ICCJ 2006 Vienna conference highlights need for dialogue

Australia?s delegate to the 2006 ICCJ conference, Shana Kerlander (pictured below) returned with a strong message from its comprehensive program that the work of interfaith relations throughout the world is by no means done and that renewed efforts must be made to maintain and increase the level of dialogue so far achieved. Vienna - the city of music, Shana writes, opened the July meeting with an opening violin and piano performance and closed it on yet another musical note with the vibrant voices of the Jewish Choir of Vienna.

Co-hosted by The Austrian Coordinating Committee for Christian-Jewish Cooperation, an organisation celebrating its 50th anniversary, the conference heard the President of this committee, Rev?d Prof Helmut Nauser introduce the theme ?Encounter with History- Learning for the Future?.

With an emphasis on the importance of understanding history and the meaning of historic sites, the program in turn, had many excursions of historical sites in and around Vienna significant for the way Christians and Jews lived and worked together from the Middle Ages to the present day.

These visits, which formed an extra dimension to the deliberations of the conference hall, included St Stephen?s Cathedral with its extraordinary wealth, history and treasures, followed by an examination of ?Jewish Vienna?, beginning in the Judenplatz with its stark Memorial to the Austrian Holocaust Victims and its Museum. The memorial is a large concrete cube resembling a library of 7,000 volumes turned inside out. The doors are locked and the books face inwards. The base of the memorial has names of the places where 65,000 Austrian Jews were murdered by the Nazis.

?We then visited the main synagogue of Vienna. Of the city's 94 Synagogues and Temples this splendid 1825 building was the only one to survive Kristllnacht?, Shana noted...

Delegates also visited the Austrian Parliament and the Palais Epstein where a tribute was paid to Jewish deputies to the Austrian parliament. This was followed by the presentation of the 2006 ICCJ International Sir Sigmund Sternberg award to Professor Kurt Schubert, founder of the Co-ordinating Committee for Christian-Jewish Co-operation as a branch of the Catholic Peace Movement in 1956. This acknowledgment of a lifelong commitment of Christian-Jewish dialogue included reference to his unswerving attitude against the National Socialist regime and his establishment of the Jewish institute for the study of Jewish history and culture in Europe at the University of Vienna.

Planning for the 2007 ICCJ International conference to be held in Australia is reportedly progressing. The Australian Council is continuing its efforts to obtain grants from various organisations to help defray the not inconsiderable cost which are involved in the staging of such a major event. Details on progress of the ongoing planning will be released in the December issue of Scene.

Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light

Prayer of St. Francis

Victorian Council active: report

Australia?s foremost biographer, Dr Brenda Niall AO from Melbourne, a Christian, spoke of her friendship with Judith Cassab of Sydney, one of Australia?s great living artists whose life story is the subject of a most fascinating biography by Dr Niall. Judith Cassab, the daughter of Hungarian Jewish parents who perished in the Holocaust, came to Australia in 1949 and has had a most creative life family wise, socially and artistically, all sensitively and skilfully brought together in a most interesting and readable book. It is not surprising that Dr Niall was awarded the NSW Premier?s prize for 2005 for this work.

Absorbing

In her address Dr Niall described how she, coming out of Genazzano a genteel girls school in Kew Victoria, had no knowledge of the impact the War which was then raging in Europe had on ordinary people, nor of the huge human tragedy which was unfolding involving the Jewish people. For her part, Judith Cassab?s diaries which contained so much detail were utterly absorbing and gave her insights into the sufferings, the fear, the deprivations and the uncertainties which confronted Judy Cassab and many other Jews in those years. That Judy could start a new life in far off Australia in 1949 and achieve so much success is a remarkable story and it was most pleasing that a capacity crowd of nearly 150 people was in attendance to enjoy this outstanding address.

The AGM was chaired with great style and humour by Rabbi Philip Heilbrunn of the East St Kilda Congregation, all the more important, as AGM?s are not necessarily the high point for most people over the course of a year.

On the last Sunday in July at St John?s Anglican Church Camberwell, Christian and Jewish poetry was on the agenda.

This was a new format with participants, Kitia Altman, James Charlton, Paul Mitchell, Jacob Rosenberg and Alex Skovron who read from their own works and Rodney Wetherell former Poetry Director for ABC Radio who chaired.

In thanking the participating poets and the hosts for the afternoon, Council chairman, Bill Clancy (pictured above) also expressed gratitude to Dr Morna Sturrock AM, whose idea it was to have this type of function , to St. John?s for the use of its excellent facilities and to all volunteers who helped with afternoon tea.

