At a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, Catholic and Jewish leaders have agreed to fight together against HIV/AIDS in the region. Israel Singer, chairman of the World Jewish Congress' Policy Council, told the news agency AFP that a meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee, co-chaired by the Vatican cardinal Walter Kasper and David Rosen, president of the International Jewish Committee on Inter-Religious Consultations (IJCIC), it was agreed to launch a joint initiative to help those suffering from AIDS, adding that "Jews and Catholics work together on a common goal: to save people from hunger and disease." He added that dialogue had now gone beyond the "mainly theological debates" of the past. Singer also said that "we want to extend this dialogue to include Muslims. We will not allow religion to be taken hostage by those who have violent ends."
read the Joint Declaration issued after the meeting (
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