Nostra Aetate - In Our Time

17 t is my pleasure to add my words of wel- come to all of you today on the occasion of such an important commemorative event. Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate is an opportunity to take stock of how far we have progressed interreligiously over the last five decades, changing the course of history in a significant way, from competition over truth claims to sharing a dialogical path through which we discover together our many similarities and learn to respect, and even at times value, our differences. Our three panels today bring together eminent prac- titioners of one form or another of intra-religious and interreligious dialogue. They will share their personal perspectives so as to shed light on this key conciliar document as well as the impact that it has had over the past five decades on dramatically improving both intra-Christian, or ecumenical, and interreligious dia- logue, especially in terms of relations between Roman Catholics and Jews, since that particular bilateral dia- logue was the initial framework out of which grew the broader and final version of Nostra Aetate . This document represents what we would call today a paradigm shift for the Roman Catholic Church, especially in the radical change of theological perspective regarding the Jewish people. It was also a catalyst that greatly improved intra-Christian and Christian-Muslim relations, as well as relations with people of other reli- gions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. Our first panel today gives space to ecumenical reac- tions to Nostra Aetate from three perspectives within the Christian family. His Eminence Metropolitan Emma- nuel will give an Orthodox perspective on the impact of the document ecumenically within the Christian family, as well as in terms of interreligious relations. Our second panellist is Prof. Dr. Susanne Heine, based here at the University of Vienna, who will share her Protestant point of view. Rev. Mark Poulson will then present an Anglican perspective. This first panel will end with a period of questions and answers. Afterwards, the second panel will look at the impact of Nostra Aetate within the Abrahamic family, primar- ily from Jewish and Muslim perspectives. Finally, the third panel will broaden and look at the ways in which this document also had a major impact on bilateral rela- tions with Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. ECUMENICAL PERSPECT I VES OF NOSTRA AETATE I Prof. Brodeur discusses interreligious dialogue at a Sikh Gurdwara in Malaysia