Jewish-Christian Relations
This site is devoted to fostering mutual respect and understanding between Christians and Jews around the world.
Here you will find articles, reviews, reports, official statements, and study resources on Jewish-Christian relations, as well as links to many related organizations.
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This site is owned and maintained by the International Council of Christians and Jews, which has 38 Christian-Jewish and interreligious member organizations in 32 countries. Its headquarters is in the Martin Buber House in Heppenheim, Germany, where the great Jewish thinker lived until Nazi persecution forced him to flee.
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The new Pope was my student: will he be good for the Jews?
Pope Leo XIV was my student while he prepared for a degree and priestly ordination at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Given my longstanding…
Read morePope Leo XIV: Now is the time for dialogue and building bridges
On the day after the Mass for the Inauguration of his Petrine Ministry, Pope Leo XIV greets delegations from non-Catholic Churches, ecclesial…
Read moreControversy Stories and Jewish-Christian Relations
It is usually easier for people in “naturally” or “biologically” determined groups – members of an ethnic group, members of a family – to disagree…
Read moreThe Guide and its Guide: A review essay
The Guide to the Perplexed: A New Translation
By Lenn E. Goodman and Phillip I. Lieberman
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2024)
Lenn E. Goodman
A…
“One Ought to Pray, Day and Night, for the Thousands”: Etty Hillesum’s Approach to Prayer and Hasidic Thought
Etty (Esther) Hillesum’s (1914–1943)* diaries, published in the Netherlands for the first time in 1981, have since been translated into 18 languages…
Read moreHow Jan. 27 came to be International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
The choice of January 27 as the day of commemoration is the result of relatively recent initiatives by non-Jews. Without abandoning this now…
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Book Reviews |
Teresa Pirola:
Catholic-Jewish Relations: Twelve Key Themes for Teaching and Preaching
(Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2023
vii + 194 pp. $ 25,-
Book Reviews |
J. Christopher Edwards:
Crucified. The Christian Invention of the Jewish Executioners of Jesus.
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2023
255 Pages; $28.00
Book Reviews |
Anders Runesson:
Judaism for Gentiles: Reading Paul Beyond the Parting of the Ways Paradigm
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 494
Tüb…
Book Reviews |
The Guide to the Perplexed: A New Translation
By Lenn E. Goodman and Phillip I. Lieberman
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2024)
Lenn E. Goodman
A…
Lithuania: The 2023 documentary film – The Secrets of the Great Synagogue of Vilna – can now be viewed free online
We have posted a number of times about the extraordinary discoveries archaeologists have made over the past few years at the site of the destroyed…
Read moreWorld Jewish Congress official: 'We'll miss Pope's wisdom and friendship'
06 May 2025 - Pope Francis "never hesitated to condemn anti-Semitism," whose words "were a shield for countless Jewish communities," and "we will miss…
Read moreICCJ Declaration 2025
An Invitation to Recommit to Interfaith Relationships in These Tumultuous Times.
Read moreThe International Council of Christians and Jews mourns the passing of Pope Francis
21.04.2025 - The International Council of Christians and Jews mourns the passing of Pope Francis and extends our condolences to Roman Catholics around…
Read moreCan Pope Leo XIV Revive the Catholic-Jewish Relationship?
Relations between the Catholic Church and Jews are in deep crisis, caused not only by reactions to the war in Gaza, but above all by the radical…
Read moreThe Footprints of Pope Francis
24.04.2025 - The US-based Jewish writer Jonathan Safran Foer reflects on the legacy of Pope Francis, who "reminded us of what we continually forget:…
Read morePope Francis’ friendship with other religions promoted paths of peace
21.04.2025 - With Pope Francis’ passing, we recall his unforgettable efforts that contributed to friendship and dialogue between Christians and people…
Read moreRabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Engagement with Christians and Christian Theology[*]
How does a Jew speak of Christianity to Christians after the Shoah? We stand “at the limits of available ontologies, available schemes of…
Read morePassover is a Jewish holiday remembering sorrowful events and celebrating hope for a better future
Jewish families will gather for Passover this year in circumstances that will, like the celebration itself, reflect on dark times while looking ahead…
Read morePost-Holocaust Theology. An overview
The Shoah (Holocaust) has raised a number of questions to which Jewish philosophers, theologians, and historians have given different answers. This…
Read moreWho wrote the Bible?
The Bible tells an overall story about the history of the world: creation, fall, redemption and God’s Last Judgement of the living and the dead.
