Influential religious leaders reminded Catholics of their responsibility to combat antisemitism while celebrating the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, a transformative church document in Catholic-Jewish relations, in the nation’s capital.
“To be Catholic is to believe that we will answer someday for what we’ve done, including for how we rose to the occasion – or didn’t – of being our brother’s keepers,” Mary Eberstadt, senior research fellow at the Faith & Reason Institute and the Panula chair in Christian culture at the Catholic Information Center, said 28 October in a speech delivered by video.
Eberstadt and other experts spoke at a conference commemorating Nostra Aetate (“In Our Time”), the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, at the St John Paul II National Shrine in Washington.
The day of reflection, “Called to Friendship: Nostra Aetate at 60: The Spiritual Heart of Catholic-Jewish Relations,” was hosted by the shrine in partnership with Philos Catholic, part of The Philos Project, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting positive Christian engagement in the Near East.
“To hate your Jewish brother is to hate your Catholic self. … The West today needs to hear that message. America, especially young America, needs to hear that message,” Eberstadt said.
