Bishop Rafał Markowski, the chairman of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, in his special Homily for the 25th Day of Judaism in the Catholic Church, whose celebrations take place throughout Poland on January 17, emphasized that “by losing contact with the Jewish religion, we cut off our roots”.
“Looked for the meaning of life, both Jews and Christians are people who find the history of salvation in their existence, and what is more, they begin to perceive the path with God as the only valuable,” said Bishop Markowski.
The central celebration of the jubilee, the 25th Day of Judaism in the Catholic Church in Poland will take place on January 17 in Poznań titled “My thoughts are not your thoughts” taken from the Book of Isaiah (Is 55.8).
The program of the event includes joint prayers of Christians and Jews at the symbolic grave of Rabbi Akiva Eger, joint biblical service and a summary of the 25-year history of the Day of Judaism in Poland from the Jewish and Catholic perspective. Also, Jan Grosfeld will receive the “Menorah of Dialogue” Award.
In Lublin, local celebrations will be organized by the Archdiocese of Lublin, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, and the Archdiocese Center for Catholic-Jewish Dialogue in Lublin. One of the topics of the event will be the life story of Father Grzegorz Pawłowski. In WW2 he was a Jewish boy named Jakub Hersz Griner and was rescued by Poles from the Holocaust. In addition, Prof. Abraham Skórka, rabbi of the Benei Tikva Jewish community in Buenos Aires, will deliver an online lecture on Jewish-Catholic dialogue.
Warsaw celebration of the 25th Day of Judaism in the Catholic Church will take place in the temple of artists dedicated to St. Brother Albert and St. Andrew the Apostle. The focal point will be the Holy Mass “To beg for love”, which will be followed by the presentation of activities of the Forum for Dialogue. It is the largest and oldest Polish non-governmental organization dealing with the Polish-Jewish dialogue. The mission of Forum for Dialogue is to rebuild and create new ties between contemporary Poland and the Jewish community in the world.
The Day of Judaism in the Catholic Church in Poland was established by the Polish Episcopate in 1997. Its purpose is to develop Christian-Jewish dialogue, as well as prayer and reflection on the relationship of both religions.
The Day of Judaism was celebrated for the first time in 1998 under the title “Who meets Jesus Christ meets Judaism”.
Adrian Andrzejewski