Like a smart lawyer, I rarely enter the professional arena without knowing everything I can about the subject at hand. Except today. I’m just being honest: When it comes to understanding the conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate – translated from Latin, it means “in our time” – it’s a little beyond me. JIM BARRENS podcast excerpt: "The Roman Catholic Church is involved in about 2,000 years of a very negative relationship with the Jewish people. After World War II and in the aftermath of the Holocaust and the founding of the state of Israel, there was a great yearning by the world community to do something about the terrible things that had happened. In the late 1950s and early '60s, Pope John XXIII called the Church to a council -- the Second Vatican Council. His whole idea was to update the Church... Pope John together prominent Catholics and quite a few Jews as well to say, 'We want to deal with the problem of our relationship with the Jewish people." I know that October 28, 2015 is the 50th anniversary of the official move by Pope John XXIII at Vatican II to improve relations between Jewish and Catholic communities around the world. I know that its good intentions have largely succeeded. JIM BARRENS podcast excerpt: "I was born and raised Roman Catholic. I was an altar boy. My parents were very devout. I learned the Latin when we had to. When I listened to the Gospel stories, I was forever interested in the historical aspects. I was very curious, which led me to have an interest in Judaism at a very early age. I was always looking at where Judaism and Christianity met." And I know that Pope Francis feels strongly about celebrating the importance of the Declaration Nostra Aetate. To fill in the large gaps in my knowledge, I have called on my friend Jim Barrens to step up and explain it all. Barrens is the author of In Our Time (Nostra Aetate), which details the history and development of Declaration Nostra Aetate. (In the interests of full disclosure, I will tell you that In Our Time [Nostra Aetate] by Jim Barrens was published by Mr. Media® Books, a subsidiary of Mr. Media® Interviews.) Key interview moments: • 4:05 How Jim Barrens became interested in Declaration Nostra Aetate; • 11:05 Pope John XXIII sets forth to repair 2,000 years of a sour relationship between Catholics and Jews in Vatican II; • 17:00 The unique views and actions of Pope Francis. Jim Barrens • •