Kehillot priests on retreat on Mount Tabor

Twelve of the priests are engaged in the work of the Saint James Vicariate for Hebrew speaking Catholics in Israel. Another, Father Gioele Salvaterra, was the parish priest in Beer Sheba who came back to Israel from Italy in order to direct the retreat. One priest, Father Jose Kumar, is an Indian priest, presently in the parish in Shefamr, who is studying Hebrew and interested in working with the Hebrew speaking and migrant Catholics in Israel.

The theme of the retreat was the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on relations with non-Christian religions. Father Gioele specifically focused on the theme of Jewish-Catholic relations. In the five presentations, he worked through a number of documents:
- A general presentation of the document, focusing on the relations with other religions including Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.
- A presentation of paragraph 4 of the declaration, which focuses on the special relationship with Jews and Judaism.
- A presentation of some of the documents that followed the publication of Nostra Aetate, particularly the 1974 document of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews that regards the implementation of Nostra Aetate.
- A presentation of some of the addresses of Popes John Paul II and Benedict on relations with the Jews.
- A presentation of the addresses and documents of Pope Francis on the relationship with the Jews.
Each presentation was followed by a time of silence and then a group discussion in small groups of four or five. The sharing was very rich.

The retreat included time for personal prayer and the priests came together for morning prayer, mass and vespers as well as for meals. It was also a time for fellowship and sharing experiences. The last morning was devoted to a meeting on the affairs of the Vicariate.

These moments are precious times of refueling in order to return with vigor to the daily work in the kehillot.