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The Vatican Says Jews Don't Need Jesus to Be Saved

The church also told its followers to cool it on the whole converting Jews to Christianity thing.
Pope Francis photo via Wiki Commons

Read: What It's Like Being Young and Catholic in 2015

In 1966, the Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council released its "Declaration of the Jews," a document that repudiated "the ancient charge of collective Jewish guilt in the death of Jesus." The report was written, in part, "to open the door to vastly improved relationships between Catholics and Jews." In the years since its publication, the relationship between the two faiths has continued to grow a bit more buddy-buddy.

On Thursday, perhaps to commemorate the looming 50th anniversary of that 1966 report, the Vatican released a new document saying that Jews don't need Jesus to be saved—something that's long been a sore spot between the religions.

"Although Jews cannot believe in Jesus Christ as the universal redeemer, they have a part in salvation, because the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable," the church wrote in a press release, according to Israel National News.

The report continues on to add that Catholics should not seek to convert Jews to Christianity.

The idea that the only road to eternal salvation is through a belief in Christ and his resurrection has long been a fundamental tenet of Christianity. The new report affirms that people can seek salvation through Christ's death and resurrection, but also accepts that Jews don't need him to validate their ticket into Heaven.