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World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent joyful greetings to Jewish friends and colleagues across the world on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah and the forthcoming High Holy Days.
“May this be a time of blessing, joy and peace for you,” writes Sauca. “Certainly, this last year has brought a time of extraordinary challenges for us all.”
Sauca asked for prayers that the nations of the world will work effectively together to establish both medical solutions and also wiser patterns of coexistence to enable all people to share the bounties of God’s world in mutual dependence, justice and respect.
“The Israel-Palestine conflict naturally features often in our discussions, and we are all conscious of the complexities of the issues involved,” writes Sauca. “As a global fellowship of churches, the WCC seeks to stand in faithful solidarity with the Christians of the Middle East and to make their concerns and perspectives widely known.”
But the WCC also seeks to listen carefully to its Jewish partners, Sauca notes. “We also believe it is important that as part of our dialogue we together raise our eyes above the specific challenges of Jewish-Christian relations to consider how, as Jews and Christians, we can work together in solidarity for the good of the wider world,” he writes. "So I am delighted to mention a new joint publication of the WCC and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue: Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 and Beyond.”
The publication expresses the WCC’s commitment to working together across all religious differences for the healing of a wounded world, Sauca continues. “We hope that in the coming year we will be able to work together with Jewish friends and colleagues in many ways towards the fulfilment of this vision.”
Letter from the WCC Interim General Secretary for the Jewish New Year/RoshHashanah 2020
