Berkley Center

Leo Lefebure contends that one of the most important and transformative hermeneutical decisions made by Vatican Council II addresses how Catholics interpret the Bible in relation to other religious traditions. In reading the scriptures in regard to other religious traditions Christians can choose to employ a hermeneutics of hostility or a hermeneutics of generosity, or some combination of the two. Often this choice may seem self-evident and receive little or no reflection, but it is one of the most important factors shaping both biblical hermeneutics and interreli­gious relations. Lefebure describe the impact of Catholicism's shift from a hermeneutic of hostility to a hermeneutics of generosity, exemplified in Nostra Aetate, regarding Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. In his epilogue, he recounts the life and work of Pope St. John XXIII (Angelo Roncalli) as an important for addressing prejudice, animosity, and distrust. The articles were published in Catholicism Engaging Other Faiths: Vatican II and Its Impact, edited by Vladimir Latinovic, Gerard Mannion, and Jason Welle, OFM.