The Council's next major function will be the ?Launch of Gesher 2006? in the new state-of?the-art Campbell McComas Theatre at Scotch College in the inner suburb of Hawthorn, a school attended by many famous Australians, including Sir John Monash and Sir Zelman Cowen.

Malcolm Turnbull to launch Gesher

To be held on Wednesday 25 October 2006 it will be addressed by the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP, Member for Wentworth, on a subject which is dear to all working on closer Christian-Jewish relations.

"We are hoping to attract a very large crowd to this function and would welcome any visitors from interstate and overseas. ?If you are likely to be in Melbourne on this evening and would like to attend please reserve your seat with Liz Parker on 03 9817 384", said Mr. Clancy.

He also reported that at the AGM the Council farewelled Sr Mary Lotton who has served on the Executive for 15 years, 12 as Hon. Secretary. "Mary was a driving force throughout all the years and her charm, intellect and commitment will be sorely missed. We wish her well in her new endeavours," Mr. Clancy added.

Editorial

Commenting on the recent farrago of slanted media reporting of the issue of anti vilification laws, a senior CCJ executive member referred to his Catholic background in terms more usually associated with the minority Jewish community. Describing what has emerged as a confusing collection of comments particularly in Victoria, he said "I am more than sensitive to the fears and concerns of minority groups in this community. My history is that I have emerged out of a minority group which was as much a victim of religious and racial vilification as any group in Australia?s history. " We have made enormous progress in bringing justice for minority groups into our society and I have heard many Jews say how this is for them the best and fairest country in the world. He then added: "The Muslims are recent arrivals in the main and come with agendas from the past. In their experience they believe that legislation will secure their position. I think they have to be assured that this is not the Australian way. We don?t want to introduce here the tensions and pressures so evident in other societies around the world".

?We have made enormous progress in bringing justice for minority groups into our society and I have heard many Jews say how this is for them the best and fairest country in the world?

There is here a stark reminder of a past of which many of us are still very much aware when he goes on to say: ?I am very mindful of how the law can be used against minority groups e.g. the Third Reich. Hitler got his legislation well in place before using it. ?I am not saying that we have to fear that this legislation of itself could be used against minority groups. What I am saying is that it moves the community one step further away from working it out ourselves, from the common law system which we inherited from England which is by far the best system built by man to protect our freedoms. ?This is not widely appreciated but quite often the strength of our freedom is secured, not in statute law but in the wisdom of generations of judges embodied in our great common law system.? His basic premise is valid. It is up to bodies like the CCJ to encourage the assimilation of all groups and religions into the community so that they do not feel marginalised or vilified and are not the victims of that bullying behaviour which so often causes so much hurt and fear.

Catholic clergy?s WWII rescues of Jews...

Rescue activities on behalf of Jews were carried out by priests, nuns and monks in more than 900 Roman Catholic Church institutions throughout Poland during World War II. The number of priests and religious involved in these activities was many times higher. This effort is all the more remarkable since Poland was the only country under Nazi Germany occupation where any form of assistance to Jews was punishable by death. Several dozen members of the Polish clergy were executed for this reason.

Among the several thousand Poles?women, men, and children, often entire families and sometimes even whole communities?put to death by the Germans for coming to the assistance of Jews, there were dozens of priests and religious. Waclaw Zajaczkowski, Martyrs of Charity: Christian and Jewish Response to the Holocaust, Part One (Washington, D.C.: St. Maximilian Kolbe Foundation, 1987) lists, with source references, the following priests as having been killed, usually by summary execution, for assisting Jews: It should be remembered that Catholic priests and nuns constituted only a small but representative portion of Polish rescuers and the several thousand Poles who were burned alive, executed or died from torture because they befriended Jews. As for the accomplishments of Poles in rescuing Jews, the most comprehensive research regarding the Warsaw area is that conducted by Gunnar S. Paulsson.

