In 2015 the annual ICCJ international conference will be held in Rome to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Aetate, the declaration of the Second Vatican Council, that transformed Jewish-Catholic relations in particular and Jewish-Christian relations in general. Members of the ICCJ delegation were ICCJ President Dr. Deborah Weissman, ICCJ`s Vice-President Prof. Philip Cunningham, the new ICCJ General Secretary Ms. Anette Adelmann and her predecessor, Rev. Dick Pruiksma.
They had a lively exchange of ideas with a large representation of the Amicizia di Roma, headed by Prof. Marco Morselli (the chair of the CCJ in Rome). The Sisters of Sion, the Focolare movement, the Protestant and Jewish communities in Rome and, of course, our local colleagues, will all be involved in making the 2015 ICCJ conference successful.
That afternoon, the ICCJ delegation met with our long-standing friend, Fr. Norbert Hofmann, Secretary of the Vatican Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews. The 2015 conference will be organized in collaboration with the Commission. The conference hotel will be the Casa tra Noi (left picture), quite close to St. Peter`s railway station.
In the evening, the ICCJ delegation was invited to the celebration of the 46th anniversary of the Community of San Egidio. In the fully packed Basilica of St. John in Lateran mass was celebrated, and after mass, we met with many dignitaries during a reception in the Lateran Palace. Among them, the Chief Rabbi Riccardo di Segni of Rome and Cardinal Walter Kasper, the former Chair of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.
Headed by Prof. Marco Morselli and Prof. Phil Cunningham (right picture, from right to left) a planning committee will now prepare the conference program. The conference will start on Sunday, June 28, 2015.