Following on the Day of Prayer for World Peace, held in Assisi on January 24, 2002, (see related story), the European Jewish Council (EJC) invited leaders of Judaism and Catholicism to gather for a two-day meeting, January 28-29, in Paris, France. The meeting, moderated by Henri Hajdenberg, former president of the EJC, was convened to study the development of Jewish-Catholic relations since the Second Vatican Council and, in particular, during Pope John Paul II's leadership. Among the participants were Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt of Moscow; Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews; Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris; and Chief Rabbi Rene Samuel Sirat of France.

Almost 900 people attended the opening session held at the Paris Town Hall which concluded by remembering the pioneers of interreligious dialogue. Some participants noted the persistence of anti-Semitism in Europe and appealed to members of both faiths to work together to put an end to it. Cardinal Lustiger, who was born to a Jewish family of Polish origin, advocated that Jews and Christians should move through controversy and face together important theological questions such as evil, suffering, redemption, forgiveness, and being chosen. Chief Rabbi Sirat appealed to the Jewish community to fearlessly enter into dialogue with Christians. "This is not the time to padlock the doors of the intellectual and spiritual ghetto in which some would like to have us live," he said. [Both Cardinal Lustiger and Rabbi Sirat are 1998 CCJU Nostra Aetate Award Recipients. See www.ccju.org and look under “Programs”]

Pope John Paul II had sent a message of support that said, "The different religious traditions are called to place their patrimony at the service of all, in the hope of building the common European home together, in justice, peace, equality and solidarity.” The Pope also proposed the Second Vatican Council's declaration Nostra Aetate as the compass for future relations between Catholics and Jews. Rabbi Goldschmidt agreed and said that the Pope "has begun to trace a way that might serve as a model for many others, religious or lay leaders, in Eastern Europe."