Nostra Aetate, 60 Years Later

Nostra Aetate was promulgated 60 years ago so that the Catholic Church could engage
better with the modern world and to address a tragic historical mistake. Cardinal
Agostino Bea, who played a significant role in its drafting and approval, discusses this
second purpose in his book La Chiesa e il popolo ebraico, writing, “The relation of the
Church with the Jewish people is a two-thousand-year-old problem, as old as
Christianity itself. It became much more acute, particularly in view of the ruthless
policy of extermination inflicted upon millions of Jews by the Nazi regime in Germany.
And so it has attracted the attention of the Second Vatican Council.”

The initial conflicts between mainstream Jews and Jewish and Gentile followers of
Jesus in the early decades grew more intense over centuries, becoming deep-rooted
hostility that estranged Jew and Gentile. Hatred toward those blamed for Jesus’ death
reached such heights that it caused massacres by the Crusaders, expulsions from
various nations, Inquisitions, and pogroms. This climate of contempt set the stage for
the narrative used by Nazism, which ultimately resulted in the systematic murder of six
million descendants of the people among whom Jesus was born.

For many Jews, once the magnitude of the Shoah became known, it was clear that a
profound turning point was necessary to end this two-millennium-old disagreement. The Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress, Dr. Aryeh Kubovy, in an audience
with Pope Pius XII on September 21, 1945, requested that he draft a document
explicitly stating that Jews were not responsible for the death of Jesus. On October 16,
1949, the renowned historian Jules Isaac, who had published the book “Jésus et Israël”
in 1948 about anti-Jewish teachings in Christian doctrines, made a similar request to
Pius XII. On June 13, 1960, Jules Isaac repeated this request to Pope John XXIII, who at
once responded positively. He tasked Cardinal Agostino Bea with drafting a document
on the Quaestiones de Judaeis. After a lengthy and challenging process, during which
Bea demonstrated great courage, wisdom, and spiritual strength, the document titled
“Nostra Aetate” was approved by the Second Vatican Council and proclaimed by Paul
VI on October 28, 1965. Not only is the accusation of deicide eliminated, but Nostra
Aetate affirms that the covenant between God and the Jewish people was never
abolished. All expressions of antisemitism and anti-Judaism are condemned and
rejected.

In the sixty years following this event, numerous documents were drafted by Catholics
and Jews. John Paul II and his profound gestures toward the Jewish people and the
State of Israel were a source of inspiration and a catalyst for rapprochement between
Jews and Catholics, who began to recognize each other as children of the same
historical matrix that united them fraternally. John Paul II coined the term “elder
brothers in faith” for the Jewish people.

Argentine priests who embraced the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the
actions of John Paul II were committed to fostering meaningful dialogue with the
Jewish community. In the quest to find a companion to help build a path of action that
would bring Catholics and Jews closer together in fraternity, the then-Archbishop of
Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and I encountered each other.

We authored a book of dialogues and produced 31 television programs that explore
the biblical perspective on the challenges facing people today. Through this work, we
demonstrated gestures of moral and spiritual courage that have made a lasting impact
on our Argentine culture.

As Pope, our dialogue continued with the same intensity. He honored me by including
me in the Vatican delegation on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. All these are fruits of
Nostra Aetate.

Nostra Aetate opened the door to a dialogue that had been closed for nearly two
thousand years. For the first time, an effort was made to create a space of empathy
where many Catholics and Jews aimed to understand each other better. Instead of
disputes, like those that occurred in Barcelona and Tortosa, there was an exchange of
fraternal words focused on fostering mutual understanding.

Cardinal Bea, as previously mentioned, connected the creation of Nostra Aetate to the
Shoah. Continuing the dialogue that has begun, which is still in its early stages.
Interreligious dialogues are the only means to bring peace into our troubled and fractured world.

Written by Rabbi Avraham Skorka, October 2025