Jewish-Catholic dialogue to begin at RU
NEW BRUNSWICK - A series of Jewish-Catholic dialogue sessions are scheduled this fall at Rutgers University where Jewish and Catholic students make up two of the largest religious groups on campus.
Rutgers Hillel, a foundation for Jewish campus life, and the Catholic Center at Rutgers, the Catholic campus ministry, are organizing the dialogues.
The Jewish-Catholic dialogue will begin Oct. 7 with a group of 30 students — 15 Jewish and 15 Catholic — invited to listen to a Jewish representative and a Catholic representative speak about the impact of faith on daily life, each from their faith perspective. Following the speakers’ presentations, the students will have the opportunity to discuss the topic in small groups.
On Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. the two speakers will return to address a larger group of students at the Student Activities Center on the College Avenue Campus.
Brother of Hope Kenneth Apuzzo, a chaplain at the Catholic Center at Rutgers, said the goal of the first session is create a sense of understanding and trust before engaging the larger student body.
Speaking about the Jewish faith will be David Kramer, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York City.
The Catholic speaker is Gregory Floyd, a leader in the People of Hope, a community of Catholic families that is dedicated to prayer and evangelization. Floyd is also the director of the Tri-County Scholarship Fund, a charitable organization that assists needy families in urban areas to educate their children.
Brother Kenneth said the second session will cover Catholic and Jewish practices, particularly holy days.
“Although we are aware of each other’s holy days and know that they are important, many of us don’t really understand what they are about,” he said.
The Bildner Center, which houses the Jewish studies program at Rutgers, and the Diocese of Metuchen support the program through the generosity of Harriet and Joseph Tabak, who approached Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski in the spring, asking him to encourage interactions among Catholic and Jewish students at Rutgers.
Brother Kenneth said the two dialogue sessions are “just the beginning” of Jewish-Catholic dialogue at Rutgers.
“It has a lot of potential to become a regular part of campus life,” he said. “If we can create the right base of mutual respect and trust we can go deeper into issues that are a little bit more difficult to talk about.”
For more information, contact Brother Ken at (732) 545-6663 at the Catholic Center at Rutgers.