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Document Details : Title: Eretz Israel/Holy Land Subtitle: On a Gap in Nostra Aetate Author(s): RUTISHAUSER, Christian M. Journal: Studies in Interreligious Dialogue Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Date: 2026 Pages: 45-61 DOI: 10.2143/SID.36.1.3295556 Abstract : This essay explains why the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on Judaism avoids mentioning the biblical land: on the one hand, Judaism is classified as a universal religion, and on the other hand, it is necessary to leave the political conflict surrounding the State of Israel out of the equation to reach a declaration at all. Post-Council dialogues on the topics of land, nation, and people initially led to an impasse, resulting in the Vatican separating religious dialogue from political negotiations. Zionism and the State of Israel are viewed as phenomena of secular history and are not reflected upon theologically. Fifty years after Nostra aetate, however, a broad discussion has begun on developing a Catholic theology of the land. The building blocks for such a theology, which must take into account the theological tradition of the Holy Land, biblical exegesis, and cultural studies reflections, while also considering Jewish conceptions of the land, are compiled in the second part of this essay. |
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