Read moreBroken Roots. What Happens When We Don’t Know Jesus’s Jewish Context
On the 16th of October, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the highest-ranking Catholic Church clergyman in the Israel region, made an offer that shocked the…
Read moreRededicating Ourselves to Deepening Interfaith Relationships: A Pledge Sponsored by the International Council of Christians and Jews
The First and Second World Wars killed over one hundred million people and made refugees of hundreds of millions more. Empires fell. Nations were…
Read moreICCJ-Statement: In Solidarity With Israel
10.10.2023 - A few days ago, on Shabbat morning and on the onset of Simchat Torah which was supposed to be a day of peace and joy, Israel experienced…
Read moreJewish and Catholic Approaches to the terminally ill: The Prohibited, the Permitted and the Obligatory
12.05.2023 - Joint Statement of the 17th Bilateral Commission of the Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See’s Commission for…
Read moreA National Reckoning of the Soul
A Call to the Churches of the United States to Confront the Crisis of Antisemitism
Read moreWorld Jewish Congress Mourns Passing of Pope Francis
21 Apr 2025 - NEW YORK – Upon learning of the passing of Pope Francis, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said:
Read moreIJCIC repudiates charge of Israeli genocide
November 22, 2024. In light of the recent controversy arising from a comment by Pope Francis recorded in Hernán Reyes Alcaide’s “Hope Never…
Read moreWe extend an invitation to the Church to broaden the dialogue
February 12th, 2024 - Response to the Pope's letter, dated from 2 February 2024.
Read more"Because of the Jewish roots of Christianity, all Christians have a special relationship with Judaism".
Address of the Holy Father to representatives of other churches and ecclesial communities, and other religions. Clementine Hall
Monday, 19 May 2025.
Read moreTo our fathers in the faith: you are not alone!
Since October 7, in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks and hostage-taking, and the subsequent military operations in Gaza, we have witnessed a…
Read moreMy heart is close to you, to the Holy Land, to all the peoples who inhabit it, Israelis and Palestinians
Vatican City, 2 February 2024 - Letter of the Holy Father to Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel.
Read more"Not weapons, not terrorism, not war, but compassion, justice and dialogue are the fitting means for building peace"
Address of His Holiness to a Delegation of the Conference of European Rabbis, 6 November 2023.
Read moreHope for the Future - A Study Document for Renewing Jewish-Christian Relations
This study document is intended as an educational resource and reflection tool to stimulate a renewal of Jewish-Christian relations in the various LWF…
Read moreJews and Christians; becoming friends: A five-week scripture study course
This booklet is a five-week scripture study course. It is based on a course on Christianity and Judaism given alongside Stan Keller, the chairman of…
Read more"Caring for the world between us" - Greetings for the ICCJ 2023 Conference
In her welcome address, Rabbi Anisfeld hoped that the ICCJ 2023 Conference would inspire us to renew our commitment to caring for the "world between…
Read moreUnderstanding Jesus means understanding Judaism
In 2021, the Deutsche Bibel Gesellschaft published Das Neue Testament - jüdisch Erklärt,[1] the German translation of The Jewish Annotated New…
Read moreUnfulfilled Promise. Pope Francis and the Israel-Hamas war
Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s operation in Gaza constitutes genocide, according to a new book published for…
Read moreHow the state of Israel became ‘the Jew’ writ large
It has long been well-known that interest in Israel and its conflict with Palestinians and with Arabs and Muslims in the region is extremely high and…
Read moreOnkelos and the Tree(s)
In his Guide of the Perplexed I:27, Rambam (Moses Maimonides, 1138-1204) wrote:
Read moreOnkelos the Proselyte was highly adept in Syriac and Hebrew. He made…
JEWS AND CHRISTIANS. From Past to Future
It is with great pleasure that JCR announces that the book "Jews and Christians. From Past to Future" by the well known Catholic monk and Israeli…
Read moreAppeal for Peace
This appeal for peace was presented by children to religious leaders at the closing session of the international meeting ‘Imagining Peace’ organised…
Read moreThe elderly in contemporary society and their protection
Declaration of the Abrahamic Religions, Buenos Aires, Monday, August 28, 2023.
Read moreNo one is saved alone
Final communique at the International Meeting of Prayer for Peace between the large world religions, October 20, 2020, Rome.
Read moreUrgent Action Needed to Prevent COVID-19
March 25th, 2020. The COVID-19 virus presents the entire world with a series of humanitarian, financial, social and political challenges, which do not…
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