Comparison with the Netherlands

Paulsson has summarised some of his findings in an article entitled, ?The Rescue of Jews by Non-Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland,? which appeared in The Journal of Holocaust Education, volume 7, nos. 1 & 2 in which he said: ?In the league of people who are known to have risked their lives to rescue Jews, Poland stands at the very top, accounting for more than a third of all the ?Righteous Gentiles?. He goes on to point out that there is an excellent comparison with the Netherlands where it is estimated that some 25,000 Jews went into hiding? about the same number as in Warsaw, of whom 10?15,000 survived?again, about the same number. ?The conclusion, then, is quite startling: leaving aside acts of war and Nazi perfidy, a Jew?s chances of survival in hiding were no worse in Warsaw than in the Netherlands. ? ?The small number of survivors, therefore, is not a direct result of Polish hostility to the Jews . Paulson continued: ?The 27,000 Jews in hiding in Warsaw relied on about 50?60,000 people who provided hiding-places and another 20?30,000 who provided other forms of help; on the other hand, blackmailers, police agents, and other actively anti-Jewish elements numbered perhaps 2?3,000. In other words, helpers outnumbered hunters by about 20 or 30 to one. The active helpers of Jews thus made up seven to nine per cent of the population of Warsaw; the Jews themselves, 2.7 per cent; the hunters, perhaps 0.3 per cent; and the whole network?Jews, helpers and hunters?constituted a secret city of at least 100,000: one tenth of the people of Warsaw. How many people in Poland rescued Jews? Of those that meet Yad Vashem?s criteria?perhaps 100,000. Of those that offered minor forms of help?perhaps two or three times as many. Of those who were passively protective?undoubtedly the majority of the population. All these acts, great and small, were necessary to rescue Jews in Poland.

55-75 % survival

A further study of this topic by Gunnar S. Paulsson appeared in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, volume 13 (2000), at pages 78?103, under the title ?The Demography of Jews in Hiding in Warsaw, 1943?1945.? Paulsson wrote: ?For the sake of comparison, the case of the Netherlands might be examined. There, 20,000?25,000 Jews are estimated to have gone into hiding, mainly in Amsterdam, of whom 10,000?15,000 survived the war. The overall survival rate in Holland was thus 40?60 percent, and in Warsaw, after leveling the playing field, notionally 55?75 percent. Thus the attrition rate among Jews in hiding in Warsaw was relatively low, contrary to expectation and contemporary perceptions. The main obstacles to Jewish survival in Warsaw are seen to have been the Hotel Polski trap and the 1944 uprising and its aftermath, rather than the possibility of discovery or betrayal.

Warsaw the most important centre of rescue activity

Despite frequent house searches and the prevailing Nazi terror in Warsaw (conditions absent in the Netherlands), and despite extortionists, blackmailers, and antisemitic traditions (much less widespread in the Netherlands), the chance that a Jew in hiding would be betrayed seems to have been lower in Warsaw than in the Netherlands. Hence he comes to the conclusion that Warsaw was the most important centre of rescue activity, certainly in Poland and probably in the whole of occupied Europe. The city accounted for perhaps a quarter of all Jews in hiding in Poland ? The 27,000 Jews in hiding there also constituted undoubtedly the largest group of its kind in Europe ?

?In the league of people who are known to have risked their lives to rescue Jews, Poland stands at the very top, accounting for more than a third of all the ?Righteous Gentiles'?

The Council of Christians and Jews in Australia and throughout the world

The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) promotes understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews based on respect for each other's identity and integrity.

It addresses issues of human rights and human dignity deeply enshrined in the traditions of Judaism and Christianity.

Moreover, it counters all forms of prejudice, intolerance, racism and discrimination and the misuse of religion for national and political domination.

It affirms that in honest dialogue each person remains loyal to his or her own essential faith commitment, recognising in the other person his or her integrity and otherness.

The Council coordinates programs of carefully structured discussion panels and conferences during which participants examine current issues across national and religious boundaries, enabling face-to-face exchanges of experience and expertise and it aims to promote interreligious understanding among students, teachers, religious leaders, and scholars, aiming for outreach in Jewish- Christian dialogue.

Rosen packs ?em in

During a brief two day visit to Australia, the International Council of Christians and Jews Honorary President, Rabbi David Rosen gave a number of talks, principal among which were the two well attended addresses to Australia Israel Jewish Council arranged functions in Melbourne and Sydney.

Rosen pleaded for a balanced approach to what is often a misrepresented presentation of events in the Middle East, either as a result of political bias or mere ignorance.

His major contention was that the conflict has been ?religionised? and that it is therefore essential to extract the religious component from the mix and make it a positive rather than a negative element.

?Without a religious accord, nothing can be achieved?, he said. The only true effort made in the past to condemn violence in the name of religion was the 2001 Alexandria Accord, brokered by then President Clinton with Prime Minister, Arial Sharon and the late Yassir Arafat, he recalled.

