| At 76 years old, Australian Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy stepped down in early March as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and as president of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews at the Vatican. When he took up these posts in 1989, the Catholic-Jewish international liaison committee had not met for years. Dialogue was practically at a standstill because of tensions over the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in Poland, and because of Pope John Paul II's meetings with Palestinian leader Chairman Yasser Arafat and with Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, who had been accused of collaborating with the Nazis. Also, the Vatican and Israel had no diplomatic relations at the time.
Cardinal Cassidy carefully guided the Vatican toward improved relations, helping to write a landmark document on the Holocaust in 1998 (We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah) and assisting the Pope on his journey to the Holy Land. He focused on building respect, trust and friendship between Catholics and Jews and then found ways to celebrate common ground and overcome differences.
He had spent two years as assistant Vatican secretary of state and, before that, 33 years in the Vatican diplomatic corps, serving in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. He is a friend of the CCJU and received its Nostra Aetate Award in 1999.
Rabbi Joseph H. Ehrenkranz, executive director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding called Cardinal Cassidy “a dear friend of the Jewish people, who could always be counted on to be a clear voice amid any controversy. The Catholic Church's relationship with other religions, especially based on the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, has helped Catholic-Jewish relations move forward in unprecedented ways—much is due to his service.” Cardinal Cassidy will return to Australia to spend time with his brothers and sisters and their families, and he would like to celebrate Mass in parishes and visit the sick near his new home there. |