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(12-12-99)
1. Since the Church is obliged by Christ's law of love to try to strengthen the ties that unite the different members of the human family she stressed those things that we all have in common that help us to truly become brothers. All men live in God's loving providence, God created all of us for Himself to be with him forever. Men look to religion for the answers to their profound questions about man and his existence.
2. From the beginning of Creation man had sensed something of the hidden power he knows must be the ultimate explanation of all things. Different religions have tried to respond to man's queries. Hinduism uses myths and philosophy to answer man. Hindus practice asceticism and meditation in their flight toward God. Buddhism teaches that by devout confidence man ascends to freedom and enlightenment. Other religions follow similar routes. The Catholic Church accepts truth and holiness of these religions and sees reflections there of that Truth, Christ, Whom she proclaims as "the way, the truth and the life." The Church exhorts her children to do everything possible to cooperate with others in preserving all that is good in their religions and in their cultures.
3. The Church looks kindly upon Moslems who adore the one God, and who associate themselves wtih Abraham. They revere Christ, not as God, but as a prophet. They also honor Mary. They esteem the moral life, prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. We of this Council urge all to forget any past misunderstandings and work together toward justice, freedom, and peace in the world.
4. Searching into the mystery of the Church we recall that Christians and Jews share a common root: a spiritual ancestry in Christ. The patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets are the beginning of the Church's faith and her election by God; the exodus of the chosen people from bondage foreshadows her salvation.
The Church cannot forget that she received the Old Testament through the people with whom God chose to establish the Ancient Covenant. The Church recalls that Christ was born according to the flesh (cf. Rom. 9:4-5) from God's chosen people, as was His Mother, the Virgin mary. The Church believes that Christ, by His Cross, reconciled Jews and gentiles making them both one in Himself.
From the Jewish people came the Apostles and early disciples who proclaimed Christ to the world. Although the Jewish people by and large did not believe in Christ and His Gospel, they still remain most dear to God because of their forefathers. There is a great spiritual heritage between Christians and Jews which we wish to further through mutual understanding and respect. May this be the fruit of biblical and theological studies and of brotherly dialogue.
What happened in Christ's passion and death can in no way be blamed on all Jews living at the time nor on those of today. For by His Cross Christ freely and lovingly underwent His passion and death because of the sins of all men that all might be saved.
Great care should be taken in preaching God's word and in catechetical instruction not to present the Jews as repudiated by God, as if this view came from the Holy Scriptures. Motivated by the Gospel's spiritual love and remembering her common heritage with the Jews, the Church repudiates and deplores all persecutions of the Jews and displays of anti-semitism at any time and from any source.
5. The Church proclaims the Cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love and the source of every grace. We call upon Christian people to be at peace with all men and so truly be the children of their Father in heaven.
(from The Dynamic Voice of Vatican II - A Paraphrase of the 16 Documents of Vatican II)
St. Paul Editions ISBN 0-8198-0406-1
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