?Regrettably this accord is now dead in the ground?, Rosen said, adding that to bring the three faiths together again will require a secular consortium. ?To achieve this will require five players. In addition to Israel it will require the participation of the Jordanians, Moroccans, Saudis and the Palestinians?, Rosen contended.

The Jews and the Jesuits...

Rabbi Raymond Apple AO RFD

Life's paradoxes are nowhere less striking than in the popular views of the Jesuits and the Jews; on the one hand, a Christian claim that the Jesuits are too pro-Jewish; on the other, a Jewish allegation that they are too antisemitic.

The society of Jesus (their critics called "Jesuits" in a derogatory sense, arguing that the Society misappropriated the name of Jesus) was created in Paris in 1534 by Ignatius of Loyola  and his supporters.

One aim was "hospital and missionary work in Jerusalem", although Jerusalem was difficult to reach and they concentrated on work in Europe. Ignatius established in 1543 a home for the converted Jews in Rome and early the Society was wracked by the question as to whether former Jews could become members.

A Jewish connection

There was probably a Jewish connection with the formation of the Society of Jesus. Diego (Jaime) Laynez, Loyolo's successor was from a family that was probably originally Jewish, as was Juan Alonso de Polanco, Loyola's secretary. He was prepared to allow "new Christians" into the order and in 1552 admitted Giovann Baptista Eliano, a grandson of the Hebraist, Elijah Levita. By the end of the 16th century the order ruled against accepting "new Christians" and a later ruling in 1608 required at least five generations of Christian identity, which restriction was removed in 1946.

The 16th century was a difficult time for both Christians and Jews. Martin Luther gravely challenged conventional Christianity; the Inquisition and the expulsion of Spanish Jewry left many Jews in a state of religious fragility. These events combined to suggest to a German general, Erich Ludendorff that the Society of Jesus was created by Jews with the pope's support in order to undermine Luther and eventually rule the world.

The Nazis added freemasonery to the list of those making common cause with the Jews and the Jesuits, reflecting another paradox ? the argument in some circles that freemasons were too pro-Jewish and in other quarters that they were too anti-Jewish.

Jesuit antagonism toward Jews in Poland

The claim that the Society of Jesus was anti-Jewish usually cites Jesuit antagonism toward Jews in Poland in the 18th century, although the Society had earlier attacked the excesses of the Portuguese Inquisition and Jesuit opposition to Alfred Dreyfus in France in the late 19th century (there were Jesuits in the pro Dreyfus camp also).

More significant is the antisemitism of some Jesuit publications prior to 1946 although the Society repudiated Nazi racist doctrine and suffered under the Nazis. One of its leading members, Cardinal Bea was in the forefront of rapprochement with the Jews.Jewish  More significant is the anti-semitism of some Jesuit publications prior to 1946 although the Society repudiated Nazi racist doctrine and suffered under the Nazis. One of its leading members, Cardinal Bea was in the forefront of rapprochement with the Jews.

Both Jesuits and Jews have long been accused by their enemies as seeking world domination. Both would reply that they stand for spiritual and ethical doctrines which they believe are essential for civilisation to survive. Jesuits continue to hear (even from within the Church) that they are a mysterious force to be feared.

Poetry builds bridges at NSW and Victorian Council functions

Joanne Fedler, who is working on a commissioned book, 'Secret Mother's Business' was one of the featured readers at a recent NSW-Council function organised by executive member, Dr. David Wansbrough. Held at the Sydney Writers Centre, the well attended meeting also heard readings by Jewish and Muslim poets including Agnes Walder, Waadih Sa'deh, Sheewki Moslemani, Assad Cina and Jeremy Nelson. Meanwhile the Victorian Council listed five extensively published poets who read from their own works at St. John?s Anglican Church in Camberwell. ?Christian and Jewish Poetry? featured, among others, Kitia Altman, James Charlton, Paul Mitchell, Jacob Rosenberg and Alex Skovron.

Joanne Fedler and David Wansbrough

Western Australia Council?s chairman?s challenge to the three monotheistic religions

Recently returned from a comprehensive tour of Israel, Chairperson of the Council of Christians and Jews WA, Revd Dr Rowan Strong (pictured right) challenged a crowded audience from Jewish and Christian communities at the Lecture Theatre of the Northern Suburbs Hebrew Congregation earlier this year.

Entitled, ?Reflections on Contemporary Israel and its Three Monotheistic Religions?, his presentation elicited considerable reaction from members of the audience for ongoing interfaith contacts.

