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Nostra Aetate and the Religious Literacy of Catholic Students
In this article, I take the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council to reassess one of its major products, the declaration Nostra Aetate (āIn Our Timeā). Following a brief introduction to Nostra Aetate, I describe my experience teaching an undergraduate course on Jewish-Christian Relations built around the documentās recommendations for interfaith dialogue. Through open dialogue about religious beliefs, prejudices, and stereotypes, students made great strides in developing religious literacy, defined by Prothero (2007) as āthe ability to understand and use in oneās day-to-day life the basic building blocks of religious traditionsā (p. 14). I explore the concept of religious literacy and Nostra Aetateās potential as a tool for fostering interfaith dialogue. I pair this theoretical discussion with some specific implications for Catholic educational settings, and show the continuing relevance of Nostra Aetate as a theological and philosophical basis for Catholic education today