ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Senior Rabbi Robert S. Leib,
Rabbi Andrew Sklarz
Rabbi Emeritus Harold B. Waintrup
Dear Friends, 

What a joy it is to gather with you this evening in this holy place, and together raise our hearts to the Lord, using the holy words of the Psalm: "Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand in the house of the Lord through the long hours of night. Lift up your hands toward the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. May the Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion" (Ps 134).

It is indeed a pleasure to be with you this evening during your Shabbat Service and to be able to draw attention to an important anniversary for both of our faith traditions: the promulgation of the Declaration Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council.

Forty years ago today Pope Paul VI promulgated this Vatican II "Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions." As is the custom with official documents of the Church, the document is identified by its opening words in Latin, Nostra Aetate ("In our time"). While Nostra Aetate originated as a statement on Judaism, it came to include the treatment of the Catholic Church’s relations with all Non-Christian religions. Within this wider context, Catholic-Jewish relations formed a principal part of this Declaration.

Much has changed in the world during the past forty years. Vatican II had a vibrant enthusiasm that recognized much promise in the modern world. Pope John XXIII, who was elected to the papacy forty-seven years ago today, and who was affectionately known to the Italians as "Il Papa buono," "the good Pope," had a spirit of deep optimism that permeated the Council. Pope John knew that in the modern world we must learn about each other, and learn from each other. The world was getting smaller. One thing that was apparent was how little Catholics and Jews really knew each other. Yes, Jews and Catholics lived side by side for centuries; but they did not truly know each other. Reflection upon this deep reality led them to the development of a document addressing not only Judaism, but also other world religions.

After the passage of four decades, it is clear that the Declaration Nostra Aetate has ushered in a new age in Catholic-Jewish relations. The work begun in Nostra Aetate was enthusiastically continued by Pope John Paul II in both statements and actions. Pope John Paul’s pontificate is remembered for his groundbreaking outreach to the Jewish people that found much of its inspiration in Nostra Aetate.

• He was the first Pope to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
• He was the first pope to visit the Jewish synagogue in Rome.
• He established formal diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel.
• He visited Yad Vashem.
• He prayed at the Western Wall. After praying for a time, he placed within the wall a written prayer expressing deep sadness for all the wrongs done to Jews by Christians. That prayer ended, "Asking your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant."
• Under Pope John Paul II, the Holy See published guidelines on how Catholics should teach and preach about Jews and Judaism.
• In the year 2000 the Pope presided at a liturgy of repentance for the wrongs of Catholics toward Jews.

In a 1987 meeting with Jewish leaders in Miami, Pope John Paul II emphasized what Catholics and Jews hold in common: Our belief in the one true God who made an everlasting covenant of love with His people. As Pope John Paul II said, "The Jewish people, the Church, and all believers in the merciful God - who is invoked in the Jewish prayers as 'Av Ha-Rahhamim' – can find in this fundamental covenant with the patriarchs a very substantial starting point for our dialogue and our common witness in the world" (Address to Jewish Leaders in Miami, September 11, 1987).

Noting the success of the American experiment in religious freedom, with contributions by both Catholics and Jews, Pope John Paul II called the American example of interreligious dialogue a model for the entire world. Many immigrants came to America to flee religious persecution. Together, we have learned to put into practice the prescriptions found in Leviticus: "You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the LORD, am your God" (Lv 19:34).

What has been the result of all this? A survey of the forty years since Nostra Aetate shows the deepening relationship between Catholics and Jews. It is not sufficient to have a relationship of mutual tolerance; we are called to a relationship of mutual fraternal love. During these years the dialogue has progressed and the topics discussed have become deeper, considering more and more aspects of the complex relationship between Jews and Catholics. This joint work, inspired by Nostra Aetate, has involved interfaith dialogue, collaborative educational ventures, and joint theological and historical research by Catholics and Jews. This joint work continues Nostra Aetate "in our time."

Following in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI has also firmly committed himself to continued support of closer Catholic-Jewish relations. Since his election on April 19th of this year, Pope Benedict has made ecumenical and interreligious activity a very important dimension of his pontificate. During his visit to Cologne, Germany this summer, he met with 500 Jewish leaders in the historic Roonstrasse Synagogue, which had been destroyed in 1938 during the Nazi Kristallnacht. In September, Pope Benedict XVI met with the chief rabbis of Israel at Castel Gandolfo and welcomed their invitation to visit Jerusalem.

We are celebrating the anniversary of Nostra Aetate not just for what it did, but for its continuing call toward the future. It is a call for sustained understanding and for the deepening of exchange and collaboration at many levels. Catholics must understand Jews; Jews must understand Catholics. This anniversary is a call for the continued and definitive condemnation of anti-Semitism. At the same time, we cannot forget that the world also contains followers of other religious traditions. Together, we must strive to further the principles of Nostra Aetate with our Muslim neighbors, as well as with the faithful of other major world religions. The Declaration Nostra Aetate is a call for the end of all religious prejudice. The message of Nostra Aetate, above all, continues to be a call "in our time," for our time to proclaim together the primacy of God in our lives, in our communities and in our world.

Just two days ago, in the context of the 40th anniversary of this Declaration, Pope Benedict XVI wrote: "As we look to the future, I express my hope that both in theological dialogue and in everyday contacts and collaboration, Christians and Jews will offer an ever more compelling shared witness to the One God and his commandments, the sanctity of life, the promotion of human dignity, the rights of the family and the need to build a world of justice, reconciliation and peace for future generations."

Dear friends: with gratitude for your gracious welcome, to all of you I say: Peace! Shalom!