Revd Dr Strong?s tour was sponsored by the Rambam Fellowship Program, founded by Sydney businessman and philanthropist, Brian Sherman. The purpose of the program is to invite non-Jewish opinion makers to visit Israel to gain first-hand experience of life in the modern State and to gain a greater understanding of the Middle East situation.

Revd Dr Strong is one of the first group of Christian clergy to become a Rambam Fellow. Speaking of his experiences and interactions with a variety of people, Dr Strong acknowledged that greater understanding, tolerance and appreciation of one another was required. Citing examples, he emphasised the importance of the need by all to be active in standing against the extremist elements present in all three faiths. Extremism in doctrine fosters hatred and ultimately leads to violence against others, he contended.

Following the address, Revd Dr Strong opened the floor for questions and comments. The resultant discussion recognised that there is a definite need for continuing interfaith education, both formal and informal. It also became apparent that those present were keen to engage in a deeper dialogue in an effort to explore the differences, not just the commonalities of Judaism and Christianity within an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.

ICCJ heads ?disappointed" at Pope's Auschwitz speech

"I must say that as one who appreciates his positive role in relation to the Jewish people, I found his speech to be disappointing," was ICCJ honorary president, Rabbi David Rosen's comment."

Rosen, who heads the Jewish coalition that serves as the Vatican's official dialogue partner and who visited Sydney and Melbourne late last month, said: "This was a golden opportunity...and he blew it." Speculating that Benedict probably felt that, by saying how difficult it was to visit Auschwitz as a pope and a German, he was "saying it all?, added: "if that's what he thinks, I can assure him that that it was not the way it was heard by all.? ICCJ President, Father John Pawlikowski, who accompanied His Holiness on the Auschwitz visit (Scene: July 2006) said that the symbolism of a German pope praying at the markers for the various victims of the death camp was "powerful." He added, "But the greatest disappointments were the omission of any strong statement on antisemitism past and present and the church's own role in propagating it, including among affiliated Catholic groups in Poland today. His talk was underwhelming and not in keeping with the much stronger statements by Pope John Paul II."

Surprised and upset

While Jewish officials praised his commitment to Jewish-Catholic dialogue and his decision to go to Auschwitz, they were dismayed by his silence on antisemitism and saw in his claim that Germany was overtaken by Nazis in the 1930s a failure to acknowledge the prime responsibility of his fellow countrymen for the Holocaust. Benedict, who was forced to enroll in the Hitler Youth in his teenage years, has made such pronouncements about Germany's role in the past. Critics stressed that by praying at tribute in his remarks to all the victims of Auschwitz, he failed to recognise the expressly Jewish dimensions of the mass killings at the camp. They also pointed out that two of the victims he mentioned specifically were Father Maximilian Kolbe, who edited an antisemitic Catholic publication and Edith Stein, a Jew who converted to Catholicism. "We are surprised, upset and sad," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "He talked about the universal dimension of the Holocaust in the world's largest Jewish cemetery, and he did not talk about the specific policy against the Jews. So it's a missed opportunity and a step back."

Vatican-Jewish relations are "very good"

Some Jewish communal observers found reasons to praise the speech, despite their disappointment. "It is unfortunate that Pope Benedict did not call more explicit attention to antisemitism when he was at Auschwitz," said Rabbi Eugene Korn, director of Jewish affairs at the American Jewish Congress. "More significantly, however, he stated that Jews were ? and continue to be ? witnesses to God who spoke to the Jewish people at Sinai." Israel Singer, the chairman of the policy council of the World Jewish Congress, who attended a regular review of Jewish-Vatican relations in Rome recently, said that the "state of Vatican-Jewish relations at this time is very good irrespective of any immediate event." The visit took place as Poland already faces Jewish criticism for the decision by Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz to include the League of Polish Families, a far-right Catholic party known for its anti-Jewish and anti-gay positions, in a coalition government.

4-day pilgrimage

Its leader, Roman Giertych, was appointed minister of education; he formerly headed All-Polish Youth, whose members have been photographed giving the Nazi salute, according to media reports. The visit to Auschwitz capped Benedict's four-day pilgrimage to the homeland of his predecessor, John Paul II. During the pope's visit, Giertych said on the radio that he planned to require high school students to pass a "religious exam" ? meaning a Catholic knowledge test ? in order to graduate. At Auschwitz Giertych seemed puzzled when asked by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about his antisemitic image. "I am a lawyer; I have many Jewish friends," he is said to have retorted.

