Dialogue in a Time of Crisis

In October 2025, the Catholic Church will mark the sixtieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. The Council was characterized by two words: Pope John XXIII’s “aggiornamento” (bringing up to date) and Pope Paul VI’s “dialogue.” These two words are foundational for the document Nostra aetate (Latin for “in our times”), published at the end of the Council’s tenure, which redefined the Church’s attitude toward non-Christians. It is one of the sixteen documents published by the Council that redefined the role of the Church in the modern world and its modus vivendi amid the challenges of our times. This document encouraged dialogue among Catholics and believers of different religions. It represented a 180-degree turn. Before the Council, the various non-Christian religions were seen as leading people away from God, dooming them to perpetual darkness. Rather than partners in dialogue, they were viewed as candidates for a mission that sought to make them believers in Jesus Christ and members of the Church.

The context of the Council was the post-World War II years, a time of rebuilding and reflection. The destruction during the war had predominantly been wrought by countries where Christians had been the majority for centuries. The deliberations during the Council that led to the publication of Nostra aetate began with intense discussions about the relationship of the Church with the Jews. The Shoah, the Nazi genocide of six million Jews, had been carried out mostly by people who were baptized Christians. The searing question was, “How could this be?” A 1998 document of the Church challenged Catholics:

But it may be asked whether the Nazi persecution of the Jews was not made easier by the anti-Jewish prejudices imbedded in some Christian minds and hearts. Did anti-Jewish sentiment among Christians make them less sensitive, or even indifferent, to the persecutions launched against the Jews by National Socialism when it reached power?^[1]

Those gathered in the Council, particularly the Europeans among them, were determined to confront this question and reformulate Christian discourse so that it could never again be used to express contempt for Jews.

Sobered by the unleashing of violence during World War II, some also began to question the imperialism and colonialism that had characterized Christendom for centuries in its territorial conquests outside of Europe. This included the destruction of indigenous cultures in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Australia, and elsewhere, and a contempt for people who were “non-Christian.” At the forefront of this tragic history were also Christian attitudes toward other religious traditions like Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, as well as traditional local religions.

Rereading Nostra aetate’s relatively short five paragraphs today, one can sense the optimism harnessed by the document. If peoples pulled together, dialogue would triumph, initiating a new era of mutual respect, justice, equality, and peace. Today, within the context of a world again embroiled in conflicts and a humanity on the brink of a third world war (or are we already in the midst of it?), Nostra aetate might seem naïve. A present-day reader might indeed ask: How could the document have underestimated the dark forces constantly pulling humanity apart? How could it not have foreseen that many calling themselves believers, including religious Jews, Christians, and Muslims, would enthusiastically engage in future conflicts and clashes?

It is particularly interesting to reread Nostra aetate in Israel/Palestine today, as the new round of violence that engulfs the area, initiated on October 7, 2023, continues. Nostra aetate can resonate as a prophetic voice, a vision of what might lie beyond the walls of division and hatred that produce endless bloodshed and devastation. The ancient prophets lived in times of despair. They were called to speak a word of God to a world plunged in darkness and death. Inspired by God’s Spirit, they plotted out new horizons, vaguely discernible when animated by faith and hope. Perhaps we need to hear Nostra aetate today in this spirit and reclaim the project of dialogue, bringing it up to date with our context sixty years later. Interreligious dialogue might be a way to save our religions from enslavement to ideologies of hate.

In this context, the Church continues its dialogue with Jews, determined to uproot anti-Judaism and antisemitism and replace the former “teaching of contempt” with a “teaching of respect.” It is particularly attentive to the Jewish voices that speak out for justice, equality, and peace. In a letter written by Pope Francis to a Jewish Israeli academic on February 2, 2024, he stated: “In times of desolation, we have great difficulty seeing a future horizon where light replaces darkness, in which friendship replaces hatred, in which cooperation replaces war. However, we, as Jews and Catholics, are witnesses to precisely such a horizon.”^[2] The Pope reminds these Jewish friends that the friendship that has evolved between Catholics and Jews is an important sign for Israelis, Palestinians, and all others caught up in what seems like interminable conflict. Who would have thought, in light of centuries of suspicion, contempt, and Catholic marginalization of Jews and sometimes even their persecution, that Jews and Catholics would not only overcome this negativity but work together to root out teachings of contempt?

