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Document radically improved Catholic-Jewish relations
by Marty Denzer, The Catholic Key
In the four decades since the issuance of Nostra Aetate, the “radical, notorious” Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions has turned almost 2,000 years of mutual ignorance and suspicion “on its head,” said Servite Father John Pawlikowski. An expert on Catholic-Jewish relations at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Father Pawlikowski spoke at a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate on Nov. 17.
The event, hosted by the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, the Jewish Community
Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
and Rockhurst University, and presented by Abbot Gregory Polan of Conception Abbey, was
held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Redemptorist) Church in Kansas City, Mo.
In his welcoming remarks to the 175 people present, Abbot Gregory, chair of the
Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocesan Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Commission, cited the
significance of the 40th anniversary of the Vatican II document.
He said the Jews wandered 40 years on their way to the Promised Land, “40
years filled with the challenge to know and interpret the voice of God. With time, with
patience, with compassion, with prayer and with God’s grace, they came to a
deeper understanding of what united them as the people of God. And so it is with us. We
have wandered these last 40 years, forging paths of unity and mutual understanding,
sometimes with success and sometimes with more to be learned and understood. We have
also discovered new bonds that unite us.”
Father John Pawlikowski (left) and Rabbi James Rudin, noted experts on Catholic-Jewish relations, were the keynote speakers at a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate in November. Abbot Gregory Polan presented the event, which was sponsored by the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, and Rockhurst University.
Photo by Al de Zutter/courtesy of The Catholic Key
Gina Kaiser, chair of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish
Committee, paid tribute to Pope John Paul II for his monumental work in Catholic-Judaic
relations, especially the condemnation of anti-Semitism.
Jesuit Father Edward Kinerk of Rockhurst University introduced the two speakers,
Father Pawlikowski and retired Rabbi James Rudin, senior inter-religious advisor for
the American Jewish Committee.
Rabbi Rudin said that Nostra Aetate was one of the most important documents of the 20th century. “More positive Catholic-Jewish encounters have occurred in the past 40 years than in the 1,960 years of Christianity before then,” he said.
He counseled patience for the future, however, because these are “two ancient
religious traditions with long, long memories.”
The council (Vatican II) was a captivating idea of Pope John XXIII, Rabbi Rudin said. “It was a little holy madness, and what emerged from that little madness were the achievements of Vatican II, notably Nostra Aetate. Two future leaders appeared on the scene also, Karol Wotyla, who became Pope John Paul II, and Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.”
Under the influence of Nostra Aetate, the notion of deicide, or the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ as murder, was knocked down. This was particularly important to modern Jews, who had not so long before suffered through “the Shoah, the systematic murder of six million European Jews from 1933-1945, in the heart of Christianity.”
Rabbi Rudin, who described himself as “off-active duty,” recalled that
when Pope John Paul II, with whom he had met 18 times, visited the synagogue in Rome in
1986, it was the first time a Catholic pontiff had entered a synagogue.
By doing so, Pope John Paul II “publicly recognized that the Jewish people
have an irrevocable covenant with God. He said ‘Jews are our elder brothers in
faith. We do not murder a brother, a sibling, a member of our family,’”
Rabbi Rudin said.
In 1994, the Vatican established full diplomatic relations with Israel.
On one of his last trips, Pope John Paul II visited Israel and prayed at the Western
(Wailing) Wall. He asked forgiveness of the children of Israel for the centuries of
suspicion and hatred shown by Catholics.
Nostra Aetate would have been “merely dry words” if not for the men and women who were sparked and inspired by the declaration and labored to make it work, the rabbi said.
Implementation is a must, Rabbi Rudin said. “To some, nothing has changed
despite the declaration. I’m here to tell you that there have been many changes.
We need to acknowledge them and continue to move forward.”
In 2002, Cardinal Walter Kasper writing on the issue of Jewish conversion based on Nostra Aetate, said, “Jews do not have to be converted to Christianity to be saved. If they follow the beliefs of their faith tradition, they are in line with God’s plan, which came to fulfillment, for us, in Jesus Christ.”
“The Jewish Messianic expectation is not in vain. We all wait in
expectation,” Rabbi Rudin said.
Father Pawlikowski agreed. “The friendship and solidarity developed by Catholics and Jews over the past 40 years may be the best fruit of Nostra Aetate,” he said.
 “Theological differences still abound, but the solidarity is definitely there. Nostra Aetate has elicited interest in both secular and religious groups. The document has influenced the alleviation of religious violence, which, while regrettably still very evident in many parts of the world, has lessened, and has transformed Catholic-Jewish relations, overturning almost 2,000 years of tortured relations,” Father Pawlikowski said.
The notion of deicide was critical to Jewish-Catholic relations for centuries, Father Pawlikowski said. “We may never be able to pinpoint the details of Jesus’ trial and execution, but obviously not all the Jews, then or now, were responsible. Unfortunately, there are those who still cater to that notion, as was apparent in Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ.’”
St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Romans 9-11) spoke of the covenant of the
Jews remaining intact even after Jesus’ death, Father Pawlikowski said.
He said that Biblical scholars have done much for Nostra Aetate. “We must begin to see the Old Testament as an integral part of Jesus’ theology, faith tradition and instruction. We cannot truncate the two testaments. Do not fall into the trap of identifying Judaism with the Old Testament alone.
“It is simplistic to say Judaism is fulfilled in Christianity,” he said.
“We now have a new understanding of the complexities of Judaism. They are two
separate paths. No way will the two ever become one faith, but the forging of
solidarity is indeed worth developing.”
Closing remarks were made by Rabbi Alan Cohen, senior rabbi of Congregation Beth
Shalom, and Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn.
Rabbi Cohen also spoke of the significance of the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, in light of “a generation dying out and a new one arising. The last 40 years may be seen as the planting of the seeds of the next 40 years,” he said. “The changes need to start within us.”
Bishop Finn recalled the 40 years since the promulgation of the document Nostra Aetate as having seen a remarkable reckoning of the soul of the Catholic Church. Jews began re-thinking their relationships with Christians. The two faiths share a rich heritage and relationship with God, the creator of the earth, he said.
Marty Denzer is a reporter for The Catholic Key, newspaper of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. This article originally appeared in the November 25 issue.
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