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The Story of the International Council of Christians and Jews by William W. Simpson and Ruth Weyl The ICCJ wishes to thank and commend its Patron, Sir Sigmund Sternberg, for his unwavering support and pioneering work in interfaith dialogue. His eff orts have been recognised by the Vatican with the award of a Knighthood of St Gregory the Great which was enhanced with a Star award in 2009 and 18 countries worldwide have also recognised his interfaith achievements. Proof reading: David Giff ord Sr. Margaret Shepherd Photographs: on top – The participants in the International Conference of Christians and Jews at Seelisberg 1947 below – Signatories of the Twelve Points of Berlin THE STORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS by WILLIAM W. SIMPSON and RUTH WEYL IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM W. SIMPSON 1907 – 1987 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I (1946 – 1987) 5 by Rev William W (Bill) Simpson and Ruth Weyl FOREWORD TO PART I AND II BY LORD DONALD COGGAN 7 INTRODUCTION (by Ruth Weyl) 9 SOME BACKGROUND 11 THE STORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL 19 OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES 31 DIALOGUE IN THE EASTERN EUROPEAN SOCIALIST 52 COUNTRIES INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CONFERENCE 53 EDUCATION 59 THE WAY AHEAD 61 PART II (1988 – 1995) 65 by Ruth Weyl The Story Continues INTRODUCTION (by Ruth Weyl) 67 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, INTERNATIONAL 71 YOUTH CONFERENCES, EDUCATION 1988 1995 PART III (1995 – 2009) 95 by Ruth Weyl INTRODUCTION (by Fr Prof John T Pawlikowski) 97 INTRODUCTION (by Sir Sigmund Sternberg) 99 PROLOGUE (by Ruth Weyl) 101 ICCJ’S ACTIVITIES AND CONFERENCES 1995 1999 105 LATIN AMERICA 115 ABRAHAMIC FORUM 115 INTO THE 21ST CENTURY ICCJ’S ACTIVITIES AND 117 CONFERENCES 2000 2009 THE ICCJ YOUNG LEADERSHIP ‐ ACTIVITIES AND 167 CONFERENCES 1996 2009 3 APPENDICES: I. FUNDAMENTAL POSTULATES OF CHRISTIANITY 179 AND JUDAISM IN RELATION TO HUMAN ORDER II. AN ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES SEELISBERG, 1947 183 III. ICCJ GUIDELINES ON THE PORTRAYAL OF JEWS AND JUDAISM IN EDUCATION AND IN TEACHING MATERIALS 185 IV. ICCJ GUIDELINES ON THE TEACHING OF HISTORY AND 195 PARTICULARLY ON THE PLACE OF JEWISH HISTORY IN THE TEACHING OF GENERAL HISTORY V. RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING THE PRESENTATION 209 OF JEWISH RELIGION, CULTURE AND HISTORY IN THE NEW EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS IN CENTRAL EUROPE VI. JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IN SEARCH OF A COMMON 213 RELIGIOUS BASIS FOR CONTRIBUTING TOWARDS A BETTER WORLD VII. WE REMEMBER: A REFLECTION ON THE SHOAH 223 VIII. DABRU EMET A JEWISH STATEMENT ON CHRISTIANS 231 AND CHRISTIANITY IX. A JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF A JUST 235 SOCIETY X. A SACRED OBLIGATION RETHINKING CHRISTIAN FAITH 253 IN RELATION TO JUDAISM AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE XI. 12 POINTS OF BERLIN ‐ A TIME FOR RECOMMITMENT 259 BUILDING THE NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JEWS AND CHRISTIANS XII. ICCJ ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SIR SIGMUND 269 STERNBERG AWARD XIII. INTERFAITH GOLD MEDALLION PEACE THROUGH 271 DIALOGUE XIV. CURRICULUM VITAE: RUTH WEYL 275 4 PART I (1946 – 1987) by Rev William W (Bill) Simpson and Ruth Weyl 5 FOREWORD to Part I and Part II I regard it as a privilege to be allowed to write a foreword to this book. The day will no doubt come – it is hoped to be sooner rather than later – when a defi nitive history is written of the remarkable development which has taken place in Christian-Jewish dialogue and relationships during this century. W. W. Simpson, aff ectionately known to us all as ‘Bill’, had begun work on this, but his death forbade its completion. He did, however, write a Brief History of the ICCJ in 1982. This has now been up-dated by his close friend and colleague, Ruth Weyl, and I wish to express my gratitude to her for the care and skill which she has brought to this task. We are mindful, too, of the enthusiasm and generosity of Sir Sigmund Sternberg whose Papal Knighthood is at once a symbol of the improved relationship which exists between Christians and Jews, and an indication of the respect and aff ection in which he is held by many throughout the world. Donald Coggan (23rd December 1909 – 17th May 2000) (Archbishop of Canterbury and Honorary President of the ICCJ) 7 INTRODUCTION At the time of his death, William W. (Bill) Simpson (11. 7. 1907 – 29. 8. 