People
John Borelli
Senior Research Fellow
Office of the President
Profile
John Borelli, a historian of religions and theologian, is special assistant to the president for Catholic identity and dialogue at Georgetown University, where he is also a senior research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Borelli has actively promoted interreligious dialogue and understanding in various teaching and staff positions since receiving a doctorate in history of religions and theology in 1976 from Fordham University. While at Georgetown University for more than two decades, he worked closely with Rev. Thomas Stransky and others who served as Vatican staff and theological consultors during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (1962-1965) and beyond, researching the development and implementation of the council’s Nostra Aetate (“Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions”). This was a foundational statement by Catholic bishops worldwide toward reconciliation with Jews, officially reversing centuries of anti-Jewish teachings and policies and encouraging Catholics to recognize, preserve, and foster religious and moral values held dear by Jews and the followers of other religions.