IJCR Upcoming Events
Hawks at the Vatican: The Spirit of Synodality Continues
Thursday, March 27, 2025, 5:00-6:30PM
Campion Student Center: Banquet Hall South (campus map)
Co-sponsored with SJU Campus Ministry, the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, the Faith Justice Institute, and SJU's Office of Mission Programs.
| Join us for an evening of reflection and conversation with Julia Osęka, '25, the youngest delegate and one of the first women with voting rights at the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 2023 and 2024. Other SJU students made a pilgrimage to Rome in October 2024 during the Synod. These students will discuss the emerging understanding of synodality in the Catholic Church and its implications for Jewish-Catholic relations and interreligious dialogue. |
Julia Osęka, '25 is a senior Physics and Theology double major. An SJU 2023 Summer Scholar, she created a middle school curriculum on the events during World War II in her hometown near Warsaw, Poland. She participated in early meetings on Synodality in Catholic Higher Education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, became one of its student leaders, and in January 2023 was invited by Archbishop Pérez to represent the Archdiocese at the Continental Stage of the Synod. She went on to become a voting member of the Synod Assembly in Rome.
Matthew Dunne, ‘25 is a senior Business Intelligence and Analytics/International Business double major with a minor in Theology. In IJCR classes, he grew further interested in the concept of dialogue between religions, specifically Jewish and Christian relations. He has taken part in two different US Bishops' initiatives geared for conversation for young Jewish and Catholic adults and traveled to Rome in October 2024 as part of the young adult pilgrimage.
Joely McMullen, ‘28 is a first-year Exercise Physiology major at Saint Joseph's University. Throughout her time at the Hempfield Area High School in Greenfield, PA, she had a growing interest in the Synod, which would thrive at Saint Joseph's University. She currently serves as the synodal fellow for Saint Joseph's University and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Joe Pro, ’25 is a senior Accounting and Business Intelligence and Analytics double major. After taking a class sponsored by the IJCR, Joe had the opportunity to take part in various US Bishops and American Jewish Commitee-sponsored interfaith dialogues between young Catholics and Jews. The various faith opportunities that Joe has had at SJU paved the way for him to have the opportunity to partake in the October 2024 pilgrimage to Rome.
Jerusalem—How Christians Made a Small Pilgrimage Site the World's Most Disputed City
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2025, 5:00-6:30 P.M.
TELETORIUM IN MANDEVILLE HALL (CAMPUS MAP)
At a time when Muslims and Jews in the Middle East are locked in a fierce struggle over contested land, this talk will place today's conflict in a much-needed historical context. In modern times, Jerusalem emerged as a place of intense friction with the arrival of European Christians—explorers, spies, diplomats, and treasure hunters—in the mid 1800s. Their efforts to unearth the biblical past set in motion a chain of events that turned Jerusalem into the world's most disputed city, and, in the process, helped create the state of Israel and ignite a seemingly intractable conflict that remains stubbornly in the headlines.
Andrew Lawler is a journalist, National Geographic Explorer, and author of four books. He has written more than a thousand newspaper and magazine articles, and his byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many other publications. He is a contributing writer for Science Magazine, and contributing editor for Archaeology.