NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II today received a delegation from the United Jewish Appeal Federations of North America, and told the members of that charitable group that "for the good of the human family, it is crucial at this moment that all believers work together to build the structures of an authentic peace."

      The Pope remarked that the Jewish group offered a reminder of "the lines of spiritual paternity through which Christians take part in the great religious tradition of Judaism" stretching back to Moses and Abraham. He also expressed the hope that today's meeting would help build understanding between Catholics and Jews.

      The need for peace in the world is not only a "political necessity," the Holy Father said, but-- more important-- a "commandment of God." Christians and Jews should be of one accord, he said, in following a common moral tradition, and in "obedience to the ethics proclaimed by the prophets."

      That ethical system, he continued, emphasizes the importance of "adoration of God" and service to humanity. "In every human being we see an absolute and inalienable dignity, because we are created in the image and likeness of God himself," he said.

      That recognition of innate human dignity should spur all believers to defend human life in all its forms, the Pope said. He concluded with a prayer that Christians and Jews might work together to form a society marked by "true respect for life and the dignity of every human being, without any form of discrimination."