Dr. Amy-Jill Levine Featured at Major Jewish-Christian Conference in Rome

Dr. Amy-Jill Levine is one of the major speakers at a conference in Rome on "Nostra Aetate and the Rediscovery of the Jewish Jesus." Nostra Aetate, released in 1965, is a declaration on the relation of the Catholic Church to non-Christian religions. 

Dr. Levine, HIU's Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, will speak on Friday, Feb. 28, in a session called "Understanding Jesus Means Understanding Judaism: Common Errors and Needed Corrections."

The conference marks the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, called a "watershed moment in Jewish-Christian dialogue." Internationally renowned scholars, including Dr. Levine, have been invited to "explore the significance of Jesus' Jewish identity in the light of the path outlighted by Nostra Aetate.

The conference is a joint effort by the Cardinal Cea Centre for Judaic Studies and the Pontifical Biblical Institute, both in Rome.

Dr. Levine also gave the inaugural lecture on Monday, Feb. 25, at the Christology Symposium preceding the Nostra Aetate conference. That lecture was titled "Christology in Light of Contemporary Jewish-Christian Relations: New Perspectives 60 Years after Nostra Aetate."

At that lecture, Dr. Levine had a chance to meet HIU alum Elena Dini '14, a graduate of the International Peacemaking Program. Elena is a fellow of the KAICIID International Dialogue Centre and former senior program manager at the John Paul II Centre for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome.