Rev. Kevin Spicer, CSC (Stonehill College), will give the seventh annual Liss Lecture in Judaica on October 29th, with the title "Nostra Aetate at 60 Years: Investigating Its Historical Necessity."
As Nostra Aetate turns sixty, this lecture will examine a historical example from the late Weimar Republic to highlight the significance and necessity of this landmark declaration. In the summer of 1929, Hitler supporters’ agitation against the Catholic Church grew stronger outside Bavaria, especially in the Mainz diocese. Initially, resistance to this agitation came not from the German bishops but from parish priests, who, through their direct experience in parish life, had to contend with National Socialists among their parishioners. This resistance eventually led Father Dr. Philipp Jakob Mayer, vicar general of the Mainz diocese, to launch a campaign not only urging the Church to oppose Catholic membership in the Nazi Party but also condemning its racial teachings, partly because of its antisemitism. Ultimately, this effort was blocked by Cardinals Adolf Bertram and Michael von Faulhaber, who shifted the focus away from criticizing National Socialism’s antisemitism and hatred of Jews. If the German Catholic hierarchy had supported Mayer’s stance against the Nazis, history might have taken a different turn regarding the Church’s response to National Socialism. This lecture will recount the story of this missed opportunity, revealing the need for the Church to reconsider its understanding of Judaism.