September 15, 2025
American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Office of the President and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Vatican’s landmark Nostra Aetate (“In Our Time”) declaration—the 1965 declaration that revolutionized Catholic-Jewish relations by rejecting antisemitism, affirming God’s sustained Covenant with the Jewish people, and building new bridges of understanding.
The two-day conference brought together scholars, religious leaders, lay leaders, and students to explore the new challenges for Christian-Jewish and interreligious relations.
AJC Director of Interreligious Affairs Rabbi Noam Marans was honored to deliver a keynote at the conference, stating that “Nostra Aetate was a gift that helped to transform the place of the Jewish people…within the wider world.”
How AJC’s Decades of Advocacy Strengthens Jewish-Catholic Relations
As the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people, AJC was instrumental in the development and impact of Nostra Aetate, providing crucial Jewish input and advocacy that helped shape the document and its stance against historic antisemitism.
In the 1960s, AJC’s sustained engagement with the Catholic Church before, during, and after the Second Vatican Council helped shape Nostra Aetate. In the six decades since, AJC has continued to lead in Catholic-Jewish relations worldwide — meeting with successive popes, forging one-on-one ties with Catholic leaders, launching joint relief efforts and interfaith teaching exchanges, and successfully applying post-Nostra Aetate principles to remove antisemitic tropes from the centuries-old Oberammergau Passion Play.
AJC also championed the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel and has been a strong voice against the global persecution of Christians.
Fostering a Brighter Future Through Groupbreaking Initiatives
Today, AJC invigorates this partnership with initiatives such as Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition, produced with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, upholding the Church’s commitment to combating antisemitism, defining the scourge as an unChristian sin against God. While challenges remain, the legacy of Nostra Aetate and the progress since then inspire AJC to persevere in strengthening bonds and fighting antisemitism.
