Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkranz
Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding
Sacred Heart University
5151 Park Avenue
Fairfield, Connecticut 06432-1000 (USA) 

Dear Rabbi Ehrenkranz,

Thank you most cordially for transmitting to me the letter of May 24 from the Rabbinic Committee for Interreligious Dialogue. I am certainly grateful for the sensitivity expressed by you and your colleagues. 

Let me assure you at once of my empathy for how some of the words of President Assad created anxiety in the Jewish community. I am sure these words evoked terrible memories and I understand your concern. 

On Sunday, May 13, the Holy Father said the following in this Angelus address:

All people, in particular those responsible for the international community, have the duty to help both sides in the conflict break this immoral chain of provocation and reprisals. It must be remembered, and repeated again and again, that the language of peace and the culture of peace must replace the language of incitement and hate. 

I confess to being irritated by the assumption that President Assad's speech could be interpreted as Catholic teaching. I want to assure you that the Catholic Church will continue to teach what it has consistently taught since Nostra Aetate in 1965, that the Jews are not responsible for the death of Christ. This will be done, as always, at the exclusion of political consideration. 

Sincerely,
Walter Cardinal Kasper
President