On December 1, Bishop Dennis Sullivan gathered with fellow religious leaders at Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill, for a Catholic Jewish Commission community symposium titled “Fifty Years since Nostra Aetate: A Journey of Friendship.”
The occasion commemorated the 50th anniversary of the landmark Second Vatican Council Document, “Nostra Aetate, Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.” Proclaimed by Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965, the document normalized relations between Catholicism and non-Christian religions, and called for an end to anti-Semitism and discrimination.
Addressing a packed audience, Bishop Sullivan expressed his pleasure with the visit to “to continue to celebrate the close ties of friendship and respect that Catholics and Jews share here in South Jersey” due to Nostra Aetate, which “inaugurated a new era of positive relationship and engagement. The blossoming of the sweet fruit of Nostra Aetate continues to bring hope and concord to all God’s children, especially Jewish and Catholic. May we continue the good work begun in interfaith rapprochement by Nostra Aetate and bring it to fruition in the Kingdom of God!”
His remarks came before a detailed discussion of the historical relations between the Catholic and Jewish community, and Nostra Aetate’s impact, led by two well-known scholars: Dr. Philip A. Cunningham, Professor of Theology and Director of the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA; and Dr. Ruth N. Sandberg, Leonard and Ethel Landau Professor of Rabbinics at Gratz College in Elkins Park, PA.
Bishop Sullivan’s visit to Temple Emanuel is his second in two months; on October 16, he delivered an address during a Shabbat service, where he detailed Holocaust education in the diocese’s Catholic schools.
Rabbi Jerome David, Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanuel, praised the visit of the “warm, friendly, and compassionate” Camden bishop. “It’s very important to have the right leader who carries on this mission (of building bridges between Catholics and Jews), and Bishop Sullivan is that leader.”
The event was presented by the Catholic Jewish Commission, the Diocese of Camden, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern New Jersey. Co-chairs of the event were Richard Selznick and Rich Watson.