Jews and Catholics in Lithuania

Hello, friends!

This summer, I was honored to be invited to attend an Emerging Leaders conference in Vilnius, Lithuania that took place in July. The conference ran from Monday-Wednesday, and brought together Jewish and Catholic people under 35 to discuss interfaith, Catholic-Jewish relations, some important documents that have come out on these topics in the past few years, and more. Lithuania was once home to a significant Jewish population, much of which was devastatingly destroyed during the Holocaust.

Jewish and Catholic Participants in front of the Presidential Palace in Vilnius, with a #LT100 in front of it as Lithuania is currently celebrating the 100th anniversary of their independence.

While I was raised Jewish, I have been aware of and involved in Catholicism my whole life, via my mother (click here), many close Catholic friends, and my year spent studying at the Angelicum and Gregorian universities in Rome. However, in terms of dialogue opportunities with Catholic folks, I have not done too much formal work since I left Rome in 2014 (okay, I did hang out with Catholic folks in Jerusalem...and a lovely priest organized this panel I was on in Hartford this spring, but still...). All that aside, I was very happy to have some time to delve back into this dialogue, which in my experience has always been very focused on theology, which is a fascinating approach for dialogue in my mind since it focuses on unknowable (in my opinion) ideas as opposed to lived experience (how do we celebrate holidays? as an example). I think the approach might not resonate with everybody. However, I am definitely interested in it and the nuanced conversations that flow when discussing deep, metaphysical topics, and so I was very happy to participate in this conference and revisit things like Nostra Aetate (Please read it. All of you. It's short. It changed the path of the Catholic Church and how it interacts with Jews and those of other faiths.). We also looked at some newer documents from both the Church and from Jewish groups about relationships between these two groups.

Inside the Synagogue in Vilnius

A lot of interfaith dialogue is about building relationships. So beyond our formal sessions (which were largely EXCELLENT), this incredibly well-educated group of young Jews and Catholics had a great time fostering connections over meals, on a walking tour of Vilnius during which we learned about the tough history of Lithuania's Jews, and over drinks and World Cup matches. We laughed and a few of us went swimming in a random river one morning (great idea, guys) and teased each other and had a great time.

Sign on the Vilnius Synagogue

The conference was based at a Catholic retreat center just outside of Vilnius, so we were mostly all staying at the same place. We had sessions there as well as at the Jewish community center in Vilnius (which--how amazing that there is a Jewish community center in Vilnius, especially after the tragedy of the Shoah). We ate Chabad meals in the synagogue (like...in the synagogue...) so that those who needed would have hot kosher food. We visited with an archbishop. All in all, we (a very international cohort) fit an amazing amount into a short period of time. Also, while I love dialoguing with hugely diverse groups, there is also value in having a hugely specific dialogue between fewer groups as it allows time for diving deeper into revelant topics, and also deal with more specific issues between the groups.

Our Group with the Archbishop Metropolitan of Vilnius Gintaras Grusas. (You may notice that I am directly in front of the Archbishop...yes, I did run up when they said we were taking a photo so that I could be next to him and chat for a minute.)

The short story as I would tell it of the Catholic Church and Judaism (feel free to push back on this) would be:
1. There were centuries of distrust of Jews and even antisemitism from many in the Church establishment (including the horror of the Inquisition)
2. With obvious outliers of Catholics who were hugely loving/proactive on relations with Jewish folks
3. But the seminal moment came during Vatican II when Nostra Aetate was adopted and the formal position of the Church became one of positive feelings toward the Jews
4. And the past 50 years since that meeting has led to a top-down flourishing of Catholic-Jewish relations.

There are always going to be problems between people, of course, but many of my Catholic friends might not even realize the huge import of Vatican II and Nostra Aetate, and just how much the Church changed in that time period--that's how well it filtered down: they love me regardless/because/all of the above my Judaism, as if it were the most natural thing in the world (even though we know from history that it is not). And so any Catholic-Jewish meeting has some very specific items to deal with, such as: the Church's history with antisemitism; Jewish distrust of Christians in general; certain Church documents even beyond Nostra Aetate that have been released; and some that Jewish groups have issued on the topic as well. We might not have time for things this specific to Jews and Catholics in a more mixed interfaith group, and they could be handled in a deeper way when we have more time to focus on it together.

Now, over the years, I have heard people question the value of such interfaith dialogues. "What's the point?" or "It seems like it only affects the people in the room; why should they continue happening when they have such limited impact?" To which I would respond that with many efforts at changing our society and the world, the impact is not immediately--or ever--obvious. We cannot all be the Catholic Church that can accept a document and immediately it is disseminated and considered official; not everything is quantifiable. So I think the unseen impact of efforts like these can be great, even if not easily seen--how people spread the ideas then to their communities, how their language changes after having met people of other faiths, things like this. It's why I write on this blog about my interfaith activities--to try to encourage similar discussions beyond the four walls that held the dialogue.

Beer, World Cup, and good conversations

The second way I would respond would be to say that I am a fan of meetings like these coming with an agreement that participants will do something afterward--which can vary based on the meeting. Perhaps it is everyone agreeing to run a dialogue in one's home community upon returning there (a hard yet meaningful requirement--it's hard to get people together!). Maybe it would be literally just saying you agree to get coffee with someone of a different faith upon returning home. (Easier.) One example that comes to mind is that I was fortunate enough back in 2015 to participate in an interfaith conference in Morocco, and we all theoretically signed on to accomplish two interfaith projects a year after that--and it's been a great, meaningful network with which to stay in contact in the intervening years as some of us work on the relevant projects.

Street sign in Vilnius--"Rehov Yehudit," or "Jew Street." On our walking tour, we saw a lot of evidence of the once-thriving (and now slowly rebuilding after the Holocaust) Jewish community in Vilnius.

So beyond the intangible but I would say significant impact that can come from these meetings (changing someone's mind, especially someone in a position of power in their community, can have an immense impact on their thoughts, words, and actions, and so scale out to others with whom they interact), I do think having a concrete requirement afterward as part of the agreement for participating is important. Now, there were no formal understandings as part of the follow-up to our time in Lithuania, but I do think the types of conversations we were having were the right ones to affect that intangible measurement--many people were engaging on serious topics, learning from one another, and hopefully growing in respect and love. If that's not meaningful and worthwhile, I don't know what is, and I know they will bring those things back to their communities.

All in all, I am thankful to everyone who made it possible for me to go (for connecting me to the group, to figuring out the logistics, to funding the trip, etc.). Here's to many more meaning-making meetings like this one!

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson