This week, Georgetown hosted a conference for the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, a Vatican document that marked a watershed moment in Jewish-Catholic relations and interreligious relations in general for the Catholic Church.
Georgetown co-hosted the conference, Nostra Aetate at 60: Legacy and Challenges for Reconciliation and Interreligious Understanding, in partnership with American Jewish Committee (AJC), which was involved in the creation of the original document.
Over two days, faith leaders like Cardinal Robert McElroy; Archbishop Flavio Pace, vice president of the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism; and Rabbi Noam Marans, director of interreligious affairs for AJC, met at Georgetown to discuss Nostra Aetate’s legacy and new challenges for Christian-Jewish and interreligious relations.
The 1965 document, published 20 years after WWII and the Holocaust, signified a turning point in the Church’s teachings and relations with other faith traditions, particularly Judaism. Nostra Aetate denounced antisemitism and all forms of hatred and discrimination, repudiated past Catholic teachings about Jews and Muslims, and promoted mutual understanding, respect and interreligious dialogue.
“We at Georgetown share Nostra Aetate’s emphatic condemnation of antisemitism,” Interim President Robert M. Groves said in his opening remarks at the conference.
“We strive to honor the inherent dignity of each person. This is assisted by exposing ourselves to different beliefs — different ways of thinking and approaching the world and each other. As a university, we work to achieve this kind of understanding through robust and authentic dialogue.”