Nostra Aetate: A Catholic and Jewish Peace Treaty or a Spiritual Breakthrough?
Abstract
Nostra Aetate听(In Our Age) was promulgated by the Second Vatican Council on October 28, 1965 and this year鈥檚 fiftieth anniversary has witnessed many conferences devoted to celebrating it. Although its full title is 鈥淒eclaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions,鈥� the heart of the statement and its most influential component was its redefinition of the relationship between Catholics and Jews. Should it be regarded as a peace treaty between the two faiths or as spiritual breakthrough for humanity? Should it be considered in some ways as a joint declaration because so many important drafters of it were Catholics who had converted from Judaism?听 Did these converts teach the Catholic Church a fresh way of understanding Jews? Although its 624 words have met with broad acclaim, there are many issues that are in need of new insight. Among them are these: How should the Catholic Church recognize and speak with the diverse Jewish communities? Should the religious community hold the privileged position as interlocutor with Catholics? How should religious fundamentalism be addressed, especially as it influences the politics of the Middle East? Finally, how should we continue the reform of Catholic liturgical speech about Jews?
Speaker Bio
James Bernauer, S.J., a Jesuit priest, is the Kraft Family Professor at Boston College where he has been in the Philosophy Department since 1980. He is currently also Director of the听Center for Christian-Jewish Learning听at Boston College. His fields of interest include Holocaust Studies, German Jewry, and the philosophies of Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt.
The author of many publications, his most recent book, co-edited with Robert Maryks is听"The Tragic Couple鈥�: Encounters Between Jews and Jesuits听(2014) He is also the author of 鈥淭he Flawed Vision in Claude Lanzmann鈥檚听Shoah听and the Corrective Lens of Pierre Sauvage鈥� in听Through a Lens Darkly: Films of Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing and Atrocities听(2013); "Secular Self-Sacrifice: On Michel Foucault's Courses at the Coll猫ge de France," in听Michel Foucault: The Legacy听(2009); "A Catholic Conversation with Hannah Arendt."听Friends on the Way: Jesuits Encounter Contemporary Judaism听(2007). "Philosophizing After the Holocaust,"听Jesuit Postmodern: Scholarship, Vocation, and Identity in the 21st Century听(2006). His current research project is a study of Jesuits and Jews during the period of the Holocaust.
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Event Photos
Boston College philosophy professor James Bernauer, S.J. speaking about Catholic-Jewish relations in light of the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aeate at a Boisi Center luncheon on October 14, 2015.
