NEW YORK (Press Release) — Prof. Rivka Carmi, president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), led an 11-member delegation to Rome to meet with Pope Francis and Vatican leadership last month. The delegation included senior officers of BGU’s international board, leadership of the New York-based American Association for Ben Gurion University, and BGU faculty. Prof. Carmi presented the Pope with a special gift: a silver-bound copy of the New Testament with Jerusalem etched on its covers.
Prof. Carmi remarked, “We are grateful for the opportunity to have offered a token of our esteem to Pope Francis and to have met with Cardinals Koch and Tauran. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is a natural partner for interreligious encounters. Located in Abraham’s city, our researchers contribute significantly on topics that are of utmost interest both to the Vatican and to the Holy Land. We would welcome future collaborations, which I hope will come about as a result of our visit.”
Dr. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, an expert on the literature of the Christian monastic order during the Rabbinic period remarked, “The meetings were fascinating; we presented BGU’s research achievements on Christianity and Prof. Hames proposed to Cardinal Koch that he accept the Ladislaus Laszt Ecumenical and Social Concern Award at the University.”
Cardinal Kurt Koch is president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and in this capacity is also the president of the Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations with the Jews. A formal letter of invitation will be sent to the cardinal by Prof. Carmi. Past recipients of the award included Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of England and the Dalai Lama.
Doron Krakow, executive vice president of American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) observed, “Cardinal Koch acknowledged that there is growing anti-Semitism around the world and that elements of that growth have religious roots. He noted Pope Francis’s recent comment, ‘It is impossible to be Christian and anti-Semitic,’ as an indication of the Pope’s determination that the Catholic Church will play a constructive role in confronting the growing problem through a commitment to education, starting with young children.”
Alex Goren (NY), chair of BGU’s board of governors, suggested initiating collaboration between Gregorian University and BGU’s Departments of Jewish Thought and History with professors who study interfaith relations and conversion, such as the two faculty members present.
“The main consensus of the meetings was the importance of education in order to create a future where members of different religions could live side by side in peace,” said Goren.
The BGU delegation also met with Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, which includes the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims. “His remarks were surprisingly candid,” said Krakow.
The cardinal indicated that they were absorbed by Islam due to the near daily instances of Islamic terror. “With regard to the glacial pace of progress, he said that they are ‘condemned to dialogue,’ meaning that progress is modest and he described it as a ‘long journey.’ ”
“The cardinal described the dialogue between Christians and Jews as very comfortable, as we are ‘part of the same family and sing the same Psalms,’ ” Krakow said.
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