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Archbishop of Canterbury meets with Chief Rabbis of Israel

Posted On : September 10, 2008 3:55 PM | Posted By : Admin ACO
Related Categories: Lambeth

ACNS: http://aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/9/10/ACNS4515

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, yesterday met with the
Chief Rabbis of Israel, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Chief Rabbi Yonah
Metzger. The following communiqué was signed:

Communiqué of The Third Meeting of the Chief Rabbis of Israel and the
Archbishop of Canterbury

The third meeting of the Chief Rabbis of Israel and the Archbishop of
Canterbury was held on 9th September 2008/9th Elul 5768, fulfilling the
provisions of the Joint Declaration signed by them on 5th September
2006/12th Elul 5766.

The Most Revd Dr Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Chief Rabbi Shlomo
Amar and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger of Israel met in Lambeth Palace. The
Chief Rabbis were supported by Mr Oded Wiener, Director General of the
Chief Rabbinate of Israel, whilst the Archbishop was supported by the Rt
Revd Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher and Co-Chair of the Anglican
Jewish Commission, and the Rt Revd Suheil Dawani, Anglican Bishop in
Jerusalem.

"We feel keenly the absence of Rabbi David Rosen who was not able to be
present because of a family bereavement and express our condolences and
prayers for him, his wife and their family. We also wish to acknowledge,
with gratitude, the work of Canon Guy Wilkinson who has supported our
meetings and those of our Anglican Jewish Commission since their
inception.

"We are encouraged by the further steps we have taken, under God, to
build up the trust and mutual understanding that have characterised our
encounter. We have heard from members of our Anglican Jewish Commission
of the special relationship that has developed in their meetings and
received with gratitude the report of their work on the holiness of
person, place and time. The Commission's meeting in Canterbury this year
during the Lambeth Conference gave it a special character. We were
delighted to hear of the warm appreciation shown by the bishops of the
Anglican Communion and their spouses for the address on the theme of
"Covenant" by Sir Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew
Congregations of the Commonwealth - an historic address as the first by
a Chief Rabbi to the decennial Lambeth Conference.

"In our deliberations on the work of the Commission we reflected on the
issues surrounding holy places and found helpful the analogy of them
being an "Embassy of God". It is important that holy sites are
universally recognised as places that are free from violence, whether
this is from external threats to security and access or from the use
within them of language which incites violence. We recognise the
particular burden this places on religious leaders to encourage their
faithful to show respect and understanding towards other Faiths and
their holy sites. Religious sites should be a beacon of that which
builds up peace and the common good.

"Therefore, we extend a call to all community leaders, political and
religious, to work to ensure that in all areas where they have influence
there is no incitement to religious or racial hatred. In this context we
are distressed to note that the President of Iran continues to use
threatening and derogatory language towards Israel.

"We express our deep sorrow at news of the death, since our last
meeting, of two of the hostages for whose release we had called and
renew our call for the release of Gilad Shalit. We continue to call for
a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

"We affirm and support the work of the Council of Religious Institutions
of the Holy Land and were pleased to receive positive reports of its
ongoing meetings. We view these as a fine example of the possibilities
and value in multi-religious discussion. In our deliberations we have
touched on a number of issues which we believe it would be helpful for
the Council to consider, amongst them the distress caused to families
locally by inter-religious marriages and the sensitivity with which
archaeological and construction work affecting religious sites is
conducted in Jerusalem.

"In a spirit of understanding we took the opportunity to review a number
of other issues of mutual concern in Israel, England and more widely. We
affirmed the value of the work of volunteers in religious projects and
undertook to explore the related visa issues with the Israeli Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.

"We concluded our time together sharing a meal, a sign of the growing
friendship that exists between us and to which we reassert our
commitment. The more consistently we are able to speak with one voice on
the huge variety of issues facing today's society the greater will be
our influence in building a peaceful future. We look forward to
exploring this further at our meeting in Jerusalem in 2009."

For photos please visit: http://aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/9/10/ACNS4515

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