The September/October 2025 edition of The Bible Today included a feature by Dr. Helene Paharik, Associate Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Theology at Saint Vincent College and Seminary. It was entitled “Clinging More Closely Than Siblings: Friendship as the Mode of Catholic-Jewish Relations in Our Time.”
This year is the 60th anniversary of the declaration and announcement of Nostra Aetate, one of the official documents of the Second Vatican Council on the relationship of the Roman Catholic Church with non-Christian religions. Meaning “in our time,” the declaration reviewed the history of the relationships between the various faiths and cleared a path for the future between Jews, Muslims and Christians, especially those of the Catholic tradition. With the anniversary in mind, The Bible Today looked at the results of this document and what areas still require additional work.
Dr. Paharik’s lead article, she writes, is “an opportunity to ponder what is required in our time to enhance Catholic-Jewish relations.” Current events, including the war between Hamas and the State of Israel, have strained Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
“This moment in Catholic-Jewish relations requires friendship that does not waver in crisis but deepens in compassion and truth,” she adds.
Drawing on sibling imagery and stories from the Old Testament is part of the way she illustrates the issue. The Bible illustrates these sometimes fractured sibling relationships—Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers. Dr. Paharik notes that “brotherhood alone is not a guarantee of peace.”
The concept of friendship in Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, she posits, could reveal why friendship is more befitting of the ideal mode of Catholic-Jewish relations. Citing the Proverbs of Solomon, “a friend is one who clings more closely than a sibling,” Dr. Paharik outlines five characteristics of friendships that can be found in texts common to both Jews and Christians. These include loyalty, such as between Ruth and Naomi; shared joy and sorrow, what Job and his friends experienced; mutual trust and protection, Jonathan and David and Saul; honest counsel, Nathan’s advice to David regarding Bathsheba; and solidarity in mission and purpose, Elisha and Elijah.
The virtues of friendship can be lived today by friends by putting into practice those virtues, thus becoming treasures to one another. Extending this line of thought to Catholic-Jewish relations, she writes that Christians can reassure their Jewish friends of their respect and affection while also acknowledging the historical and ongoing trauma that Jewish communities experience. Taking part in interfaith dialogue, supporting Jewish communities in addressing prejudice and discrimination falls in line with the Catholic Church’s social teaching on justice and peace and the dignity of all human life, Dr. Paharik writes. A commitment to authentic and patient conversation, listening to different viewpoints, and praying for peace are among the ways to build friendship. She also notes the importance of distinguishing between the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
Her article concludes with models of Catholic and Jewish friendships in our time, citing that between Pope Benedict XVI and Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York City and Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik and Rabbi Aaron Bisno, and at Saint Vincent, the friendship between Father Campion Gavaler, O.S.B. and Rabbi Jason Edelstein, who was a cherished member of the faculty at Saint Vincent College and Seminary for almost 50 years. (Rabbi Skorka visited Saint Vincent for a conference on Catholic-Jewish dialogue in honor of the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate).
Both communities, she notes, “need to recognize the wounds of past and present honestly and work, individually and together, toward a future marked by faithful friendship. May Catholics and Jews cling to one another in these turbulent times with a bond that is even closer than that of siblings.”
