Statement on the 55th Anniversary of "Nostra Aetate", the Decree of the Second Vatican Council on Relations Between the Church and Non-Christian Faiths. 

November 5, 2020

The Roman Catholic Community in the Diocese of Metuchen marks with gratitude to God the 55th anniversary of the decree, “Nostra Aetate” issued by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council on October 28, 1965. Such moments in the history of the Church marked an increase in understanding among all peoples of faith and a sign of outreach and respect among the Catholic Church and the non-Christian religions of the world. The text of the document itself begins,
           
“In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions. In her task of promoting unity and love  among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.”

Now, perhaps more than ever, it is so vitally important for people of faith to focus our attention on those things that bridge the gaps between us and what we have in common rather than those things that divide us. The decree, “Nostra Aetate” marked a milestone in the history of the Church in that it was the first time in our history that we made a statement focusing on the relationship we have with the Jewish people. It was a first step of many that helped to reshape a long history of acrimony into a positive relationship of mutual respect and the acknowledgement that we are all children of God.

In succeeding decades other great strides were taken in the relationship between Catholic Christians and Jews, many undertaken by the popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, including the establishment of the Pontifical Commission for Interreligious Relations with the Jews by Pope Paul VI in 1974, the opening of the Vatican Archives from the Holocaust era by Pope Francis in order to air the truth in 2020 and reaching a high mark with the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the State of Israel and the Holy See in 1993.

Beginning with the strong renunciation of placing any sort of blame for the death of Christ on the Jewish people - a significant development in the history of the relations between the Church and the Jewish people -  and continuing with the Church’s full-throated denunciation of all forms of anti-semitism right up to our own day the relationship between Catholic Christianity and Judaism has grown steadily into one of cooperation, occasional collaboration and above all mutual respect and the love that is rightly shared by those who love God. The Church sees the Jewish people as those to whom God first revealed Himself and, so, our elder “cousins” in faith. All of this began with “Nostra Aetate”.

As the chief shepherd of Catholics living in Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties I am happy and grateful to add my voice to AJC and to all those marking with gratitude to Almighty God, this anniversary of “Nostra Aetate” and the good will among men and women of faith that its publication helped to bring about.