Confronting cultural conflict:
a Sydney interfaith conference

Marianne Dacy

It was beautiful, fine August Sunday but this did not deter an audience of about two hundred from attending the 5th International Interreligious Conference which took place at the University of Sydney. The forum was held under the auspices of the Affinity Cultural Foundation, which operates both in Melbourne and Sydney and was founded by young Turkish Muslims. Its chairman, Mehmet Ozalp works closely with Sr Pauline Rae of the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations, Josie Lacey, of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and founder of the Women?s Interfaith Network, Josh Levin from the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and Wilma Viswanathan, from the Uniting Church NSW Synod as well as Sr Giovanni Farquer, and Sr Patricia Madigan from the NSW Council of Christians and Jews.

The morning program, moderated by Professor Bettina Cass featured three magnificent speakers: Professor Zeki Saritoprak who teaches Islamic studies at the John Carol University in USA; the former President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy and former senior rabbi of North Shore Temple Emanuel, Rabbi Richard Lampert.

Prof Saritoprak spoke about some positive koranic approaches to dialogue. He stressed that when Jews, Christians and Muslims read each other?s texts, they find enrichment. Again, the Koran encourages Muslims, Jews and Christians to compete with each other to do good. Interfaith dialogue should work as a preventive measure against the clash of civilisations.

Cardinal Cassidy spoke with his usual eloquence. ?While religion seems to be the dominant cause of cultural conflict, it should not be isolated as a cause, for there are other factors that play a part in contributing to cultural harmony?, he outlined. ?We cannot truly call on God, the father of all, if we refuse to treat others as made in the image of God. There is an urgent need for education about the other. We need a readiness to listen to each other and to genuinely understand the other point of view. We must go beyond the image given by the mass media?, Cardinal Cassidy maintained.

He continued: ?There are three ways the Abrahamic religions can join together. Firstly, they must establish the sound fundamentals of God who loves all his children and the dignity of the human person. This needs education. Secondly, we must promote genuine dialogue at every level. Thirdly, by joining hands, we can promote peaceful co-existence between troubled communities. By teaching the greatness and dignity of the human person, we can help eliminate social and cultural sources of terrorism. This specific area of inter-religious dialogue is a means of offering peace to the world.

The Council also honoured the service of Valerie and Edward Scott, former Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of CCJWA. Both have served CCJWA for over 10 years and both were founding members of the organisation.

During a brief two day visit to Australia, the International Council of Christians and Jews Honorary President, Rabbi David Rosen gave a number of talks, principal among which were the two well attended addresses to Australia Israel Jewish Council arranged functions in Melbourne and Sydney.

Rosen pleaded for a balanced approach to what is often a misrepresented presentation of events in the Middle East, either as a result of political bias or mere ignorance. His major contention was that the conflict has been ?religionised? and that it is therefore essential to extract the religious component from the mix and make it a positive rather than a negative element.

?Without a religious accord, nothing can be achieved?, he said. The only true effort made in the past to condemn violence in the name of religion was the 2001 Alexandria Accord, brokered by then President Clinton with Prime Minister, Arial Sharon and the late Yassir Arafat, he recalled. ?Regrettably this accord is now dead in the ground?, Rosen said, adding that to bring the three faiths together again will require a secular consortium.

?To achieve this will require five players. In addition to Israel it will require the participation of the Jordanians, Moroccans, Saudis and the Palestinians?, Rosen contended. The Sydney function was co-sponsored by the Great Synagogue and the Council of Christians and Jews.

NSW Council snares top speaker for AGM

The keynote speaker at the October 26 Annual General Meeting of the NSW CCJ will be well known author and poet, Marcelle Freiman. Dr. Freiman is a lecturer at Macquarie University. Her recent book ?Monkey's Wedding? has gained the respect of Australian poets and has placed her among the most read woman verse makers in Australia. She will speak on the Creative, Artistic Process and read from her works.

Long term ecumenical movement-supportive Anglican Bishop elected National Council of Churches president

Recently retired Assistant Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane, The Right Reverend Richard Appleby (pictured) is the new president of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA). Bishop Appleby is the 4th President of the Council, following the Revd Professor James Haire of Canberra.

The purpose of the Council is to promote Christian unity and help the Churches work together on key issues of theology, peace, and justice.

Bishop Appleby is a long time supporter of the ecumenical movement, and was instrumental in the formation of the NCCA in 1994, playing an important part in the negotiations that led to the membership of the Catholic Church. He has had an extensive ministry in the Anglican Church of Australia, having served as an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Newcastle and as Bishop of the Northern Territory...

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