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NOSTRA AETATE‐ IN OUR TIME
DECLARATION ON THE CHURCH’S RELATION TO NON‐CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
COME SO FAR, SO FAR TO GO.
THE COUNCIL’S CALL TO INTER‐RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
At his Sunday Audience and again yesterday, Pope Francis renewed his plea for peace in Syria, urging international leaders to find a solution to a war that sows destruction and death. “The increase in violence in a war between brothers, with the prolification of massacres and atrocities which all have been able to see in the terrible images of these days, leads me once more to raise my voice that the clatter of arms may cease” It is not confrontation that offers hope to resolve problems but rather the ability to meet and dialogue. This brings me to the topic I want to touch on tonight “ Dialogue with non Christian religions,entitled Nostra Aetate ‐In our time” Starting off as the Jewish question the issues surrounding dialogue with peoples of other faiths were raised, vigorously debated and finally resulted in a declaration promulgated at the final session of Vatican 11 –1965. Fifty years on, in our time, I invite you, I urge you to take another look at this document or probably for many if not most, a first look and consider its astounding relevance to the present times. Nostra Aetate is a remarkably polished five paragraph Declaration, one of sixteen distinct statements issued by the second Vatican Council,( four “Constitutions”, nine “Decrees” and three “Declarations.”) The Council Fathers, primarily through Nostra Aetate, opened the Church to living dialogue with Jews and people of other faiths. In this sense the Declaration was an act of the Catholic Church directed to all of its members about proper attitudes and conduct towards Jews and peoples of other World Religions. Of all the documents it is the shortest, yet solid and exciting. It was, and still is regarded by many in Religious and Secular society, especially those
who have read it and know its source, as having ground‐breaking potential for generating peace, justice and unity amongst the whole human family, a family united in origin, life’s pilgrimage and final destiny. Vatican II The special significance and impact of the texts of the Council, including Nostra Aetate , can only be appreciated within the context out of which they came. Two world historic events offer a shorthand definition of that context – the watershed of the two world wars, Hiroshima and Auschwitz, both of which propelled the urgency of the deliberations of the Council Fathers. John XXIII had announced the Council in 1959 at a gathering of the Curia in St Paul Outside the Walls during the week of prayer for Christian Unity.( Reaction of the Cardinals ) Why? The Catholic Church was at a highpoint‐ Seminaries full, Religious Orders flourishing, Catholic Schools and hospitals opening throughout the world, missionaries spreading the gospel ...The Power and authority of Church Hierarchy within the Church and throughout Society, formidable. John XXIII had made his decision. It seems he sensed below the surface of this strong, seemingly impregnable Institute, our Catholic Church, a need to move beyond the “Golden Age”, to open up to the world, to release the riches of divine energy, through the power of the Spirit, by rediscovering the roots of Christianity and sharing with the whole of humanity the good news of the gospel. Christ died for the whole of humanity. From the point of this announcement, the Church embarked on an unpredictable journey of surprises, setbacks and blessings along the way. Vatican II met in the great nave of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome in four sessions in the Autumns of the years 1962 to 1965 with committees doing extensive work between sessions. The Council comprised 2,400 Bishops, with about 500 Periti or Experts and between 50 and 200 “0bservers” and “Auditors” lay as well as Clerics. Orthodox, Jews, other Christians and representatives of other faiths were also in attendance.
During the preparatory session of the Council, June 1960, Pope John had a half hour conversation with a Jewish scholar and historian Jules Isaac, who presented him with a lengthy memorandum summarising the legacy of Catholic discrimination towards the Jewish people. He pressed the pope to use the Council to move beyond this sad history. This half hour audience is referred to by the WJC, Geneva Gerhardt Reigner 1911 ‐ 2001 as the tiny jewel which planted the seed of what was to become the Declaration on the Church’s Relation to non‐ Christian Religions. After the audience Pope John asked Cardinal Bea to meet with Isaac and within three months Pope John XXIII commissioned the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity to include the Jewish Question in its preparation for the Council. The first meeting of the Secretariat, with 39 participants, chaired by Cardinal Bea was held in a stuffy, windowless, ill lit room in the Vatican, adjacent to a junk room of sculptured fragments called the Hall of broken heads. What ensued was a period of vigorous but relentless debate oscillating between rejection of prepared drafts and their re‐emergence with amendments‐ as an extra chapter in the statement on Ecumenism for example. The Declaration was finally accepted by the Council Fathers with an overwhelming majority, at the fourth and last session of the Council, Oct 28, 1965, 2221 to 88 It consisted of 5 sections:
- A statement on the unity of the human family and the innate spiritual impulse of all people;
- A brief description of various religions, Hinduism and Buddhism concluding with the statement that the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions;
- A positive treatment of Islam
- A substantive section on Judaism which recalls the spiritual ties between Christians and Jews, affirms the ongoing validity of the Covenant between God and the People of Israel, calls for mutual understanding and condemns anti Semitism unequivocally and finally
- A rejection of discrimination in all its forms
In presenting the expanded document to the Assembly, Cardinal Bea referred to the Parable of the mustard seed “What began as a small Mustard seed –a brief statement on the right attitude of Christians to the Jewish people, had grown to become a tree in which all religions could build their nests.” Immediate Response to the Document was alive and regenerative for both Jews and Christians but healing and the re enkindling of trust, the resolution of age‐old hostilities as well as relatively fresh and profoundly deep wounds, takes decades across generations to effect transformation within and without. Jules Isaacs committed himself for the rest of his life to building positive relationships between Christians and Jews and was a founding member of the ICCJ. Cardinal Bea continued with energy and unfailing commitment to work for unity, not only of all Christians but of the whole human family. Cardinal Bea was replaced in 1968 by Cardinal Johannes Willebrands. Cardinal Emeritus Cassidy 1989 till 2001, Cardinal Walter Casper 2001 till 2010 Cardinal Kurt Koch 2010 In 2005 Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy’s book was published: Rediscovering Vatican II, dedicated to Pope John Paul II and the Pontifical Councils for promoting Christian Unity. The detailed description of the journey from Vatican II till the present day is contained in this volume, beautifully written, scholarly, yet a riveting read for amateurs, academics ,people of all faiths and others seeking the path in our time towards a system of meaning, peace, justice mutual respect and cooperation. Interfaith Gatherings over the years are included in this book. Of all the gatherings that ensued, the following are worthy of special mention: Assisi Interfaith prayer days, 1976 John Paul II and 2011 Pope Benedict.
I conclude with the words of Jules Isaac, Jewish French scholar and historian, whose wife and daughter died in Auschwitz and who devoted the rest of his life to exposing the myths, the distortions of scripture, which formed the seedbed, in some sectors of Christian Europe, for anti‐Semitism and discrimination in its most evil and virulent forms and more, manifesting and extolling through history, theology and philosophy Christ’s gospel of forgiveness and love. Why? Because, he said, I am an historian, used to treating such problems in the full extent of their duration, and not in the present, fleeting, ephemeral moment. And again a sobering remark: There is every reason to believe that the truly guilty the real culprit is a certain Pharisaism which is of all times and all peoples, of all religions and all churches.
