Nostra Aetate

Today I got a Google Alert that referred me to a report written by Rabbi Matthew J. Eisenberg (president of Greater Cleveland Board of Rabbis) about an interfaith meeting with Catholic Reverend Richard Gerard Lennon at the St. John Cathedral.

 

"On the ceiling, just above the altar, is a beautifully carved menorah, and on the other side, is a Magen David (Star of David) carving with the word “adoration” below it".

 

The meeting proved that ties between Jews and Catholics are getting better and better since

"The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) made sweeping theological changes culminating in the Nostra Aetate (In Our Day) document. It condemned all forms of anti-Semitism and called upon the Catholic Church to eliminate negative references to Judaism in its liturgies and catechetical texts".

It seems that the Star of David was drawn on the ceiling of the St. John Cathedral is part of the above mentioned new policy and that in this case the symbol represents Judaism (and not Israel, as in most anti-Semite cartoons).