“The lighting of the last Chanukah candle in the presence of the Bethlehem Light of Peace is an expression” of dialogue between Jews and Christians, said the chief of the Polish section of Vatican News.

By JNS

On the final day of Chanukah, Polish Jews and Catholics gathered at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin for a candle-lighting ceremony to promote interfaith dialogue.

The ceremony, “In the Glow of the Bethlehem Light of Peace and of the Lights of Chanukah,” was organized by the Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations. It is the third time the lights have been kindled together at the Catholic University in Lublin.

Attendees included Bishop Mieczysław Cisło and Cantor Symcha Keller, as well as Lublin residents and university staff.

Cisło, who chaired the Polish Bishops’ Conference Committee for Dialogue with Judaism from 2006 until 2016, opened the ceremony with a prayer referring to the phrase “Hope does not disappoint”—the motto of the Jubilee Year recently begun in the Catholic Church.

Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, chief of the Polish section of Vatican News, said that the ceremony draws attention to the shared values of peace, hope and collaboration between Jews and Christians.

“The lighting of the last Chanukah candle in the presence of the Bethlehem Light of Peace is an expression of the Christian-Jewish dialogue so much cherished and called for by St. John Paul II,” Rytel-Andrianik said.

Susanna Heschel, daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, wrote in a letter to participants that her father “used to point to the setting sun and tell me, ‘Look at this great miracle.’”

“Chanukah is a reminder to cultivate our ability to sense the hidden as well as the visible wonders of God’s creation, the miracle of life, the holiness of God’s presence,” she continued.

Niech światło z Betlejem i światło Chanuki, które już po raz trzeci goszczą razem na @KUL_Lublin stanowią wymowny symbol dialogu katolicko-żydowskiego, którego przykładem jest nasz patron i profesor – św. Jan Paweł II” – podkreślił rektor KUL, @MiroslawKal. pic.twitter.com/5Z1HjD1sB5

— KUL, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (@KUL_Lublin) January 2, 2025