On the day he was elected the 266th successor to St. Peter, Pope Leo XIV pledged to strengthen the Catholic Church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people.

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In a May 8 letter to Rabbi Noam Marans, director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee, the Pope conveyed his wish for continued positive Catholic-Jewish relations.

“Trusting in the assistance of the Almighty, I pledge to continue and strengthen the Church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration Nostra Aetate,” read the letter, which was signed “Leo P.P. XIV.”

Written by St. Paul VI in 1965, Nostra Aetate addressed the Church’s stance toward all non-Christian religions. In Paragraph 4, the document acknowledges the “great … spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews,” recommending a stance of “mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues.”

Nostra Aetate also condemns hatred and violence against Jews and Judaism, noting that the Jewish people as a whole are not to be held responsible for Christ’s death and decrying all “hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.”

In a post on X, the American Jewish Committee shared the letter from the Pope.

“We are deeply moved that Pope Leo XIV, so early in his papacy, has reaffirmed his commitment to Catholic-Jewish relations,” read the post accompanying the letter.

“In a letter to AJC's Director of Interreligious Affairs, Rabbi Noam Marans, he pledged to continue to strengthen dialogue with the Jewish people in the spirit of Nostra Aetate. As we approach the 60th anniversary of this landmark declaration, we look forward to working together to deepen understanding and cooperation,” the AJC’s post continued.

Pope Leo follows his predecessors Pope Francis, Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in seeking to foster dialogue with Jewish organizations

Upon his death, Pope Francis was remembered as a friend to the Jewish people, despite tensions during his papacy over what some saw as the late Pope’s unjustified criticism of Israel over its conduct in the Israel-Hamas war, which was sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli citizens.

“Francis early on in his tenure strongly affirmed positive Catholic-Jewish relations as an integral part of the post-Vatican II Church,” Marans had said in a statement.

“Pope Francis also repeatedly condemned antisemitism and characterized it as both a sin against God and unchristian.”

This article was originally published on NCR.

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