“The point being made by ‘Nostra Aetate’ is that, while specific leaders [Caiaphas, other priests, the Sanhedrin] played a role, according to the Gospel texts it is these individuals and these individualsonly – not the entirety of the people either at the time or later – who should be blamed. This serves as a direct repudiation of the classical notion that all the Jews were, and are, responsible for the death of Jesus.” Aquila used the phrase “the Jewish people,” which contradicts “Nostra Aetate.” Had he said “the Jewish leaders, it would not have been [as] problematic.”
Rabbi Sandmel, who today is director of Interfaith Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, feels that “…at least in Western countries, Aquila’s comments are [today] the exception and not the rule.”
What I can say to you, with the Apostle Paul, is that God’s fidelity to the close covenant with Israel never failed and that, through the terrible trials of these centuries, the Jews have kept their faith in God. And for this, we shall never be sufficiently grateful to them as Church, but also as humanity.
He went on to cite a quote from the present Pope Francis: “…What we should say to our Jewish brothers about the promise made to them by God: Has it all come to nothing? Believe me, this is a question that challenges us radically as Christians,