Jewish and Catholic Dialogue

The Providence College Lecture and Colloquium Series, Theological Exchange Between Catholics and Jews, provides an opportunity for Jews and Christians to learn about and from one another.This series seeks to promote interreligious understanding and dialogue by providing a forum where Providence College students, faculty, and staff, along with local religious leaders and nationally-recognized experts, can discuss themes of mutual theological interest in the Jewish and Catholic traditions. Theological Exchange Between Catholics and Jews continues a tradition of dialogue that has been part of Providence College's history and participates in the newest stage of Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Providence College was, by charter, the first college or university in Rhode Island to welcome students of every faith or none, and has had a long, close, and continuing relationship especially with the State’s Jewish community.  From its earliest days, the College has been a place where Christians and Jews have lived and learned with one another and from one another. At critical times in the twentieth century, Providence College played a pioneering role in Jewish-Catholic relations.

In May of 1932, The Rhode Island Seminar on Human Relationships was held at Providence College. It was hailed as the “first time in history that Protestants, Catholics, and Jews have met under communal auspices in a Catholic College, at the invitation of a bishop of the Church, for a friendly discussion of those divisive elements that destroy proper human relations.” In November 1963, A Conference on Catholic-Jewish Understanding, co-sponsored by Providence College and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, drew leading Catholic and Jewish leaders to Providence. The event was described as the first conference of its kind in Rhode Island. A similar event, the Catholic-Jewish Conference,followed in November 1965, just weeks after the promulgation of the groundbreaking document of the Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate, which boldly set a new course for fruitful dialogue between Catholics and Jews.

Inaugurated in 2009, Theological Exchange Between Catholics and Jews opens up a forum that welcomes the College’s students, alumni, faculty and staff, as well as members of the local community, to learn about and engage with issues that impact Jewish-Christian relations.

Three events are held each academic year: In the Fall semester, a local scholar or expert is invited to lecture on a theme relevant to Jewish-Catholic relations. In the Spring semester, two experts, one Jewish and one Catholic, are invited to participate in a public,dialogue-style lecture, in which they discuss a particular issue that bears upon relations between Christians and Jews from antiquity to the present day. Also in the Spring semester, a colloquium is organized for Providence College faculty, students, alumni, and other guests, in which they can confront more deeply the issues articulated in the lecture and their impact upon their own teaching, research, and learning.

For more information, contact Dr. Arthur Urbano, Assistant Professor of Theology: aurbano@providence.edu

Please visit our Facebook page to see upcoming events:  https://www.facebook.com/events/205749016195876/