Cyprus Archbishop Chrysostomos II and Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yona Metzger, have affirmed their commitment to advancing the excellent relations between Cyprus and Israel and pledged to work together to promote peace and reconciliation among all peoples.
They also called on all religious leaders as well as all men and women of goodwill to join them in this pledge.
In a joint declaration they signed here on Tuesday, Archbishop Chrysostomos and Rabbi Yona Metzger noted that the thousands of years of historical connections between the People of Cyprus and the Jewish People have assumed a new modern fraternity since the establishment of the State of Israel. At the same time, new relationships of mutual respect have developed between Christian and Jewish communities, they added.
''We, the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yona Metzger and the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos, give thanks to God for the blessed increase of this mutual respect and affirm our commitment to advancing these excellent relations between Cyprus and Israel,'' the declaration noted.
''We acknowledge with regret that such relations were not always the case everywhere in the past, and we thus condemn all acts of disrespect towards any other religious community, its integrity and its Holy sites'', it added.
Archbishop Chrysostomos and Rabbi Yona Metzger noted that ''the Church and the People of Cyprus were not party to the systematic negation of Jewry nor of accusations of collective guilt of deicide and we accordingly affirm the repudiation of such prejudice as incompatible with the teaching of the Holy Scriptures.''
''We should further note that the People of Israel have never committed acts of aggression against the People of Cyprus and have demonstrated their continued support for the latter,'' they added.
''Furthermore, we judge that any attempts to undermine the religious identity and attachments of the other, are incompatible with the spirit of mutual respect and thus we deplore all proselytising activity irrespectively from where and by whom it is exercised,'' the declaration added.
The Primate of the Church of Cyprus and the Chief Rabbi of Israel also affirmed their respective religions' teachings regarding the sanctity of life and dignity of the human person – each one created in the Divine Image. ''Accordingly we condemn all acts that desecrate this sanctity, in particular violence and terror against innocents and especially when this involves the abuse of the name of God and religion,'' they added.
''We pledge to work together for promoting peace and reconciliation between all peoples and call on all religious leaders as well as all men and women of goodwill to join us in this pledge,'' they noted.
They concluded by affirming that they will continue bilateral contact for furthering and deepening their good relations for the benefit of their respective peoples.
Speaking to the press Archbishop Chrysostomos II said that they share long-standing friendship, noting that the 21st century is the century of dialogue and rapprochement.
He described their joint declaration as very important, noting that it puts an end to any enmity or suspiciousness poisoning the relations between the two peoples.
Asked how this could contribute to efforts for a Cyprus settlement, the Archbishop noted that ''we have excellent ties with the government of Israel'' and noted that a new chapter has opened with a very positive position by the government of Israel ''and we believe that we can cooperate and of course we can be assisted by Israel which is a very strong country in the Middle East.''
Chief Rabbi of Israel underlined the importance of this joint declaration and noted that Cyprus and Israel are partners and ''this can help to further develop our cooperation''.
