2025 John Paul II Lecture in Christian-Jewish Relations: September 9th

13th Annual John Paul II Lecture in Christian-Jewish Relations

Philip A. Cunningham, “The Presence of the Holy in the Other:
A Spirituality of Christian-Jewish Relations in Polarized Times” (HYBRID)

By Boston College Center for Christian-Jewish Learning, Theology, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 5pm to 6:30pm

Sixty years ago, on October 28, 1965, the Second Vatican Council helped launch an unprecedented new era of rapprochement between Jews and Christians. In the following decades, Christians and Jews have been able to speak, as had never been possible before, about even essential differences of belief. In the process, they sometimes had the powerful and transformative experience of discerning holiness in each other’s texts, rituals, and people. This presentation explores the spiritual significance of this historic development and its meaning in today’s context of polarization and war.

Dr. Philip A. Cunningham is Professor of Theology and co-director of the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. With a background in biblical studies and religious education, he specializes in theologies of the Christian and Jewish, and especially the Catholic-Jewish, relationship. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books, most recently 2022's Maxims for Mutuality: Principles for Catholic Theology, Education, and Preaching about Jews and Judaism (Paulist Press Stimulus Series) and dozens of articles or book chapters. Dr. Cunningham has served as president and honorary president of the International Council of Christians and Jews and on the Advisory Committee on Catholic-Jewish Relations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is also the webmaster of the Internet resource Dialogika of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations.

In-Person Registration: Email cjlearning@bc.edu
Zoom Registration