By Valerie Schmalz
Just a few decades ago, the idea of a Jewish rabbi attending the installation of the Catholic pope—and meeting with him the day after his inauguration—especially to hand him a Chicago White Sox cap! —would have provoked widespread disbelief.
Today, the relationship of the two religions and their leaders may at times be complex, but there is no question that the Catholic Church stands clearly against the injustice of antisemitism and publicly respects Judaism.
Speakers at a March 25 panel in San Francisco attributed what one called ‘a sea change’ to the Second Vatican Council document Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Catholic Church to Non-Christian Religions, issued by Pope St. Paul VI on Oct. 28, 1965.
The event featured Rabbi Noam Marans, the American Jewish Committee’s director of Interreligious Affairs, heading the agency’s global interfaith outreach and advocacy, and Father Dennis McManus, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops consultant on Jewish Affairs. “Sixty Years of Nostra Aetate,” was hosted by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone and co-sponsored by the San Francisco Interfaith Council and the American Jewish Committee of Northern California. The SFIC’s president Father Mesrop Ash, pastor of St. John Armenian Apostolic Church of San Francisco, gave the invocation. AJC Northern California director Seth Bryzk moderated the panel.
L-R Father Dennis McManus, Seth Bryzk, Rabbi Noam Marans.
The short 1,000 word-plus Vatican II document Nostra Aetate was a ‘pivotal moment’ and ‘transformative’ because it rejected 2,000 years of poor catechesis and preaching that blamed the Jews collectively for the death of Jesus, said Father McManus.
“To think that Jews down the ages bear the responsibility for the death of Jesus death is absurd beyond belief,” said Father McManus, noting Nostra Aetate specifically rejects and decries antisemitism. Jesus was a Jew, the Blessed Mother was a Jewish mother, and the apostles were Jews, Father McManus noted. Nostra Aetate brings that clearly to the fore.
“And the document also states that “God did not revoke his covenant with the Jewish people, God’s covenants are irrevocable, they are not undone. God is faithful.”
The Catholic document means a tremendous amount to the Jews, and probably more Jews are aware of it than Catholics, percentage wise, said Rabbi Marans.
“This was transformative. It proved that 2,000 years of bad blood could steer a new course. Nostra Aetate wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good,” said Rabbi Marans. “And it was the beginning of a process. If it was just a document and put on a shelf, it would not have had the impact that it had. Infrastructure in both the Catholic and the Jewish community were created in order to a create a new era.”
SF Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone welcomed all to the event and introduced the panelists. (Photo by Mary Powers/Archdiocese of San Francisco)
Father McManus and Rabbi Marans are also both leaders for their respective faiths in other interfaith dialogues.
Father McManus said the 20-year friendship and relationship with Rabbi Marans is the “net underneath the net.” They can pick up the phone and talk to each other, he said.
“In our own lives…we have learned that good relations begin with an effort to understand the other on the terms of the other. When we are open to understanding each other on each other’s terms there is possibility of endless exchange. And what is always over the horizon for us. And that is friendship,” Father McManus said.
Rabbi Marans was at the installation of Pope Leo XIV, Father McManus noted. “You can see two Americans, two baseball fans. Both understand the importance of friendship. The real success in Jewish Catholic relations is that friendship is the net under the net.”
Father McManus noted that Pope Leo sent a note to Rabbi Marans on the day of his election, pledging to continue dialogue in the spirit of Nostra Aetate. Pope Leo also addressed the entire Vatican diplomatic corps on the anniversary of the document, affirming the Church’s commitment to dialogue with all religions.
Each of the seven popes since Pope St. John XXIII has specifically acknowledged the importance of the relationship, said Rabbi Marans. Pope St. John Paul expanded Nostra Aetate, and specifically stated antisemitism is sinful, Father McManus said. “To quote John Paul the Second, ‘Antisemitism is unacceptable, there is no foundation for it in Christianity’.”
“John Paul the Second was the first Catholic to visit a synagogue since Peter,” said Rabbi Marans, noting that St. Peter was not just the first pope but “also a nice Jewish boy who went to shul.”
“Now every pope considers it part of what they do is to visit synagogues,” Rabbi Marans, said, and each has visited Auschwitz. Rabbi Marans noted that he gave Pope Leo XIV a copy of the joint American Jewish Committee-USCCB Catholic edition of Translate Hate, along with the baseball cap.
“To sum this up, history changed. Repentance and rethinking happened. The Catholic Church is on the correct side of history today. The Catholic Church is not silent. the Catholic Church may be the loudest voice against antisemitism.”
