[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22549]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  A RESOLUTION THAT COMMEMORATES THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF NOSTRA AETATE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 6, 2005

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the Jewish community in the 
United States and around the world celebrated Rosh Hashanah and the 
start of the Jewish New Year. With the new year comes a new sense of 
hope and optimism that anti-Semitism and religious hatred will finally 
be overcome. October also is the start of the Ramadan and month of 
fasting for Muslims around the globe.
  These events remind us that we need to be accepting and tolerant of 
all people and their religions. We need also to celebrate our religious 
diversity. It is essential that we encourage cooperation and dialogue 
between members of all religions. Interreligious respect is vitally 
important in the fight against religious bigotry.
  Today, I introduced a resolution that commemorates the 40th 
anniversary of Nostra Aetate, a hallmark declaration by the Catholic 
Church on religious tolerance and interfaith relations. My resolution 
also calls for the United States to continue to condemn and combat 
anti-Semitism and all forms of religious hatred and racial bigotry 
worldwide.
  On October 28, 1965, after an overwhelming vote of 2221 to 88 by the 
bishops of the Catholic Church, Pope Paul VI issued Nostra Aetate, 
officially known as the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church 
to Non-Christian Religions. Nostra Aetate, for the first time in 2,000 
years, was an authoritative declaration on Catholic-Jewish relations 
and also on Catholic-interfaith relations.
  Nostra Aetate, ``In Our Time'' in English, opened the doors for 
interfaith dialogue and respect between Catholics and Non-Christian 
religions. It originally began as a declaration on solely Catholic-
Jewish relations but was expanded to include Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, 
and other traditional religions. The declaration that resulted 
revolutionized attitudes within the Christian world towards Jews and 
members of the world's other religions. It was Pope John XXIII who 
initiated the Second Vatican Council, the event which gave birth to the 
``Nostra Aetate'' declaration, a document that highlighted the Jewish 
roots of Christianity, in an attempt to repair centuries of hostilities 
between the two religions.
  The 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate is a time for all people to 
become reacquainted with its historic importance and to work for even 
greater religious tolerance and dialogue. In Nostra Aetate the Catholic 
Church for the first time condemned anti-Semitism and other forms of 
religious bigotry. The declaration says that ``no foundation therefore 
remains for any theory or practice that leads to discrimination between 
man and man or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the 
rights flowing from it are concerned.'' It also deplored ``all hatreds, 
persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism directed against Jews at any 
time or from any source.''
  Over the past 40 years, there have been visible triumphs of the 
spirit and ideals of Nostra Aetate. Pope John Paul II took the message 
of Nostra Aetate to heart when he visited a synagogue in Rome in 1986, 
the first such visit by a Catholic Pope, and again when he visited 
Israel in 2000. But we need to ensure we carry this message of 
religious tolerance in our own hearts and in our own daily lives. We 
cannot sit idly by while anti-Semitic comments are made or other forms 
of religious bigotry and hate are spewed forth. We must continue to 
oppose these forms of hatred and support continued interreligious 
dialogue.
  That is why I have introduced this resolution today. My resolution:
  Commemorates the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate;
  Celebrates the historic relationship between Jews, Catholics and 
other religions worldwide that has resulted;
  Expresses the need for continued interreligious dialogue and 
cooperation between all people of all faiths; and
  Condemns anti-Semitism and encourages the United States to be a 
leader in ending religious intolerance and discrimination worldwide.
  Forty years after Nostra Aetate's adoption we have a wonderful 
opportunity to celebrate the progress that has occurred in religious 
cooperation and tolerance and remind ourselves of the work that remains 
to be done. We can, and we must, continue to strive to be a more 
tolerant people. Our common humanity deserves and demands nothing less.

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