Jewish, Catholic Leaders Renew Interfaith Bonds

Local Jewish and Catholic leaders renewed a more than decade-old relationship Thursday, as newly installed Bishop Dennis Sullivan made his first trip to meet with representatives of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey at the Katz JCC.

Sullivan drew on his experience as a pastor on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, working with the Educational Alliance, a Jewish social services agency, in talking about the importance of interfaith work.

In particular, he referenced a time when his church—St. Teresa’s—was damaged in a ceiling collapse, and he was able to lean on his Jewish colleagues and find a space at the Educational Alliance’s center to hold Mass every week.

“We even had Christmas there,” he said. “I was always indebted to them.”

Calling Thursday’s meeting just a beginning, Sullivan met with several local rabbis, toured the JCC and got a chance to speak with one local Holocaust survivor, Charles Middleberg, who survived World War II after being taken in—and temporarily converted by—a Catholic family in the 4th arrondissement of Paris.

“We were the best little Catholic boys,” joked Middleberg, who said it was a thrill to meet with the bishop, as he pointed out to Sullivan a photo of himself within the JCC’s Goodwin Holocaust Museum.

Sullivan is the third bishop to serve the region while the Catholic-Jewish Commission, founded locally in 2001, has been active, though an informal relationship has existed between local religious leaders for well beyond that.

Rabbi Lewis Eron, who’s spent about 30 years in the area, said he’s always had good relationships with the Camden diocese, and emphasized the importance of establishing bridges between communities of faith, both for good times and bad.

“It’s good to have that network of friends support,” Eron said. “It’s essentially just building a community and seeing that we’re all living in the world together and trying our best to make life as wonderful, and as meaningful, and as purposeful for everyone.”

David Snyder, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, echoed those sentiments, touting the value of interfaith relations in finding common ground and drawing communities together.

“We value the friendship and relations we’ve built over the years, and look forward to the continuing with Bishop Sullivan,” he said. “Our Catholic-Jewish Commission has become an institution…something to turn to, both in times of crisis and in times of celebration as an ecumenical body that can bring people together.”