André Chouraqui and Nostra Aetate
André Chouraqui (1917–2007) was one of the Jewish figures involved in the rapprochement between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people that led to Nostra Aetate, the 1965 declaration of the Second Vatican Council. From 1960 he worked closely with Jules Isaac as Isaac prepared the document he presented to Pope John XXIII, which became a starting point for the declaration.
Key facts
- 1949: first contacts with the Catholic hierarchy in Rome.
- 1956: private audience with Pope Pius XII on the Church's relations with the Jewish world and Israel.
- From 1960: closely involved with Jules Isaac's preparation of his Vatican mission.
- 1963: as Ben-Gurion's adviser, submits a verbal note to the Vatican on the Holy See's relations with the Jewish world and the State of Israel.
- 1966: publishes The Jews, a dialogue with Father (later Cardinal) Jean Daniélou.
- 1977, 1979, 1985, 2000: meetings with Popes Paul VI and John Paul II.
Chouraqui's contacts with the Catholic Church began in 1949, in Rome. In 1956 he was received in private audience by Pope Pius XII, after in-depth conversations at the Secretariat of State; the Church's relations with the Jewish world and with Israel were discussed at length.
From 1960 he was closely involved with the historian Jules Isaac as Isaac prepared his mission to the Vatican. The document Isaac presented to Pope John XXIII served as a starting point for Nostra Aetate, the declaration of the Second Vatican Council on the Church's relation to non-Christian religions. In 1963, as adviser to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Chouraqui submitted a verbal note to the Vatican on the Holy See's relations with the Jewish world and the State of Israel.
In the framework of the declaration he met Father Jean Daniélou, with whom he published The Jews in 1966. He later presented the 26 volumes of his Bible translation to Pope Paul VI (1977), met Pope John Paul II in 1979 and in 1985 — when he gave him his one-volume Bible together with a note on relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel — and took part in the Jewish-Christian-Muslim meeting with John Paul II at Notre-Dame of Jerusalem in March 2000.
His role has been studied by Dr. Murray Watson, in a lecture marking 60 years of Nostra Aetate organized by The Open University of Israel, and in an article published in 2026 in Sens, the journal of the Amitié Judéo-Chrétienne de France.
Articles and documents
Books
- The Destiny of Israel (Parole et Silence, 2007)
Videos
Based on the biography, chronology and list of awards published on this site.