On the 43rd anniversary of Nostra Aetate — the Oct. 28, 1965, Vatican II document that defines Catholic relations with non-Christian religions but most particularly Judaism — Sr. Lucy Thorson believes that Catholic-Jewish relations are still critical.

“It’s as important now as it ever was,” said the Sister of Sion who has just been added to the staff of the Scarboro Missions interfaith desk.

If Catholics take their Christian identity and tradition seriously they have to understand the Judaism of Jesus’ time and the Judaism of today, Thorson said.

“So many of the roots of our own Christian faith, our own Christian worship, our own Christian understandings are rooted within the Jewish faith experience,” she said.

Thorson will be offering seminars and talks to parishes, schools and other groups on the Jewish roots of Jesus’ prayer life, Jewish-Catholic relations since Vatican II, the sabbath and Jewish annual festivals and Hebrew Scriptures. She returns to Canada after 32 years of work in Christian-Jewish dialogue in Jerusalem and Rome.

The priority for Thorson’s new venture in Toronto will be adult faith education.

Formation is never over, said Thorson. Adult Catholics need to constantly “form and inform their own Christian life.”

A parish that calls on Thorson to mount a program at their church can expect much more than just a talk from someone who has been a consultant to the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and a lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Thorson doesn’t want to do all the talking.

“It’s not just me coming in,” she said.

It’s important for Catholics to meet Jews and visit synagogues, she said. Her parish-based workshops would include visits to synagogues and conversations with rabbis and ordinary Jews.

“It’s not just information they’re receiving, but that somehow it will foster greater desire for interfaith dialogue, in this case Christian-Jewish dialogue,” she said.

Catholics get how important it is to understand the Judaism of Jesus, said Thorson.

“Our relationship with Jewish sources helps us to better understand Jesus the Jew, better understand the historical context in which Jesus grew up,” she said. “Also to better understand even the methods He used in His teaching.”

But Thorson wishes Catholics were more open to learning about contemporary Judaism, which developed along with Christianity after the destruction of the Temple in 70.

“It is not enough for us as Catholics to be familiar with the Judaism and Jewish traditions and customs as they were celebrated in the time of Jesus, so that we can better understand that historical background and the person of Jesus and so on,” she said. “It’s really important for us that it is the ongoing witness and the faith life of the Jewish community which continues to be a challenge to us as Christians and continues to inform our faith... This, I think, is really important — to be able to remember the long historical relationship we have had as Christians and Jews.”

Parishes and schools can book workshops with Thorson by calling her at (647) 342-5942 or e-mailing her at lthorson@scarboromissions.ca.