We must have dialogue, as silence is the worst thing possible – Minister for Human Resources Zoltán Balog said on Thursday at the “Common future – Common responsibility” conference about Jewish-Christian relations in the Tihany Abbey near lake Balaton. The conference was organised by UNESCO’s Hungarian National Committee and the speakers included politicians and both Jewish and Christian religious servants of several denominations.
Mr. Balog said the young generations must be brought up in an atmosphere in which they are able to regard the others with greater empathy and initiate an honest dialogue. He also reminded those present of the Nostra Aetate Declaration of the second Vatican Synod, which stressed that “it did not wish to reduce the dialogue with the Jewish people to the topic of the Holocaust.”
Prior of Tihany Abbey Rihárd Korzenszky also quoted from the Nostra Aetate, saying that “all nations form a community and share a common origin, as God populated the Earth with the human race.” Gusztáv Bölcskei, Clerical Chairman of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary and bishop of Debrecen, brought up the biblical example of Joseph and his brothers, saying that the conference should end on a note that would radiate beyond the walls of the Abbey.
Slomó Köves, Executive Rabbi of Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation EMIH, said that seventy years after the Holocaust the goal was not to reawaken pangs of conscience but to learn from the mistakes of the past and reach a common understanding towards a common future. He said that the horrors the Jews suffered towards the end of World War II in Hungary made many of them question whether they should remain in the country. Despite that, there is still a sizeable Jewish community in Hungary, composed of those who think this is where our common future lies, he said. Despite our differences, we have the joint responsibility to not only talk about the past, but to also formulate a common future, Rabbi Köves said.
(Ministry of Human Resources)
