FACULTY LEADER
Chester Gillis
Chester Gillis is the Dean of Georgetown College and the Founding Director of the Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue within the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. A Professor of Theology, Gillis is the Amaturo Chair in Catholic Studies. He holds degrees in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and earned his PhD...
RELATED PROGRAM
Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Roman Catholic Church has been a key player in interreligious and interfaith dialogue. The Center examines the Church’s interaction with other religious traditions as well as the challenges posed by increasing cultural and religious pluralism at the local, national, and international levels.
RELATED MEDIA
CENTER NEWS
May 22, 2013Faith Leaders Helping Heal US-Pakistan Relations
May 22, 2013
Sin, Corruption and What Religions Can Do About It
RELATED RESOURCES: INTERFAITH
Benedict XVI on the Ecumenical Movement in a Meeting with Other Christian Leaders in Australia
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Religion and Religions Seminar Series
How do religions interact with one another in the context of religious pluralism? What are the prospects and pitfalls of interreligious and interfaith dialogue in the contemporary world? Over the course of the 2008-2009 academic year, the Berkley Center's program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue sponsored a series of presentations by Georgetown faculty addressing these questions. An ongoing theme was whether and how interreligious dialogue sheds new light on the category of religion, advances our understanding of it, makes it more complicated, or diminishes the claims of particular religions.
RELATED EVENTS
The Holy Spirit and the Universality of God's Saving Grace in Human History
Peter Phan
November 13, 2008
Peter Phan of the Theology Department spoke as part of the Religion and Religions seminar series sponsored by the Berkley Center's Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue. Over the course of the semester, Georgetown professors from a variety of fields addressed how religion and religions intersect. An ongoing theme was whether and how interreligious dialogue sheds new light on the category of religion, advances our understanding of it, makes it more complicated, or diminishes the claims of particular religions.
Interreligious Dialogue: Chances and Perils
Felicitas Opwis
October 30, 2008
Felicitas Opwis of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies spoke as part of the "Religion and Religions" seminar series sponsored by the Berkley Center's Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue. Over the course of the semester, Georgetown professors from a variety of fields addressed how religion and religions intersect. An ongoing theme was whether and how interreligious dialogue sheds new light on the category of religion, advances our understanding of it, makes it more complicated, or diminishes the claims of particular religions.
New Frontiers for Interreligious Dialogue, with Dennis McManus
October 1, 2008
Dennis McManus of the Theology Department spoke on New Frontiers for Interreligious Dialogue as part of the "Religion and Religions" seminar series sponsored by the Berkley Center's Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue. Over the course of the semester, Georgetown professors from a variety of fields addressed how religion and religions intersect. An ongoing theme was whether and how interreligious dialogue sheds new light on the category of religion, advances our understanding of it, makes it more complicated, or diminishes the claims of particular religions.
When Mission Includes Dialogue and Dialogue Becomes Mission
John Borelli
September 16, 2008
John Borelli, special assistant to President DeGoia for interreligious initiatives, addressed the Catholic Church's embrace of dialogue in the decades after Vatican II (1962-65) and some of the internal and external tensions it has occassioned. The Council used the term "mission" to describe its activity, and the relationship between mission and dialogue remains a complex issue with several unresolved theological questions. If the object of mission is conversion, then any other motives for dialogue seem undermined. Currently there is growing concern in Catholic-Jewish relations over understanding the relationship between covenant and mission. Catholic-Muslim relations have stagnated recently in the wake of statements by Benedict XVI. Priorities, different understandings of salvation, and lack of attention to past animosities have contributed to the lack of resolution between the concepts and strategies of mission and dialogue within the Church.
Religion and Religions Seminar Series
Jacques Berlinerblau
September 4, 2008
Jacques Berlinerblau of the Program for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University spoke as part of the "Religion and Religions" seminar series sponsored by the Berkley Center's Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue. Over the course of the semester, Georgetown professors from a variety of fields addressed how religion and religions intersect. An ongoing theme was whether and how interreligious dialogue sheds new light on the category of religion, advances our understanding of it, makes it more complicated, or diminishes the claims of particular religions.