Pope Leo XIV and the Jewish world, from Nostra Aetate to the American Jewish Committee
Six days before the Council declaration's 61st anniversary, the Pope repeats to the American delegation his words of 29 October 2025: "the Church does not tolerate anti-Semitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself"
Pope Leo XIV this morning received a delegation of the American Jewish Committee in the Consistory Hall and repeated words he first spoke a year ago: the Church "does not tolerate anti-Semitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself". The audience came six days before 28 October, the anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council declaration whose section on Judaism the Pope himself has described as "a point of no return".
The starting point: Nostra Aetate 4. The Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 28 October 1965. Its fourth chapter is devoted to Judaism. It states that the Church, "mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone". And: "the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures".
Pope Leo XIV has given that chapter a precise weight. On 28 October 2025, in the Paul VI Hall, at the "Walking Together in Hope" event for the sixtieth anniversary, he said: "the fourth chapter, dedicated to Judaism, is the heart and generative core of the entire Declaration".
29 October 2025: "The Church does not tolerate anti-Semitism". The next day, the General Audience in St Peter's Square was devoted to Nostra Aetate and interreligious dialogue. After quoting paragraph 4 of the Declaration, the Pope said: "Since then, all my predecessors have condemned anti-Semitism with clear words. And so I too confirm that the Church does not tolerate anti-Semitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself." In the same catechesis he added: "Even today, we must not allow political circumstances and the injustices of some to divert us from friendship, especially since we have achieved so much so far."
Other gestures. In his telegram to Rome's Chief Rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, for the autumn festivals of 2025 (22 September), the Pope recalled "with gratitude" the rabbi's presence at the start of his Petrine ministry on 18 May 2025. On 15 June 2026 he received a delegation of the UJA-Federation of New York and recalled that Nostra Aetate "took a firm stand against antisemitism". On 11 September 2026, in a new telegram to Di Segni for Rosh Ha-Shanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, he asked "the Eternal One to grant us growth in mutual friendship, in our city of Rome and throughout the world".
Today: the American Jewish Committee. Today's address, delivered in English, opened with a reference to the date: on 22 October the Church remembers Pope John Paul II, who in 1995, addressing the Committee's Board of Governors, observed that "dialogue between Christians and Jews must find eloquent expression in the life of both of our communities". Pope Leo XIV set out shared tasks: "to defend human dignity, to serve the poor, to protect religious freedom and to promote justice and peace". He added: "Essential to this commitment is the rejection of all forms of religious and ethnic hatred and discrimination."
He then quoted his own words from the General Audience of 29 October 2025, followed by a new passage: "Differences of opinion, however profound, must never give rise to prejudice and hostility, which undermine the moral foundations of our society." The Pope closed by assuring the delegation of his prayers, with a final "Shalom!". According to Vatican News, the delegation numbered about forty members.
The thread. Nostra Aetate condemned anti-Semitism in 1965 and, as the Pope himself recalled, since then "all my predecessors" have done so "with clear words". Pope Leo XIV formulated his own condemnation on 29 October 2025 and today repeated it, in the same words, before the American Jewish Committee. On Wednesday 28 October, Nostra Aetate turns 61.
Our flash from today:
vaticanreport.com/flash/91e05a23-5095-4aab-ae32-051df4fd22e4?lang=en
Sources: Bulletin B0826 · Address to the American Jewish Committee (vatican.va) · Vatican News · Nostra Aetate · General Audience, 29 October 2025 · Address, 28 October 2025 · Telegram, 22 September 2025 · Audience with the UJA-Federation of New York, 15 June 2026 · Telegram, 11 September 2026
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Source: Sala Stampa della Santa Sede