In the continued dialogue with Muslims, too, the Church is determined to combat Islamophobia and racism, replacing the Crusader or violent jihad mentality with “esteem” (the word used by Nostra aetate in speaking of Muslims). In February 2019, Pope Francis travelled to the United Arab Emirates and met there with the Grand Imam Shaykh Ahmad al-Tayyib of Egypt’s al-Azhar University. The two of them signed “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” Its opening words renewed the vision of the Council:

Faith leads a believer to see in the other a brother or sister to be supported and loved. Through faith in God, who has created the universe, creatures, and all human beings (equal on account of his mercy), believers are called to express this human fraternity by safeguarding creation and the entire universe and supporting all persons, especially the poorest and those most in need.^[3]

This time, however, it was not a Catholic document but also signed by one of the highest authorities in the Muslim world.

Amid the ongoing conflict that engulfs us in the Holy Land from every side, one might indeed ask whether dialogue is naïve or prophetic. When one looks at the Holy Land and wonders whether God has abandoned this land, dialogue might indeed seem like a naïve project for dreamers. But when one can discern God in the midst of this travail—envisioning God trying to speak a word of life to counter the omnipresent rhetoric of death—then dialogue can become prophetic, emboldening hope for a horizon of justice, equality, and peace. It is this position that the Church in the Holy Land has embraced.

In the spirit of Nostra aetate and the ongoing dialogue with Jews and Muslims, the Church promotes a vision of this land based on justice, equality, and peace. The Church believes that just as there was a time before the conflict when the peoples of the Holy Land—Jews, Muslims, and Christians—lived side by side as neighbors, this too is possible today. The Church also holds that the day will come—sooner rather than later—when justice, equality, and peace will reign, and the conflict will come to an end. The Church insists that this conflict is not a religious one but a struggle between two national movements, one Jewish Israeli and the other Palestinian Arab—two contemporary ideologies. Sadly, religion is often manipulated by political leaders to promote conflict and to absolutize and radicalize the claims of each side. Moreover, certain interpretations of the Bible—both Jewish and Christian—fuel the conflict instead of promoting justice and peace.

The Church believes that this land is not doomed to eternal conflict. It prays ceaselessly and works tirelessly to realize a reality of justice, equality, and peace—promoting a vision that opens new possibilities on the horizon. The peoples of the Holy Land are not destined to live in strife forever. While it is not the task of the Church to determine the concrete details of a solution to the conflict, it insists that any legitimate solution must ensure:

justice for all people in the Holy Land today;
equality for all citizens;
freedom for all individuals, including complete religious freedom;
mutual respect that ensures that all find their place within society;
respect for international law.

Whatever framework is adopted to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict—be it two states living side by side, one unique shared state for all, or something else—the ultimate principle that must be guaranteed by all sides is the dignity of the human person, equal in rights and duties. A 2019 statement of the Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land underlined this commitment. The bishops declared:

We promote a vision according to which everyone in this Holy Land has full equality, the equality befitting all men and women created equal in God’s own image and likeness. We believe that equality, whatever political solutions might be adopted, is a fundamental condition for a just and lasting peace. We have lived together in this land in the past, why should we not live together in the future too? This is our vision for Jerusalem and the whole land, called Israel and Palestine, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.^[4]

References:

[1] Commission for the Religious Relations with the Jews, “We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah,” Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, March 16, 1998, https://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/commissione-per-i-rapporti-religiosi-con-l-ebraismo/commissione-per-i-rapporti-religiosi-con-l-ebraismo-crre/documenti-della-commissione/en1.html.

[2] “Letter of the Holy Father Francis to Jewish Brothers and Sisters in Israel,” The Holy See, February 2, 2024, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2024/documents/20240202-lettera-ebrei-in-israele.html.

[3] “Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Francis to the United Arab Emirates, February 3–5, 2019, The Holy See, February 4, 2019, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html.

[4] Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, “Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries Calls on People of Holy Land to Build Bridges of Respect and Love,” May 5, 2019, www.custodia.org/en/news/assembly-of-catholic-ordinaries-calls-on-people-of-holy-land-to-build-bridges-of-respect-and-love/.

Download