Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday bluntly addressed and condemned the current scourge of antisemitism around the globe to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Roman Catholic Church’s declaration, Nostra Aetate.
“Sixty years ago, a seed of hope for interreligious dialogue was planted,” Pope Leo began on Tuesday. “Today, your presence bears witness that this seed has grown into a mighty tree, its branches reaching far and wide, offering shelter and bearing the rich fruits of understanding, friendship, cooperation and peace.”
“I am convinced that its message remains highly relevant today,” Pope Leo said of Nostra Aetate. “Let us, then, take a moment to reflect on some of its most significant teachings.”
“We must not forget how Nostra Aetate actually developed,” he recalled. “Initially, Pope John XXIII commissioned Cardinal Augustin Bea to present a treatise to the Council describing a new relationship between the Catholic Church and Judaism. We can say, therefore, that the fourth chapter, dedicated to Judaism, is the heart and generative core of the entire Declaration. For the first time in the history of the Church, we have a doctrinal text with an explicitly theological basis that illustrates the Jewish roots of Christianity in a well-founded biblical manner.”
Nostra Aetate (“In Our Time” in Latin) is a pivotal declaration from the Second Vatican Council, written in 1965, on how the Catholic Church would approach other faiths. In particular, it redefined the relationship between Catholicism and Judaism.
“As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham’s stock,” Nostra Aetate states. “Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God’s saving design, the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets. She professes that all who believe in Christ — Abraham’s sons according to faith are included in the same Patriarch’s call, and likewise that the salvation of the Church is mysteriously foreshadowed by the chosen people’s exodus from the land of bondage. The Church, therefore, cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom God in His inexpressible mercy concluded the Ancient Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the Gentiles.”
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“The Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures,” the document continued. “Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.”
“Nostra Aetate takes a firm stand against all forms of antisemitism,” Pope Leo continued on Tuesday. “Nostra teaches that we cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly or sisterly way any man or woman created in the image of God. Indeed, the Church rejects all forms of discrimination or harassment because of race, color, condition of life or religion.”
“As religious leaders, guided by the wisdom of our respective traditions, we share a sacred responsibility: to help our people to break free from the chains of prejudice, anger and hatred; to help them rise above egoism and self-centeredness; to help them overcome the greed that destroys both the human spirit and the earth. In this way, we can lead our people to become prophets of our time — voices that denounce violence and injustice, heal division, and proclaim peace for all our brothers and sisters,” he said.
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