Report from Rome is a publication sent to friends, benefactors and alumni/ae of the Gregorian University, the Biblical Institute and the Oriental Institute. Here are a few highlights from our December 2005 issue. If you'd like to see highlights from previous issues, please click here.
December 2005: Contents
Gregorian Hosts Conference on 40th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate
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| Participants in the 2005 Colloquium attend an academic program in the Gregorian University’s new Matteo Ricci Conference Centre. |
Rev. John F. Long, S.J., Leading Scholar, Ecumenist, Dies
Visiting Jewish Scholars at Cardinal Bea Center
Gregorian Hosts Conference on 40th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate
The Pontifical Gregorian University’s Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures with its Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies hosted a major conference entitled “Nostra Aetate Today,” reflections 40 years after the document’s call at Vatican II for a new era of interreligious relationships. Known by the first words of its Latin text, Nostra Aetate is the “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.”
The Conference was organized by the two Gregorian entities in collaboration with Georgetown University, the Cardinal Bernardin Center at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, the Center for Catholic-Jewish Learning at Boston College, and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.
The Conference was held September 25-28, 2005. The talks were mostly in English with a few in French and Italian. This was the first conference to be held in the new Matteo Ricci Conference Centre at the Gregorian University, the spacious facility developed in the former printing press area in the undercroft of the Gregorian building.
There were 110 presentations or responses by Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu scholars at plenary sessions or in concurrent panels. There were speakers from institutions and organizations in Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the United States.
Sessions concerned dialogue between Christians and those of the Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist, and Hindu religions. Each morning’s plenary session focused on the way in which persons of various faiths have come to a new understanding of their own tradition through engagement with another tradition.
Rev. Prof. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J., Rector of the Gregorian University, presided at the first session, and Rev. Prof. Daniel Madigan, S.J., Director of the Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures, gave the introduction. The keynote address was delivered by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, M.Afr., President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
The speaker at the final conference dinner was Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Commission for Religious Relations withthe Jews.
In late October 2005, the Gregorian University Foundation hosted its Fifteenth Colloquium in Rome. The trip was led by Foundation Chairman Peter Mullen and President Rev. Robert F. O’Toole, S.J.
Colloquium guests toured the Gregorian, the Biblical Institute and the Oriental Institute and attended seminars with faculty and students. On October 25, Colloquium members joined in the inauguration and blessing of the Matteo Ricci Conference Centre at the Gregorian.
On Wednesday, October 26, Colloquium members attended the large Wednesday morning audience of Pope Benedict XVI followed by a special luncheon and reception with the Most Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
That evening at Palazzo Ferrajoli the special guest was the California-born Gregorian alumnus and former faculty member, Most Rev. William J. Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Colloquium also met United States Ambassador to the Holy See and Mrs. Francis Rooney at their residence overlooking Vatican City and Rome. This was the first official event for the Ambassador, occurring two days after he took office in Rome. With all this activity, the guests still were able to go for Colloquium private tours of the Roman Forum, the rooms of St. Ignatius, the Sistine Chapel, and the private chapel of His Holiness, Redemptoris Mater.
| At right, Paul and Irene Soden enjoy the sunshine in St. Peter's Square after the morning audience of the Pope. |  |
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Foundation Chairman Peter Mullen expresses appreciation for a musical performance by Il Coro del Lunedì. |
| Above left, Archbishop Levada with left to right, William Eagan, Anne Eagan, John Halleron, and Becky Halleron. Above right, Peggy Hassett and the archbishop share a moment at Palazzo Ferrajoli. |
| Above left, Fr. General with Carl Landegger, Renee Landegger, Fr. O’Toole and Irene Soden. Above right, Rev. Daniel Madigan, S.J.(4th from left) is flanked by the panelists program on Interreligious Dialogue. Fr. Madigan is the Director the Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures at the Greg. |
The Philippians were probably Paul’s favorite community; they had a deep affection for one another and worked very well together. I am sure that I speak for our whole Board of Trustees, when I use Paul’s words at the beginning of his thanksgiving in his Letter to the Philippians to express our profound gratitude to each of you for your generous financial sacrifices on behalf of the Gregorian University Foundation and of the three excellent Jesuit institutions of higher education in Rome which we represent, the Pontifical Gregorian University (the “Greg”), the Pontifical Biblical Institute (“Biblicum”) and the Pontifical Oriental Institute (“Oriental”). Paul writes, “I give thanks to my God every time I think of you — which is constantly, in every prayer I utter — rejoicing , as I plead on your behalf, at the way you all continually helped promote the gospel from the very first day” (Phil 1:3-5). From elsewhere in Paul’s letters (1 Cor 11:9), we learn that part of the assistance the Philippians gave Paul was financial. You, our benefactors, have played the role of the Philippians in our regard. You have cooperated not only financially but in so many other ways. In this present issue of Report from Rome, we call particular attention to your financial generosity [this refers to a list of donors that is not reproduced in our online edition]; but we are also truly appreciative of the many other ways in which you promote the good we are doing, whether you make suggestions, contacts or just let others know of the Gregorian Consortium and of the significant service it renders to the Church.
