Fifty-five years ago, the Catholic church came out with a document that arguably did more not only to improve Jews’ relationships with Catholics, but also to make Jews physically safer and more at home in the world.
Nostra Aetate, which the Second Vatican Council passed by a 2,221-to-88 vote 55 years and one week ago, on October 28, 1965, redefined the church’s understanding of Jews by acknowledging, among other things, that all Jews are not responsible for the death of the Christian messiah.