The Rev. John T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D., President of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), has issued the following statement:
Pope John Paul II took the document of Vatican II Nostra Aetate and its chapter four on the church's relationship with the Jewish People and made it a centerpiece of his papal ministry. He said more positively than any Pope in history regarding the centrality of Judaism to Christian self-understanding. He termed antisemitism a sin on a number of occasions and dramatized his commitment to its demise in Christian consciousness by placing his words of apology for antisemitism in the church in the Western Wall in Jerusalem. He took the necessary steps to recognize the State of Israel. Hopefully his legacy will be further deepened and made mainstream within Catholicism during the next papacy. There could be no greater testimonial to John Paul II.
The International Council of Christians and Jews, which is headquartered in the Martin Buber House in Heppenheim, Germany, has 38 Christian-Jewish and interreligious member organizations in 32 countries. It is the sponsor of this website.