Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger On Christians and Jews

He was born Aron Lustiger in 1926 in Paris, France. His parents were non-practicing Jews who had migrated from Poland. He died aged 80 battling bone and lung cancer in Paris in 2007. He was then called Aaron Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger, from 1981 till retirement in 2005, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris. *** Lustiger's 2010 book, ON CHRISTIANS AND JEWS, is not an autobiography. But he draws often on his own life experiences: baptized in 1940 at age 13 as a Catholic; his mother's deportation to and death in Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943; his ten years as student chaplain at the Sorbonne; after 1981 became a pioneer in French Catholic TV programs; he championed private religion-based schools under increasing pressure from the secularizing French government; and was elected member of the distinguished French Academy in 1995. *** With Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Lustiger was one of the leading pro-Jewish spokesmen of the Catholic Church. The book ON CHRISTIANS AND JEWS demonstrates his international prominence and how sought after he was as a speaker on Christian-Jewish relations. *** ON CHRISTIANS AND JEWS consists of seven speeches and one interview given by Cardinal Lustiger between 1982 and 2003. Two speeches were delivered to Jewish audiences in New York. The most far ranging of his remarks are embedded in a 1987 interview with Jean-Louis Missika and Dominique Wolton. The questions are learned and tough. And Lustiger does not dodge them. The core of the Cardinal's several theses is that God has distinct missions for both Jews and Christians -- valid till the end of time. It is important that each confession understand and respect the other. Christians, especially Catholics, in the past 1500 or more years have been guilty of horrible crimes against Jews. This must stop. It is the will of God that Catholics consult Jews when examining their own Christian consciences. *** The three page bibliography consists entirely of offerings in the same series that Cardinal Lustiger wrote for: "Studies in Judaism and Christianity: Explorations of Issues in the Contemporary Dialogue Between Christian and Jews." This series is supported by the Stimulus Foundation and the Paulist Fathers. ON CHRISTIANS AND JEWS is rich in hope and insight. -OOO-