{"id":2047,"date":"2015-06-03T20:24:23","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T01:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/?page_id=2047"},"modified":"2015-06-24T09:34:01","modified_gmt":"2015-06-24T14:34:01","slug":"rev-dr-john-t-pawlikowski-osm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/interfaith-dialogue\/jewish-christian-relations\/rev-dr-john-t-pawlikowski-osm","title":{"rendered":"Rev. Dr. John T. Pawlikowski, OSM"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n It is hard to find an English-language book on Jewish-Christian relations written in the last 30 years that does not either reference, or include a contribution from, Servite Father John Pawlikowski. A native of Chicago, born in 1940, Pawlikowski is one of the most prolific and respected contemporary writers and speakers on the Holocaust, and on the dramatic change in Christian attitudes toward Jews in the decades since the Second World War; his published work includes dozens of books and hundreds of lectures and scholarly articles. Much of Pawlikowski\u2019s time as a university student coincided with Vatican II, and much of his energy in the years since has been dedicated to unpacking, teaching and furthering the Council\u2019s vision regarding interreligious dialogue. An early student of John Dominic Crossan (a leading scholar of the historical Jesus and early Christianity, who was a Servite priest at the time), Pawlikowski attributes much of his passion for Jewish-Christian dialogue to Crossan\u2019s teaching back in the 1960s:<\/p>\n Nostra Aetate\u00a0<\/i>at a public series on the Second Vatican Council held at Chicago\u2019s Loyola University \u2026 I was in the audience that evening as a proud student.<\/span><\/p>\n And yet Pawlikowski would later come to realize that some aspects of Crossan\u2019s Biblical interpretation remained troublingly mired in earlier approaches, which exalted Christianity at the expense of Judaism: \u201cIt became apparent to me how deep-seated and yet subtle anti-Semitism remains in Christian self-understanding so that even those who staunchly oppose its outer manifestations sometimes remain unaware of its subtle dimensions \u2026 Without his encouragement in the midst of the new spirit of the Vatican Council, I doubt I would have ever made Christian-Jewish relations such a central part of my academic and ministerial career\u201d.<\/p>\n Ordained a priest of the Servite Order in 1967, John Pawlikowski joined the faculty of Catholic Theological Union in 1968, where today he is Professor of Social Ethics, the director of its Cardinal Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry, and of its Catholic-Jewish Studies programme. For more than four decades, he has been a leader in Jewish-Christian dialogue on the local, national and international levels, serving as a consultant to the U.S. Catholic bishops\u2019 Advisory Committee on Catholic-Jewish Relations, to the National Council of Churches, and serving several times on official Vatican delegations to international Jewish-Catholic dialogues. In 1980, then-President Jimmy Carter appointed him as a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an appointment that was renewed by Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton; Pawlikowski continues to play a leading role in the Holocaust Memorial\u2019s educational and interfaith outreach work.<\/p>\n\n
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In his courses at the Servite theologate, Crossan instilled in me a tremendous respect and an appreciation for sacred scripture and an interest in the long history of Christian anti-Semitism, which he saw as rooted in New Testament interpretation. Crossan delivered one of the earliest lectures on anti-Semitism and the New Testament in light of<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n