It would be unfathomable for my grandparents, born in Jerusalem and Bialystok, to imagine that their grandson — or any Jew, for that matter — would be invited as a representative of the Jewish people to Pope Leo XIV’s Inaugural Mass. 

They would be stunned that Jewish leaders, including me in my capacity as American Jewish Committee director of interreligious affairs, were seated in a front-row place of honor near to the altar and the new pope, high above a packed St. Peter’s Square on the ascent to the holiest of basilicas. They would be amazed that among the attending leaders was Israeli President Isaac Herzog, representing the Jewish state in its 32nd year of diplomatic relations with the Vatican. 

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Rabbi Noam E. Marans, director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, presents Pope Leo XIV with with a cap from the pope’s beloved Chicago White Sox and a copy of "Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition," an antisemitism guide created in collaboration between the American Jewish Committee and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, during an audience in Vatican City on May 18, 2025,

Above all, they would be buoyed that Jewish leaders were there not as supplicants but as equals, in a new era of Christian-Jewish relations.

This came a week after Pope Leo sent a remarkable letter to me and several other Jewish leaders on his first day as pontiff. He wrote: “Trusting in the assistance of the Almighty, I pledge to continue and strengthen the Church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Nostra Aetate.”

When I met Pope Leo on Monday at an audience welcoming the multiple faith delegations who attended the Inauguration Mass, I thanked him for his letter, gave him a copy of the AJC-U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition and played on our shared Americanism with a cap from his beloved Chicago White Sox, which I think he appreciated above all.

Let us celebrate this moment that can too easily be taken for granted in this 60th year of the Second Vatican Council’s Nostra Aetate, the Catholic teaching and call to action that jump-started a new and dramatically better Christian understanding of Jews and Judaism.

An historic Catholic-Jewish relations papal letter is a great beginning, though it is not an end unto itself. Pope Leo’s “spirit of Nostra Aetate” cannot survive without our joint efforts to assure its future.

When an increasing percentage of Catholics and their religious leaders come from places like Africa, Asia and Latin America, where possibilities for Jewish relationships are harder to establish, we need a better strategy for demystifying Jews and Judaism and preventing a reversion to Catholic anti-Judaism. 

When newer priests and seminarians in formation are trending more conservative and suspicious of interreligious relations, we need a serious look at how that might affect Christian-Jewish relations.

We need to reflect on ourselves as well: When Jewish extremists demonize the other and desecrate the Divine in their fellow human beings, all equally created in the image of God, we must speak up and say that they do not represent the Jewish people and its values. The Jewish community should not take Christian-Jewish relations for granted, but rather invest in this essential element of assuring the Jewish future with new, dedicated and thoughtful resources — human, programmatic and financial. Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition, a Catholic-Jewish initiative to counter antisemitism, is a major step in the right direction.         

Optimism is good, but vigilant optimism is better. Pope Francis’ papacy began with promise, given his exemplary relationship with the Argentinian Jewish community and deep friendship with Abraham Skorka, a leading Argentinian rabbi. But it ended with some or great (depending on whom you ask) Jewish disappointment — mostly because of his harsh criticism of Israel’s war of self-defense against an inhumane and cynical enemy post-Oct. 7, 2023, but also due to his propensity to treat the careful language of post-Nostra Aetate Catholicism lightly.

I believe history will be kind to Francis in evaluating his full Catholic-Jewish relations track record, especially his memorable and incessant drumbeat against antisemitism as an unchristian sin against God. He used his incomparable bully pulpit to great effect for that cause.

Yet there are still lessons to be learned here. Criticism of any Israeli government, policies or actions is legitimate, as it is of any country, but characterizing Israel’s actions following the Oct. 7 attacks as genocidal, terroristic or cruel are wrong. More importantly, they will not be heard, let alone listened to. 

Already early on, there is reason to believe the Leo papacy will embrace more diplomatic language. Indeed, when addressing the Jewish world during the audience I attended, he said, “Even in these difficult times, marked by conflicts and misunderstandings, it is necessary to continue the momentum of this precious dialogue of ours.”

That is a good thing for Catholic-Jewish relations. It should give us hope.

Rabbi Noam E. Marans is the director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee.