Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan to Return to JTS for Annual John Paul II Center Lecture

The Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue of The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York City and the John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue at the Angelicum in Rome, with thanks to the Russell Berrie Foundation, are pleased to announce the Annual John Paul II Center Lecture for Interreligious Understanding, Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan: 50 Years of Nostra Aetate. New York Times National Religion Correspondent Laurie Goodstein will moderate a question and answer session following the lecture. The event will take place on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. at JTS (3080 Broadway at 122nd Street, New York City). Admission is free, but reservations are required. Please bring photo ID. 

His Eminence Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan is returning to JTS to celebrate Jewish-Catholic relations on the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate. He will speak about the current state of Jewish-Catholic dialogue in New York and in the United States at large and how to continue to improve this vital relationship over the next 50 years. Cardinal Dolan has been archbishop of New York for six years and served as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for three years. He is currently a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America. He is also the former chairman of Catholic Relief Services.

“We are delighted to have His Eminence Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan return to JTS,” said Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky, director of the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue and Appleman Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies at JTS. “In Hebrew we would call him a ben bayit, a regular member of our household. We look forward to celebrating 50 years of the Second Vatican Council’s Nostra Aetatedocument together in recognition of the excellent relations between Catholics and Jews that have grown from it. We are eager to hear his vision of how we continue moving forward, working together to feed the hungry, aid the homeless, and engage the many other dictates of Judaism and Christianity that demand our mutual service, a reflection of God’s compassion for humanity.”

The Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue, established in 2011 and located at JTS, houses the various interreligious activities that have been part of JTS’s public profile for decades. It focuses on Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim engagements of both a communal and academic nature. A partnership between the Russell Berrie Foundation and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), the John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue builds bridges between Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other religious traditions by providing the next generation of religious leaders with the opportunity to comprehensively study interfaith issues at the Angelicum.