60 years of Nostra Aetate: Vatican II declaration fosters interfaith dialogue, human fraternity. Popes from Paul VI to Leo XIV echo brotherhood under God.
Newsroom (28/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) Sixty years ago today, on October 28, 1965, Pope Paul VI promulgated Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. Hailed as a foundational text for interfaith dialogue, the document has inspired successive popes to emphasize the fraternity of the human family, rooted in shared origins under a merciful God.
The declaration emerged from a world still scarred by World War II and the Holocaust. Its origins trace to June 13, 1960, when Pope John XXIII met Jewish historian Jules Isaac, who presented a memorandum urging a renewed vision of Church-Jewish relations. Nostra Aetate frames humanity’s interdependence, stating in its opening: “The various peoples constitute indeed one community. They have one origin, for God made the whole human race to dwell on the entire face of the earth.”
Paul VI, in a general audience on December 18, 1968, underscored God’s centrality: “We do not say that before Jesus Christ God was unknown: the Old Testament is already a revelation… Even in non-Christian religions, one can discern a religious sensitivity and knowledge of the Divinity, which the Council has admonished us to respect and venerate.”
Mutual Respect Between Christians and Jews
The document’s enduring appeal lies in its universal address “to all peoples and about all peoples from a religious perspective.” On December 6, 1990, marking its 25th anniversary, Pope John Paul II met delegates from the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations and the Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism. He called Nostra Aetate a “brief but significant” watershed in Church-Jewish ties.
“The Church of Christ recognizes that the beginnings of her faith and her election are already found” in Judaism, the text affirms. It anchors the Church’s universal mission in God’s unique choice of Israel—”His” people according to the flesh (cf. Lumen Gentium 9; Nehemiah 13:1; Numbers 20:4; Deuteronomy 23:1 ff.). The Jewish people, custodians of a millennia-old tradition, form an essential part of the “mystery” of revelation and salvation.
The Church’s Esteem for Muslims
Nostra Aetate continues to guide Catholic engagement with other faiths. It expresses esteem for Muslims who “adore the one God, living and subsisting, merciful and all-powerful, Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men.” Forty years later, on October 30, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, during his Angelus address, affirmed its relevance: “It concerns the attitude of the ecclesial community toward non-Christian religions… The Council rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions and announces Christ, ‘the way, the truth, and the life,’ in whom men find the fullness of religious life.”
The declaration highlights Christianity’s special bond with Jews, esteem for Muslims and followers of other faiths, and a spirit of universal fraternity that rejects discrimination or persecution.
Contributions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Other Religions
The text acknowledges diverse traditions: In Hinduism, “men contemplate the divine mystery and express it through an inexhaustible abundance of myths and penetrating philosophical inquiry.” Buddhism recognizes “the radical insufficiency of this changeable world” and teaches a path to perfect liberation. Other religions strive to address human restlessness through doctrines, precepts, and sacred rites.
Universal Fraternity
“We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God.” So begins Nostra Aetate‘s final section. On its 50th anniversary, October 28, 2015, Pope Francis, in a general audience, declared: “We are brothers,” addressing Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Confucians, Tenrikyo adherents, and representatives of African traditional religions.
He urged dialogue as a path forward, culminating in the February 4, 2019, signing with Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together in Abu Dhabi. “The dialogue we need must be open and respectful… Mutual respect is both the condition and the fruit of interreligious dialogue,” Francis said, calling believers to collaborate on peace, hunger, poverty, environmental crises, violence—especially religiously motivated—corruption, moral decay, and family, economic, and financial breakdowns.
Believers lack ready solutions but possess prayer: “We must pray.”
Praying Together
Today, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Paul VI Hall, a special event titled “Walking Together in Hope” marks the 60th anniversary. Pope Leo XIV will deliver a keynote address, followed by silent prayer for peace.
Nostra Aetate has proven a milestone, inspiring initiatives like the 1986 Assisi interfaith gathering convened by John Paul II. On October 27 of that year, in St. Francis’s city, he called it “a very eloquent sign for the cause of peace.” In its wake, interreligious dialogue has increasingly embraced shared prayer, fostering hope amid global challenges.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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