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“Final Solution,” and media coverage of his 14-week trial brought to the public ongoing, horrific, and vivid testimony about the inhumanity that had occurred only a few years earlier. While some Catholics preferred to focus on the extent to which Catholics had rendered aid to Jews, others were engaged in intense soul-searching about the history of Catholic animosity (and Christian animosity in general) toward Jews that had helped give rise to modern anti-Semitism.
     
    Accordingly, Nostra Aetate may be the most notable document to emerge from Vatican II, albeit after John’s death, because it altered Catholic perceptions of the Jewish people forever. Mindful of the “spiritual patrimony” shared by Christians and Jews, it overturned 2,000 years of Church history by stating:
     
    “The Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures{MISSING SYMBOL}Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.”
     
    These and other such statements resulted in a complete, systematic overhaul of Catholic textbooks and approaches to teaching about non-Catholics. Most importantly, Nostra Aetate removed the charge of deicide and caused this and other such historical distortions to be removed from Catholic liturgy and teachings. Under Pope Paul VI, Nostra Aetate was followed in January 1975 by Guidelines for the Implementation of Nostra Aetate No. 4 . These guidelines were a further advance over Nostra Aetate because they referenced the Holocaust and also Judaism’s ongoing religious tradition beyond the destruction of Jerusalem. (Christianity has often treated Judaism as though its viability ended at that point.) The guidelines included other important points as well. What they still failed to acknowledge was the centrality of the land of Israel within Jewish belief.
     
    Pope John had paved the way for Nostra Aetate by charging Cardinal Bea with the task of crafting a statement on Catholic–Jewish relations and seeking Jewish viewpoints about the subject. The door was thus opened for Catholic–Jewish engagement. Pope John fully supported Cardinal Bea’s activities in the face of intense religious opposition from conservative elements within the Church and politically motivated opposition from Arab governments outside it. Nevertheless, the “Declaration on the Jews” drafted by Cardinal Bea was shelved for the duration of Pope John’s lifetime. Pope John died only two months after the first session of Vatican II. The subject would be taken up again only thereafter.

Death

In his will dated September 12, 1961, Pope John spoke confidently of “Sister Death.” Sadly, this sweet, loving man would not know an easy death, but there is no question that he would have dedicated his suffering to heaven and made it an atonement for his flock. In September 1962 Pope John was diagnosed with stomach cancer. There had been intermittent signs of illness during the preceding eight months. Now the diagnosis was kept from the public, but the pope grew increasingly wan while his public appearances diminished. His pain at times was excruciating.
     
    Even while undergoing his final trial, Pope John helped eased the tensions of the Cuban Missile Crisis when he offered to mediate between President Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the end of 1962. Both parties appreciated the gesture.
     
    In January 1963, Pope John was Time’s Man of the Year because of his “New Pentecost” that was reorienting the Church towards the modern world.
     
    Pope John made what would be his last public appearance on May 11, 1963, when Italian president Antonio Segni awarded him with the Balzan Prize for his work on behalf of peace. He attended