Program

In Our Time: Interreligious Relations in a Divided World

A two-day conference to mark the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s “Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions”

 

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Brandeis University
Hassenfeld Conference Center
Sherman Function Hall

9:15 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks
Dr. Jehuda Reinharz
President, Brandeis University

9:30 a.m.

Keynote Address: What the Catholic Church Has Learned from Interreligious Dialogue

Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald
President, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

10:30 to 10:45 a.m.

Coffee Break

10:45 a.m. to noon

Respondents
Dr. Hans Ucko
Program Secretary, Office on Interreligious Relations and Dialogue
World Council of Churches

Dr. David Elcott
U.S. Director of Interreligious Affairs
American Jewish Committee

Dr. Abdul Rashied Omar
Coordinator of the Kroc Institute’s Research Initiative on the Resolution of Ethnic Conflict and the Program on Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding
University of Notre Dame

Moderator
Dr. Jytte Klausen
Associate Professor of Comparative Politics
Brandeis University

Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Lunch Break

1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Panel Discussion: Issues and Challenges in the Interreligious Encounter

A roundtable discussion to address the political, historical, and cultural issues and challenges of religious identity. Participants include several faculty members (listed below), with Archbishop Fitzgerald, and Drs. Elcott, Omar, and Ucko invited to offer responses. Audience participation will follow.

Dr. Philip A. Cunningham
Executive Director, Center for Christian-Jewish Learning
Boston College

Dr. Imam Talal Y. Eid
Founder and Director of Religious Affairs
Islamic Institute of Boston

Dr. Edward Kaplan
Chair, Interdepartmental Program in Religious Studies;
Kevy and Hortense Kaiserman Professor in the Humanities
Brandeis University

Dr. Jytte Klausen
Associate Professor of Comparative Politics
Brandeis University

Dr. Ruth Langer
Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, Department of Theology;
Associate Director, Center for Christian-Jewish Learning
Boston College

Moderator
Dr. Daniel Terris
Director, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life
Brandeis University


Boston College
Corcoran Commons
Heights Room

7:30 p.m.
Public Lecture

Welcome
William P. Leahy, S.J.
President, Boston College

Introduction
Most Rev. Seán P. O’Malley, OFM Cap
Archbishop of Boston

Keynote Speaker
Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald
President, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

The Promise of Interreligious Dialogue for a World in Conflict

Archbishop Fitzgerald will explore the Catholic Church’s commitment to interreligious dialogue since the issuance of Nostra Aetate in 1965, reviewing the nature of interreligious dialogue and its need in today’s world.


Friday, March 17, 2006

Boston College
Corcoran College
Heights Room

9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Fishbowl Chat: Questions Interreligious Dialogue Poses for Catholic Theology

Presented in collaboration with the Boston College Department of Theology

Two specialists in comparative theology, Rev. Dr. Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Parkman Professor of Divinity and professor of comparative theology at Harvard Divinity School, and Dr. Catherine M. Cornille, associate professor, Department of Theology, Boston College, will outline current pressing theological questions on religious pluralism.

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Lunch Break

12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Panel Discussion: Pastoral Implications of Interreligious Dialogue for Parish Life

Presented in collaboration with the Massachusetts Council of Churches and the Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Archdiocese of Boston

Christian clergy and congregational leaders from the region, along with Archbishop Fitzgerald, special guest Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana, and a panel of local leaders, will discuss how the religiously plural world acknowledged by Nostra Aetate impacts interfaith relationships in local contexts. Discussion will focus on such questions as: What can be done to promote interreligious understanding through dialogue and other means? What are some guidelines for sensitivity to religious pluralism in worship, preaching, and in pastoral care for interreligious families? What are the possibilities and limits of prayer in interreligious community events? How do global interfaith concerns impact local settings?

Special Guest
Dr. Shanta Premawardhana
Associate General Secretary for Interfaith Relations
National Council of Churches, United States

Local Panelists
Rev. Dr. Carol Flett,
Adjunct Associate Director
Massachusetts Council of Churches

Rev. David Michael
Associate Director, Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
Archdiocese of Boston

Ms. Celia Sirois
Co-director
New Directions for Catholic-Jewish Dialogue

Facilitator
Rev. Dr. Diane C. Kessler
Executive Director
Massachusetts Council of Churches