since the end of the Second World War.

“I congratulate members of the Councils of Christians and Jews who participated in its development, in particular, former ACCJ chair, Rev Dr Michael Trainor; current convenor of the ACCJ’s Theological Committee Dr Emmanuel Nathan; and member of the Victorian CCJ and a Sister of Sion, Dr Mary Raeburn.”

The document highlights the fact that Jesus was and remained a Jew and that the early Christians remained Jews. It also points to the role of Christians in countering antisemitism in contemporary Australia.

In particular, the document rejects “supersessionism”, the erroneous view that Judaism has been superseded by Christianity.

Walking Together: Catholics and Jews in the Australian Context was developed by The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

Media Comment:

Dr Ron Hoenig

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