At its recent meeting our Board of Trustees voted to undertake another Capital Campaign. True, we just finished such a campaign a year ago; but the needs of the Gregorian Consortium are like those of a family. A family cannot just decide that there will be no more expenses or bills; the reality of life is too good a teacher to permit anyone to theorize in this way. So, I ask you, our good friends and charitable benefactors, who have helped us in so many ways in the past, please continue to support us and the very talented students we have the privilege of representing. Despite their high qualifications, many of these students do not have the means to cover the cost of the education needed to acquire the requisite skills to serve the Church and their fellow citizens as they deserve.
One big achievement this year is the completion of the construction of the Matteo Ricci Centre in the undercroft of the main building of the Gregorian University. This Centre was named in honor of the great Jesuit missionary to China who embodied the notion of inculturation before others even thought of it. The Centre significantly enhances the teaching and learning facilities and provides space for sponsoring international conferences and symposia. It will also produce rental income to help cover ordinary running expenses. Through the extraordinary support of five U.S.A. foundations, we were able to play a major role in covering the expenses for this construction. However, in a very real sense, you all played a part because your generosity and cooperation allowed us to be able to approach these foundations without worrying about the other expenses of the Gregorian Consortium or of the Gregorian University Foundation. However, there is still a challenge to face. Although about 83% of the expenses for this really beautiful centre have been covered, we still have bills amounting to approximately $550,000. We can use your assistance in meeting these expenses.
I am sure that everyone who is reading this “Word” realizes that money is for loving and doing good. So, let me again thank you, as St. Paul thanked the Philippians, for sharing in supporting the above fine academic institutions; the whole Gregorian Consortium family appreciates your thoughtful goodness. We likewise value your friendship. Finally, may I ask that you consider remembering us in your will? Your bequest can make a real difference.
Affectionately and gratefully, in Him,
Rev. John F. Long, S.J., a leading ecumenist and one of the world’s foremost Catholic experts on Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches and theology, died in New York on September 20, 2005 following hospitalization for emergency cardiac surgery. He was 80 years old.
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| Fr. Long with Pope John Paul II when the Pope visited the Oriental Institute. |
A frequent professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Brooklyn-born Fr.Long served from 1986 to 1995 as Vice-Rector of the Institute, and concurrently served as Rector of the Russian College in Rome from 1990 to 1995.
Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, a friend for five decades, presided at the funeral Mass celebrated on September 24 at the Fordham University Church in New York. In 1963, as a young member of the Vatican Secretariat (now Pontifical Council) for Promoting Christian Unity, Fr. Long participated in the drafting of the Second Vatican Council’s “Decree on Ecumenism,” “Declaration on Religious Liberty,” and “Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.”
From 1969 to 1980 he headed the Secretariat’s section for relations with the Orthodox churches, and from 1981 until his death he was a consultor to the Secretariat and the subsequent Council. He was a member of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches from 1981, shortly after it was formed, until his death.
Fr. Long personified two tendencies that seemed in contrast to each other: a passion for dialogue with an easy and free exchange of ideas, combined with an intellectual rigor in reviewing all sides of an argument.
Mr. John K. Figge has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Gregorian University Foundation. He earned degrees from the College of the Holy Cross and the Graduate School of Banking of the University of Wisconsin.
He was active in community banking in eastern Iowa and western Illinois for many years and served as Chairman and CEO of Davenport Bank and Trust Company, Davenport, Iowa, until its sale to Wells Fargo. He now heads his own private investment company.
He currently serves as a trustee of the College of the Holy Cross, Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and Loyola Retreat House in Faulkner, Maryland, and is a member of the Knights of Malta Federal Association.
John is a former trustee of Georgetown Preparatory School and St.Ambrose University where he also received an honorary degree. He and his wife Pat have six children.
The Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies of the Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures at the Gregorian University is hosting three visiting Jewish scholars, for five- or six-week courses.
Professor Lawrence H. Schiffman of New York University offered “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic Judaism” from November 14 to December 20, 2005.
Professor Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University, holder of the Richard and Susan Master Visiting Professorship at the Institute, will present “Holocaust Memoirs” from February 23 to April 6, 2006.
“Philosophy and the Names of God: Jewish and Christian Perspectives” will be taught by Professor Meir Buzaglo of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem from April 27 to May 30, 2006. Professor Buzaglo holds the Brenninkmeijer-Werhahn Visiting Professorship at the Institute.
For further information, please contact judaicstudies@unigre.it.
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