On the 60th anniversary of the release of a landmark Vatican II document that helped re-shape relations between Christians and other faiths, senior Catholic and Jewish school students from across Sydney have united at a forum aimed at drawing lessons from the document on countering antisemitism.
The forum was hosted by the Australian Catholic University at its North Sydney campus, under the auspices of Catholic Schools NSW and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
The forum, attended by 125 students from 15 schools, featured a panel discussion led by Catholic and Jewish leaders on the enduring legacy of the document, Nostra Aetate, and its relevance in contemporary society.
Proclaimed by Pope Paul VI on 28 October 1965, Nostra Aetate emphasises that the Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in other religions. It also celebrates the deep spiritual heritage Christianity shares with Judaism and condemns displays of antisemitism and all forms of ethno-religious discrimination.
The chair of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Commission for Christianity and Inter-Religious Dialogue, Chaldean Archbishop Amel Nona, told the students that it is timely to reflect upon the rich legacy of Nostra Aetate in today’s world.
“The Catholic Church through this document made a clear and enduring commitment that antisemitism is incompatible with the Christian faith. This was beyond a statement of tolerance – it was a theological revolution, an act of repentance, of reconciliation and moral renewal,” Archbishop Nona said.
“Every pope since Vatican II has affirmed that antisemitism is a sin against God and humanity. Yet the work remains incomplete. Sixty years later, antisemitism continues to appear in politics, media, and even in online discourse. On this milestone anniversary, Christians must therefore remain vigilant, ensuring old prejudices do not appear in new forms.”
Participants in the forum, representing 15 secondary schools, were reminded that Nostra Aetate emphasises that the Jewish people should not be held responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. It also emphasises the patrimony that Christians share with the Jews, reflected above all in the fact that Jesus was Himself a Jew, as was the Blessed Virgin Mary and most of the early disciples who proclaimed Christ’s Gospel to the world.
At a panel discussion during the forum, senior students asked striking questions about the Catholic Church’s position on Israel, Zionism, antisemitism, and the impact of social media on the rise of antisemitism.
The federal government’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal AO, who was one of the panel members, urged the students to be especially vigilant on social media.
“There is sadly a whole lot of Artificial Intelligence on the internet and a whole lot of what are called ‘bots’, which are not real people, just created to send messages of hate and to amplify that hate”, Segal explained.
A senior student from Emanuel School in Randwick, a co-educational Jewish school, Max Elias, said that the forum had been invaluable.
“The Nostra Aetate document highlights the difference that can be made when people work together for a common cause. This forum really helped me to appreciate some Catholic perspectives on antisemitism which enriched my own learning”, he said.
Another senior student, Owen Kara, from St Mary’s Cathedral College, said one of the strengths of the forum was the time spent engaging with and learning from the Jewish students.
“It was a great opportunity for Catholic and Jewish students to meet and share our experiences as well as learning more from influential leaders in the two communities in the panel discussion,” he said.
Staff from ACU’s Ancient Israel program will now draw upon the panel discussion to help guide their work in producing digital resources to combat antisemitism for use in Catholic schools across NSW.