Vatican II Series: The Church and the Jewish People

Holy Family Parish in Concord, Massachusetts, will be hosting noted Scripture scholar and teacher, Celia Sirois, and Jewish educator and scholar, Naomi Towvim, in a session exploring the Second Vatican Council’s document on the relation of Catholics to other religions.  This is part of year long educational effort at Holy Family exploring the documents and implications of this Council fifty years later. In 1965 Vatican II’s historic document now known as Nostra Aetate changed forever the way Catholics would look at Jews and Judaism.  In just nine short paragraphs (in English) the Church set in motion a revolution in what had been a troubled relationship for 2000 years.

Even as Nostra Aetate has changed our worlds it continues to challenge us. Based on the experience with New Directions in Catholic-Jewish Dialogue the speakers will share the impact and challenges of this watershed document on the lives and understandings of Catholicsand Jews. This workshop will explore how this came about, what it changed and where we are today, almost 50 years later.

Join us in exploring these challenging questions. The presentation will be held on Tuesday, March 12 at 7:30 PM at the Holy Family Parish office building located at 55 Church Street in West Concord immediately behind the New Church and opposite the Harvey Wheeler Center.  A donation of $5 – 10 is deeply appreciated.