Based in Warsaw, the Polish Council of Christians and Jews is co-chaired by Bogdan Białek (Chairman of the Jan Karski Society), and Dr Stanisław Krajewski (Professor at the Institute of Philosophy of the University of Warsaw). The aim of the council is to facilitate mutual understanding between Christians and Jews, overcome stereotypes, promote tolerance and deepen inter-religious contacts.
The council arranges, amongst other things, a yearly prayer meeting on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and participates in the preparation of the Polish Catholic Church’s Judaism Day, held yearly in January.
Each year, the Polish Council of Christians and Jews awards the title of "Man of Reconciliation" (Polish: "Człowiek Pojednania") to individuals from outside Poland who have made a particularly important contribution to Christian-Jewish reconciliation in Poland. Last year, the recipient of this award was Sister Mary O’Sullivan, and the previous year Rabbi Boaz Pash.
In 2011, the Polish Council of Christians and Jews co-hosted the International ICCJ conference in Cracow entitled “Religions and Ideologies – Polish Perspectives and Beyond” (find texts, pictures, and videos here).
On occasion of its 25th anniversary, that coincides with the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Polish Council of Christians and Jews marked these two events by an International Scholarly Conference held on October 26 – 27 and entitled “Nostra Aetate, Declaration on the Church’s Relationship to Non-Christian Religions – fifty years after (1965-2015)”.
The 25th anniversary conference of the Polish Council of Christians and Jews took place in Warsaw and Lublin and was held under the auspices of Archbishop Stanislaw Budzik, Bishop Mieczyslaw Cislo, Chairman of the Special Committee appointed by the Polish Episcopate for dialogue with Judaism, and Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland.
The ICCJ wishes the Polish Council of Christians and Jews many more years to come and is looking forward to being a part of your continued successful work.
For more information (in Polish) visit the website of Polska Rada Chrześcijan i Żydów.