Catholic News Service, America magazine, Vatican Radio, and Zenit covered the Nostra Aetate conference held at CUA. Michael Root, professor of theology, was quoted in one of the stories. See below.

Cardinal Dolan: Catholics, Jews find common concerns in dialogue

From: CNS (via Catholic Chronicle) Date: May 24, 2015 Author: Mark Pattison

Through dialogue, Catholics and Jews and find common cause in the concerns that vex leaders of both religions, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York said May 20 during a forum on the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council document "Nostra Aetate."

Thanks to "Nostra Aetate," "Jewish-Catholic friendship has never been stronger," Cardinal Dolan said in his address, "The Catholic Church's National Dialogue With Jews Since 'Nostra Aetate.'" "The brave fathers of the (Second Vatican) Council, aided by Jewish 'periti' (experts), could never have envisioned such success five decades ago."

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Vatican II's approach to Jews, other Christians differs, professor says

From: CNS (via Boston Pilot) Date: May 23, 2015 Author: Mark Pattison

The Second Vatican may have followed much the same structure when writing its documents on how the Catholic Church should relate to other religions and to other Christian denominations, but the approaches differ, according to a professor of systematic theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

But to know the differences, Michael Root said, one has to take into account the similarities.

"Vatican II introduced obvious changes in Catholic thought and practice, and the theological insight into those changes," said Michael Root in a May 21 address at a Catholic University-hosted conference, "'Nostra Aetate: Celebrating Fifty Years of the Catholic Church's Dialogue With Jews and Muslims."

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Cardinal, rabbi discuss progress, trials in Jewish-Catholic relations

From: CNS (via Catholic Philly) Date: May 22, 2015 Author: Carol Zimmermann

A key turning point in the relationships between Catholics and Jews occurred 50 years ago with the Second Vatican Council document on interreligious relations, a cardinal and rabbi told a group of religious leaders May 20.

The document, "Nostra Aetate," promulgated Oct. 28, 1965, by Blessed Paul VI, was described by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, as "the compass of reconciliation between Jews and Christians today and into future."

Rabbi Irving Greenberg, author and scholar, praised the document for its courageousness, saying its authors had to "override church fathers."

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U.S. Islamic leader praises Vatican II tome on religious dialogue

From: CNS (via Catholic Philly) Date: May 21, 2015 Author: Carol Zimmermann

Catholic Church leaders and scholars are not the only ones praising the 50-year-old church document "Nostra Aetate" ("In Our Time"), the Second Vatican Council's declaration on relations with non-Christian religions.

During the first part of a May 19-21 symposium on the document at The Catholic University of America, it also got high marks from a U.S. Muslim leader who said "Nostra Aetate" helps different faiths "recognize common roots and build a new sense of direction."

Sayyid Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America's Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances, said the church document links Catholics, Muslims and Jews by urging them to "promote the values" in their sacred texts.

Today, he said the goal should be "to see 'Nostra Aetate' fully reinforced at every level."

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Interfaith Friendship

From: America Date: May 21, 2015 Author: Drew Christiansen

Ecumenical officers, bishops, scholars, students and interested parties from the Jewish, Muslim and Catholic communities have been meeting at the Catholic University of America to honor the fiftieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate, Vatican II's epochal document on interreligious dialogue. From time to time, a speaker has risen above reviewing the history of the respective dialogues or spelling out the current agenda between the faiths, to ask about dialogue itself.

What have we learned about dialogue as a common undertaking? Is there an appropriate epistemology for dialogue? How does it work, especially when it works well? These are the questions that hover around interfaith dialogue but are almost never addressed.

There were numerous asides in talks and testimonies in private sessions, however, that what carries dialogue forward and what overcomes obstacles that threaten to scuttle interfaith relationships is friendship. Indeed, intellectual and spiritual affection among those participants who have been engaged in dialogue with one another for years seemed obvious to me. (I have been a regular participant of Jewish dialogue for 24 years and had an irregular role in Muslim dialogues over the same period.)

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Cardinal: Christians, Muslims 'still don't know each other well enough'

From: CNS (via Catholic Philly) Date: May 20, 2015 Author: Mark Pattison

"Despite 50 years of 'Nostra Aetate,'" the Second Vatican Council's document on interreligious relations, "we still don't know each other well enough," said French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Speaking May 19 about Catholic-Muslim relations, Cardinal Tauran added, "Most of the problems we face are problems of ignorance."

Cardinal Tauran made his remarks in a keynote address at the conference "'Nostra Aetate': Celebrating Fifty Years of the Catholic Church's Dialogue With Jews and Muslims," held at The Catholic University of America, Washington, and co-sponsored by the university's School of Theology and Religious Studies and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

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Cardinal Koch: Trialogue among Catholics, Jews, Muslims?

From: Vatican Radio Date: May 22, 2015

'Nostra Aetate - Celebrating 50 years of the Catholic Church's Dialogue with Jews and Muslims' concluded yesterday at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. The President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity - and also responsible for the Church's dialogue with the Jewish people - Cardinal Kurt Koch, was there. He says the Nostra Aetate declaration was a landmark in relations between the Catholic Church and other faiths.

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Cardinal Koch Recalls Impact of Nostra Aetate

From: Zenit Date: May 22, 2015

Cardinal Kurt Koch says the Nostra Aetate declaration was a landmark in relations between the Catholic Church and other faiths.

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Rabbi: Vatican II's interreligious document was 'life-saving'

From: Catholic News Agency/EWTN News Date: May 22, 2015 Author: Matt Hadro

A 50 year-old declaration of the Second Vatican Council established a new era in Christian-Jewish relations and enabled members of both religions to unite against present-day secularism, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York reflected on Wednesday.

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