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In a joyful atmosphere of interfaith friendship, respect and cooperation, Cardinal Kurt Koch, leader of the Church’s dialogue with the Jewish people, was the guest of honor Oct. 31 at a luncheon at Jewish Theological Seminary in Manhattan.
Cardinal Koch is president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which includes the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. He is visiting the United States for the first time in that post, to which he was named last year.
The luncheon was the inaugural event marking the establishment of the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue at Jewish Theological Seminary.
The cardinal was introduced by Arnold M. Eisen, chancellor of Jewish Theological Seminary, who quoted from the writings of Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI:
“What we need is respect for the beliefs of others and the readiness to look for the truth in what strikes us as strange or foreign. For such truth concerns us, and can correct us and lead us farther along the path. Furthermore, I need to be willing to allow my narrow understanding of truth to be broken down. I shall learn my own truth better if I understand the other person’s, and allow myself to be moved along the road to God, who is ever greater, certain that I never hold the whole truth about God in my hands, and am always a learner, on pilgrimage toward it, on a path that has no end.”
Cardinal Koch (pronounced “coke”) congratulated the seminary on the inauguration of the Milstein Center and called for religion to be used everywhere to advance peace, and never as an excuse for violence.
He remarked that in the past week he met with leaders from diverse religions who gathered in Assisi at the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI. The pope invited the participants in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1986.
The meeting was a symbol of how “religion must be used as a means of promoting peace in our troubled world,” Cardinal Koch said.
He noted that in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi, Pope Benedict spoke Oct. 27 about “an urgent task which both our communities must face together in today’s world: to oppose the use of religion as a justification for violence.”
The pope characterized those who “misuse” religion for violence as “terrorists,” Cardinal Koch said, and the cardinal added that terrorists’ “despicable acts were felt so deeply here in New York City some 10 years ago.”
“An important first step in that task, then, is to raise our voices in prayer by asking God for his help and mercy to change the hearts of all who would misuse religion as a pretext for violence,” he continued. “In addition, we must stand ready to raise our voices in opposition to religion-inspired violence anywhere in the world, but especially in the Middle East.”
He added, “We know God does not dwell in violence, but only in peace.”
Cardinal Koch offered the personal greetings and good wishes of Pope Benedict. He also called it “a privilege” to make Jewish Theological Seminary his first stop in New York City. The seminary community and Archbishop Dolan already enjoy a warm friendship that was demonstrated last April, he noted, when the archbishop spoke at the seminary.
The cardinal said that Pope Benedict has “pledged himself and challenged other religious leaders to join with him in a struggle against any violence that boasts of religion as its justification.” That pledge, he said, was made in light of the work of Blessed John Paul II and of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II document that revolutionized the Church’s relations with the Jews.
“Together, we are invited to become pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace,” he said.
He congratulated Jewish Theological Seminary for its work in creating the center for interreligious dialogue.
The cardinal concluded warmly by saying that the luncheon was like Abraham’s experience—recorded in Genesis—with the three travelers under a tree: “We have a very good meal, and after, we can say, ‘I have met angels.’ ”
Guests were welcomed by Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky, professor of midrash and interreligious studies at the seminary.
Dr. Eisen presented Cardinal Koch and Mr. Milstein with with framed facsimiles of a message from the Jewish community of Rome to Pope Benedict XIV in 1751, thanking him for his assistance to their community after the Tiber had flooded the city. The message is rendered in beautiful calligraphy.
After the luncheon, Cardinal Koch and a small group of guests received a tour of the seminary library’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Room. The facsimile was taken from that collection.
Guests at the luncheon included leaders of the Jewish, Catholic and Protestant communities in New York and the region. Among them were Cardinal Egan and Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.
The Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue was funded with a $2 million gift from the New York philanthropist Howard Milstein and the Paul Milstein family, which has long been involved with Jewish Theological Seminary. Howard Milstein, son of the late Paul Milstein, attended the luncheon and addressed the guests. During his remarks he told the Catholic leaders, “Your Eminences, there is a long fellowship between the Milsteins and the Catholic Church as well.” He explained that Emigrant Bank, which the Milsteins acquired in 1986, “was founded in 1850 by the Catholic Church and Irish immigrants—hence the name.”
“Through the efforts of Archbishop John Hughes, our bank financed the building of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and most of the churches in the New York Archdiocese,” Milstein said. “When the Milstein family was called upon to save Emigrant Bank from insolvency in 1986, we resolved to honor its traditions, and wanted to make sure the bank’s historic relationship with the archdiocese remained a central part of this legacy.”
