Statement on the Shabbat Murders at the Tree of Life – Or Simchat Synagogue in Pittsburgh

The Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations (CCJR), member organization of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), has issued a statement on the the Shabbat murders at the Tree of Live Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The statement reads as follows:

The Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations is horrified by the wanton attack on Jews gathered for prayer in the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that occurred on Shabbat, October 27, 2018.

The member centers and institutes of the Council are united in condemning this atrocity as violating the moral norms of Judaism and Christianity, and as contrary to the fundamental right to the free exercise of religion under the Constitution of the United States.

The United States, home to the largest Diaspora Jewish community in the world, has consistently fostered sustained Christian-Jewish dialogue and collaborative research which has achieved profound levels of shared enrichment and understanding. This work of enhancing mutual understanding between Jews and Christians must continue with renewed vigor in the future.

November 1, 2018

Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership

Hebrew College, Newton Centre, Massachusetts

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Center for Theology & Ministry

Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, Illinois

Edward B. Brueggeman Center for Dialogue

Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio

Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Committee

Stonehill College, Easton, Massachusetts

Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies

Saint Leo University, St. Leo, Florida

Center for Christian-Jewish Learning

Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations

Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts

Center for the Study of Values & Violence after Auschwitz

Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida

Centre for Catholic-Jewish Learning

Kings University College, London, Ontario, Canada

Christian Jewish Relation and Encounter

Sisters of Sion, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Driscoll Professorship in Jewish-Catholic Studies

Iona College, New Rochelle, New York

Gratz College - Jewish Christian Studies Program

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Hayyim Kieval Institute for Jewish-Christian Studies

Siena College, Loudonville, New York

Holocaust Education Resource Center

College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, New Jersey

Institute for Islamic • Christian • Jewish Studies

Baltimore, Maryland

Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations

Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding

Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Institute of Judaeo-Christian Studies

Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey

Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning

Saint John’s University – Collegeville, Minnesota

Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning

University of St. Thomas - St. Paul, Minnesota

Jewish-Catholic Theological Exchange

Providence College, Providence, RI

Judaic and Catholic Studies Centers

Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut

Kraft-Hiatt Program for Jewish-Christian Understanding

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts

Kripke Center for the Study of Religion & Society

Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska

Lux Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies

Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology in Franklin, Wisconsin

Manhattan College Holocaust Resource Center

Manhattan College, New York City, New York

Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue

Jewish Theological Seminary, New York City, New York

Mobile Christian-Jewish Dialogue

Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama

National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education

Seton Hill University, Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding

New York City, New York