ISABEL SMYTH reflects on a Council document that was inspired by a short meeting between the pope and a Jewish historian.

There are some events in life that are of such significance that we can’t help asking ‘what if that had not happened?’ Such an event was a 20-minute meeting between a Jewish historian, Jules Isaac, and Pope John XXIII in June 1959. The meeting changed forever the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish community.

That changing relationship, a story of hope and transformation, was recounted last month at the annual seminar of the Scottish Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue. Entitled ‘A tale of two sisters: Church and Synagogue,’ the event was led by Sister Maureen Cusick, a Sister of Our Lady of Sion, a religious congregation committed to witnessing to God’s continued and faithful love for the Jewish people through education and dialogue.

Isabel Smyth is a Sister of Notre Dame and Secretary to the Scottish Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue. You can find her blog at interfaithjourneys.net