Fr. Prof. Mirosław S. Wróbel has been appointed Representative of Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin for Catholic-Jewish Relations and Research in the Holy Land. He will be replaced as Director of the Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin by Fr. Dr Hab. Marcin Kowalski, university professor. The nomination was granted on May 17 in the Rector’s Office of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski, stressed that the appointment of his Representative for Catholic-Jewish Relations and Research in the Holy Land is testament to the significance of these questions for the university and is supposed to intensify and extend relations with the Jewish side. In February this year, the Catholic University of Lublin started cooperation e.g. with Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority. Extension of collaboration with the Argentine Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano and US universities in Boston and Los Angeles is forthcoming.
Fr. Prof. Mirosław S. Wróbel heads the Catholic University of Lublin Section of Biblical Studies, is a translator of the Aramaic Bible, and rabbinical literature scholar. He earned his doctorate in Biblical Studies from the École Biblique in Jerusalem. He has been Director of the Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin since 17 October 2022.
The Center’s new director will be Fr. Dr Hab. Marcin Kowalski, university professor, doctor of Biblical Studies, a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, assistant professor at the Chair of Biblical Theology and Prophoristics, Institute of Biblical Studies, Catholic University of Lublin. He earned his doctorate at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He is editor-in-chief of The Biblical Annals quarterly and secretary of the Association of Polish Biblical Scholars. The Bible, especially the epistles of St. Paul, are his scholarly passion.
The Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations is a research and teaching unit of the Catholic University of Lublin tasked to enhance Catholic-Jewish relations in the fields of science, education, and culture on an international arena. The Center hosts conferences, socio-cultural events, and international meetings of young people. It gathers scholars and promoters of Catholic-Jewish dialogue from e.g. Israel, Italy, Germany, and the US and collaborates with universities and research centers in those countries.
The members of the Center’s executive include e.g. President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Cardinal Kurt Koch, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa OFM, President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, daughter of Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel, Prof. Susannah Heschel, professor emeritus of Hebraic and Jewish Studies at Oxford University Glenda Abramson, and Director for Interreligious Contacts of the American Jewish Committee David Rosen. The Heschel Center at the Catholic University of Lublin was launched on 17 October 2022.