Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Many Rivers to Cross

Xavier President Michael Graham and Xavier (and UC) Hillel Rabbi Abie Ingber are going to Rome in a few days to attend the first Lay Conference on Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Vatican. Two Xavier students are going along - Catholic student Maggie Meyer and Jewish student Michael Loban. Abie and Maggie have agreed to send us some blog posts and hopefully Michael will, too. Stay tuned for their thoughts and impressions of this great city and an important event.

Participants will have an audience with Pope Benedict. The Xavier group will present Pope Benedict with a replica of the Menorah installed at the Vatican in observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day. They will also meet with Jerzy Kluger, the Jewish childhood friend of the late Pope John Paul II.

Abie says, “Our hope is that we can come back to the U.S. and continue these relationships and perhaps even expand it to include lay leaders from the Muslim community. If you get good at bridge building, there are lots of rivers to cross.”

In May, 2005, Xavier premiered an exhibit called “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People” based on JPII’s life-long relationship with the Jewish community. A link to the site about the exhibit is at http://www.BlessingExhibit.org

Also check out http://www.hillelcincinnati.org

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