On May 29, 2023, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin concluded an agreement with the Argentine Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano. The agreement envisages e.g. student mobility, joint seminars, workshops, and joint academic publications. The long-term Rector of the Seminary was Rabbi Abraham Skórka, who along with Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, present Pope Francis, led theological debates, published in the book On Heaven and Earth.
(C) KUL Heschel CenterThe document was signed by the Representative of the Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin for Catholic-Jewish Relations and Research in the Holy Land, Fr. Dr. Miroslaw Wróbel, and the Rector of the Marshall T. Meyer Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, Rabbi Ariel Stofenmacher. The meeting was attended by Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Universities at the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano Marshall T. Meyer rabbi Silvana Kandel, Director of European Affairs at the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano Marshall T. Meyer Mario Stofenmacher, who lives in Spain and coordinates the Argentine University’s activities in Europe, the director of the Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin, Fr. Prof. Marcin Kowalski, and deputy directors of the Heschel Center at the Catholic University of Lublin: Fr. Dr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik and Prof. Witold Mędykowski.
– The cooperation agreement with the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano builds bridges between people of different religions and cultures. St. John Paul II often expressed a wish of profound relations between Catholics and Jews, stressed Representative of the Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin for Catholic-Jewish Relations, Fr. Dr. Miroslaw Wróbel. He added that the agreement paves the way for developing scholarly and cultural cooperation with the world-renowned Argentinian university.
Rector of the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano Marshall T. Meyer, Rabbi Ariel Stofenmacher added: We are honoured to have made this agreement with the prestigious John Paul II University of Lublin and that this is not only an academic cooperation Memorandum but also a way to strengthen the relations between both Institutions.
The cooperation agreement between the Catholic University of Lublin and the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano in Argentina continues the activities of the Abraham J. Heschel Centre for Catholic-Jewish Relations.
The Marshall T. Meyer Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano was founded in 1962 by Abraham J. Heschel’s student, Marshall T. Meyer. It is the only centre in Latin America dedicated to academic and spiritual formation and one of the major Jewish centres for education, culture, and religion in the world. The University’s mission is the dissemination of the message of traditional and modern Judaism through education, community growth and interreligious dialogue.
Rabbi Marshall Theodore Meyer was both in Brooklyn, New York State, USA. He studied in the prestigious Dartmouth College and was ordained rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was a student of Abraham J. Heschel.
In 1959, he arrived in Argentina, where in 1962 he founded the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano. He promoted interreligious dialogue and peace between people and nations. He was a human rights activist during the worst times of Argentina’s military dictatorship. He was a member of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights. He died on December 29, 1993, in the United States, to which he had returned nine years earlier.
The Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations is a research and educational unit of the Catholic University of Lublin. It is to deepen Catholic-Jewish relations on the scientific, educational and cultural levels internationally. The centre organizes conferences, socio-cultural events and international youth meetings. It brings together scholars and promoters of deepening Catholic-Jewish dialogue from e.g. Israel, Italy, Germany, and the United States.
The members of the Center’s board include the chairman of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Cardinal Kurt Koch, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, Chairman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference Archbishop Gądecki, the daughter of Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel Prof. Susannah Heschel, Professor emeritus of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Oxford University Glenda Abramson, and Director of Interreligious Relations of the American Jewish Committee David Rosen. The founder of the Center is the Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski. The inauguration of the Heschel Center of the Catholic University of Lublin took place on October 17, 2022.
