Orthodox Christians, Jews Seek Dialogue
THESSALONIKI, Greece — Jewish and Orthodox Christian leaders plan to form a joint commission to broaden interfaith dialogue and examine Jewish concerns in Eastern Europe, a top Jewish envoy said.
The new panel was announced at a conference in Thessaloniki on relations between Jews and Orthodox Christians. The move would greatly expand high-level Jewish-Christian contacts, which have been dominated by the Vatican.
“It would be a significant step,†said Israel Singer, chairman of the World Jewish Congress. “The lines of communication between the Jewish communities and Christians would be stronger.â€
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual head of the world’s 200 million Orthodox Christians, has urged Orthodox churches to show greater openness and abandon deep-rooted suspicions toward others.
He planned to visit a Jewish memorial in Thessaloniki, which was a center of Jewish culture in Europe before World War II. Only a tiny Jewish community remains.
“Fanaticism is, at its base, insecure and scared people who are not deeply convinced in the truth of their own faith,†Bartholomew said.
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