On May 11, Pope Benedict XVI departs on a trip to the Holy Land for a five-day pastoral visit which will also include meetings with the Israeli President and the President of the Palestinian Authority. The trip marks the third time a sitting pope has visited Israel; similarly, Benedict XVI, like Pope John Paul II before him, has visited important Jewish Synagogues. He has certainly continued the new era of dialogue between Jews and Christians made possible by the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate).

Today, however, there are concerns about the state of Jewish-Catholic relations: Pope Benedict XVI, even as he prepares to travel to the Holy Land, has acknowledged the failure of the Vatican to be attentive to the reports on a traditionalist bishop’s Holocaust-denying views. John Paul II spoke of Jews’ relationship to God in terms of a “Covenant never revoked,” but some ask today if that strongly supportive statement is being toned down. This public forum is supported by the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the LMU Department of Theological Studies and the Center for Religion and Spirituality. The purpose of the forum is to encourage respect, understanding, and a practice of mutual charity among the Catholic and Jewish communities of Southern California.

WELCOME
Rev. Robert B. Lawton, S.J., President of Loyola Marymount University


MODERATOR
Rev. Robert W. Scholla, S.J., Rector, Loyola Marymount Jesuit Community


SPEAKERS
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond, Executive Vice President, Board of Rabbis of Southern California

Rt. Rev. Alexei Smith, Director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Archdiocese of Los Angeles


RESPONDENTS
Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer, Professor and Chair of Marketing and Business Law, Loyola Marymount University

Rev. Jeffrey S. Siker, Professor and Chair of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University

Learn more at http://www.lmu.edu/Page53532.aspx