Three people sit on a stage at Georgetown
University News

Georgetown Honors 60th Anniversary of Turning Point in Catholic-Jewish Relations

September 18, 2025

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.”

Cardinal Robert McElroy speaks from behind a podium at Georgetown
Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington, offered remarks on Sept. 15.
Three people speak on a stage in a panel discussion
Boston College Professor Ruth Langer (left) moderated a discussion with Rabbi Noam Marans, director of Interreligious Affairs for American Jewish Committee (center); and Archbishop Flavio Pace, vice president of the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism (right).
Robert M. Groves speaks from behind a podium to an audience
Interim President Robert M. Groves gave opening remarks in Gaston Hall.

Twenty years ago, Georgetown inaugurated a lecture series that invited scholars and religious leaders to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate. 

This year, the university and AJC marked the anniversary with discussions about the historical significance of the document for Catholic-Jewish relations and the relationships between Christian, Muslim and Dharmic traditions. 

The urgency of Nostra Aetate’s words, decrying “hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone,” echoes six decades later, said Thomas Banchoff, vice president for global engagement and director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, a co-sponsor of the event. 

“As a Catholic and Jesuit University … Georgetown is firmly committed to interreligious understanding, to Catholic-Jewish dialogue and cooperation, and, today more than ever, the battle against antisemitism in all its forms and against, quoting Nostra Aetate’s final paragraph, ‘any discrimination or harassment against men or women because of their race or color, condition in life or religion,’” he said. 

A man in a suit and tie speaks behind a podium
Ari Gordon is the director of Muslim-Jewish Relations for AJC.
Three people sit on chairs in Riggs Library in a panel discussion
On Sept. 16, John Borelli (center), special assistant to the president for Catholic identity and dialogue, moderated a discussion with Archbishop Felix Machado (left), chair of the Continental Federation of Asian Bishops’ Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; and Sriman Anuttama Dasa, minister of communications for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (right).
Four people sit in Riggs Library in a panel discussion
On Sept. 16, Ari Gordon moderated a discussion on Christian-Muslim relations with (from left to right) Pim Valkenberg, a professor emeritus of the Catholic University of America; Younus Mirza (G’12), the founding director of the Barzinji Institute for Global Virtual Learning at Shenandoah University; and Susan Eastman, an associate research emerita professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School.
A rabbi wearing a suit and tie speaks behind a stage in Gaston Hall
Rabbi Noam Marans, director of Interreligious Affairs for American Jewish Committee, first proposed the idea of a conference between the committee and Georgetown.
Five people sit on chairs in a panel discussion in Gaston Hall
On Sept. 15, Andrew Prevot (left), a Georgetown professor, moderated a discussion with (from left to right) Matthew Tapie, a professor and director of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at Saint Leo University; Ruth Langer, a professor and associate director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College; Maayan Raveh, academic director of the Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies at the University of Haifa; and Rev. Dennis McManus, a professor at St. Patrick’s Seminary, on the promise and challenges of Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
Five people sit on chairs in a library during a panel discussion
On Sept. 16, Borelli (center) moderated a discussion on Christian-Dharmic traditions relations with (from left to right) Graham Schweig, a professor and director of studies in religion for Christopher Newport University; Rev. Grace Song, the department chair of Won Buddhist Studies at the Won Institute of Graduate Studies; Rt. Rev. Alexei Smith, Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Graham Schweig, and Allyson Huval a doctoral student at Georgetown.
A female rabbi sits on a chair onstage during a panel discussion
Rabbi Judith Schindler, the Sklut Professor of Jewish Studies at Queens University Charlotte, spoke on a Sept. 15 panel about the historical significance of Nostra Aetate and its reception.

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