Abstract
Although Nostra Aetate is only comprised of five short paragraphs, this document represents a turning point, not just for Catholic-Jewish relations, but also sketches the fundamental aims of embodying the Christian faith in a pluralistic age. There is a complex but important narrative that needs to be revisited so that we do not forget the ways in which Catholic learning has developed, and how this development has often been prompted by non-Catholics. In this article, I will re-examine some crucial details in the back-story of the formulation of Nostra Aetate and offer some observations about the potential consequences of omitting these details. My argument is that some recent events and scholarship suffer from a form of amnesia about the role that Jewish people have played in the development of Catholic learning—a form of amnesia that manifests in explicit proselytizing tendencies. In particular, I want to highlight the role that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel played during the Second Vatican Council as an instructive example for Catholic-Jewish dialogue today.
Highlights
Nostra Aetate is only comprised of five short paragraphs, this document represents a turning point, not just for Catholic-Jewish relations, and sketches the fundamental aims of embodying the Christian faith in a pluralistic age
My argument is that some recent events and scholarship suffer from a form of amnesia about the role that Jewish people have played in the development of Catholic learning—a form of amnesia that manifests in explicit proselytizing tendencies
I want to highlight the role that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel played during the Second Vatican Council as an instructive example for Jewish-Catholic dialogue today
Summary
Set in motion by Pope John XXIII, Nostra Aetate was the first official document that recognized the search for meaning, holiness, and truth among the various religions of the world. From a Jewish perspective, Nostra Aetate was seen as revolutionary because it repudiated the centuries-long oppression of Jewish people by Church Councils. this document was the first time that anti-Semitism was condemned by a Council, and the Jewish people were acknowledged uniquely as. D’Costa defends his claim by drawing a distinction between ethnicity and religion: according to D’Costa, the Church repudiates anti-Semitism, but promotes non-coercive mission toward Jewish people despite the fact that many subsequent post-conciliar documents firmly reject this position.17 This raises an important question: is this what Nostra Aetate explicitly teaches? In order to provide an alternative account from D’Costa, I would like to examine briefly the back story of this shift away from proselytism in the formulation of Nostra Aetate and the role Rabbi Heschel had during this process This tendency is discouraged in a statement issued in 2009 by the US Catholic Bishops: “Jewish covenantal life endures till the present day as a vital witness to God’s saving will for His people Israel and for all of humanity”.
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