1987), principal founder of the ICCJ, its General Secretary since the original inception and Honorary Life-Vice-President, had been working on an up-dating of the Short History of the ICCJ which he had produced in 1982. Little did I guess when I fi rst joined the newly reconstituted International Council as his part- time assistant in 1974 that our 13 years association would make me a repository of his long experience and many memories which he so generously and in- structively shared with me. I respond to the request to undertake the up-dating of this history with a mixture of trepidation and obligation, particularly as Bill had throughout insisted that any up-dating required a measure of back-dating to transmit to a new generation a sense of history as well as an awareness of the insights, the scholarship, the dedication, idealism and practical considerations that eventually brought about the dialogue-organisations and associations of today, and their newly motivated programmes. The setting up of an International Council of Christians and Jews was fi rst envisaged a little over forty fi ve years ago. The few remaining survivors of those early days are unlikely ever to forget the factors that inspired their vision nor the diffi culties that dogged their footsteps on the way to its realisation. It seems to me that the founder generation tried to fulfi l the prophesy that ‘your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions’, and that the programme the ICCJ is now involved in completing refl ects the other part of this prophesy: ‘that your sons and daughters shall prophesy’. In setting out what follows it is evident that apart from retaining most of the text of the original Brief History, much of the language I will use in the up- dating is that of WWS, my mentor and tutor who would, I am sure, be happy to know that I now make so many of his thoughts and phrases my own. Ruth Weyl Summer 1988 9 SOME BACKGROUND The emergence and development of the twentieth century phenomenon of Jewish-Christian cooperation and the dialogue we have been witnessing these last forty years or so have several roots. On the one hand, the horizons of Western Europe were expanding and there was a new questioning of tradition- al religious teaching. On the other, antisemitism and racism in Eastern and Western Europe were a spur to the emergence of political Zionism. ENLIGHTENMENT The French Revolution, the two hundredth anniversary of which the ICCJ will commemorate by holding its 1989 Annual Colloquium in France, ushered in what some termed the ‘century of hope’ of remarkable progress in the fi elds of scientifi c research and discovery, of mechanical invention and, in particular, the speeding up of the industrial revolution with its far-reaching social consequences. In Britain, in particular, it was the expansion of parliamentary democracy and the emergence of new and more liberal political attitudes. There was a general broadening of cultural relationships in Europe as well as imperial and colonial expansion in Africa, India and the Far East while further west the United States of America emerged from their civil war to become the source of strength and inspiration that continue to exercise such a powerful infl uence on the thinking of our own century. Of particular signifi cance to Jews and Christians is the fact that all this took place against the background of what was tantamount to a cultural upheaval, in the course of which many turned away from any form of religious faith or observance, while others felt impelled to review and reformulate traditional beliefs and practices in the light of new discoveries about the origins and nature of life on this planet, and about a seemingly ever-expanding universe. Further reasons for reformulating traditional beliefs were the emergence of the socialist and communist movements, the Marxist critique of religion as well as the stirrings of anti-colonialism. All this had an obvious bearing on concepts of the nature of revelation as well as the reliability of what used to be generally accepted as verbally inspired scriptures which henceforth were to be subjected to the disciplines of literary and historical criticism. While controversy over theoretical issues engaged much of their thinking, there was a large measure of agreement among Christians about two very important areas of practical concern: the fi rst was to remedy the social injustices that had arisen from the industrial revolution, and the second, to strengthen the carrying of ‘the Gospel’ to all parts of the world. 11 It was the century that saw the emergence of a number of societies whose primary purpose was the conversion of Jews to Christianity. The spirit of Christian ‘triumphalism’ which found such widespread enthusiastic support by the end of the century was, however, tempered by the same awareness of the dangers inherent in the divisions within Christianity and the sympathetic study of the scriptures of the religions by some scholarly missionaries as well as the beginnings of the ‘scientifi c’ study of religion in some European Continental universities. That awareness was one of the factors which led to the convening in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1910 of the fi rst World Missionary Conference, though it is not without interest that this fi rst major venture in modern times in ‘Christian ecumenism’ was anticipated by a wider ecumenical demonstration in the form of a ‘World Parliament of Religions’ held in 1893 in Chicago (USA) to coincide with the Chicago World Fair.