Before the conversation, Sr Mary Reaburn presented a summary of Nostra Aetate, which at the time marked a groundbreaking change in the Catholic Church’s relationship with other faith traditions, and in particular with Judaism.
The ensuing conversation between Christian scholar Dr Emmanuel Nathan and Jewish scholar Dr Simon Holloway examined how Nostra Aetate resonates today from both a Christian and a Jewish viewpoint.
Watch the event on the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion Australia YouTube channel.
Sr Mary Reaburn NDS (D Theol) has recently retired from teaching Biblical Studies at Yarra Theological Union, within the University of Divinity. She is a member of the Council on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relationships of the Catholic Bishops of Australia.
Dr Emmanuel Nathan (PhD Biblical Studies) is the Director of the Research Centre for Studies of the Second Vatican Council at the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, at the Australian Catholic University in Sydney. He has been President of the Council of Christians and Jews NSW since October 2023 and chairs the Theology Committee of the Australian Council of Christians and Jews.
Dr Simon Holloway is Manager of Community and Corporate Programs at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and Sessional Lecturer at Melbourne University, where he teaches Early Rabbinic Interpretation of the Bible. He currently serves as Vice-President of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies, and as President of the Fellowship for Biblical Studies.
Sr Rosalie Hanley NDS, after whom the annual conversations are named, was actively involved in Jewish-Christian dialogue in Melbourne and Sydney, and spent many years working with refugees, giving them hope and friendship and enabling them to begin a new life in Australia.