At a meeting at Saint Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, Maryland, October 27-28, 2002, a coordinating council of 24 centers and institutes devoted to mutual understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews was formed, called the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations (CCJR). The Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding of Sacred Heart University was one of the founding members.

In addition to providing a vehicle for cooperation among its member institutions, the CCJR hopes to promote research and publication on the history, theology and contemporary realities of Jewish-Christian relations. The Council is applying for membership in the International Council of Christians and Jews as the second member from the United States, along with the National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews). News of the Council's activities will be carried on the web site of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College (www.bc.edu/cjlearning) which has agreed to administratively house the council.

After the council was formed, the members discussed the document, Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity, originally release on September 10, 2000. One of the invited speakers, Rabbi David Berger, a professor at Brooklyn College, raised several objections to Christian-Jewish dialogue in general, and specifically as portrayed in the document. He raised the limitations of the dialogue and said, the “humanly irreconcilable difference between Jews and Christians will not be settled until God redeems the entire world as promised in Scripture

Two invited respondents, Rabbi Michael Signer (a Dabru Emet author, of Notre Dame University) and Father Kevin Spicer (of Stone Hill College), focused on the many positive aspects of Christian-Jewish dialogue. Rabbi Signer praised Dabru Emet in its capacity as an “initial statement,” whose followers wish to “define in the Jewish community the parameters of what type of discussion would provide productive discussion.” Fr. Spicer noted that the statement has encouraged dialogue not only on points of contact between Christians and Jews, but also on their differences. Advocates of Dabru Emet maintain that the statement is a tremendous benefit to the common goals of understanding and friendship between Jews and Christians.


 

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