Day for the advancement and development of dialogue between Jews and Christians

The “Song of Songs” will be the central theme of the Day for the advancement and development of dialogue between Jews and Christians, to be held on Thursday 16 January at the Pontifical Lateran University.

Riccardo Di Segni, chief rabbi of the Jewish community in Rome, and Professor Luca Mazzinghi, professor of the Old Testament at the Pontifical Gregorian University, will discuss the biblical text. The meeting will begin with a greeting from Msgr. Paolo Selvadagi, delegate for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue, while the conclusions will be presented by Msgr. Marco Gnavi, head of the Office for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue and New Cults. The meeting will be moderated by Don Giuseppe Pulcinelli, responsible for Relations with Judaism in the Diocesan Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue. The meeting will be animated with music by Progetto Davka, a group created in 2004 to raise awareness of Jewish music and culture.

“This Day is intended as a sign of hope”, observed Msgr. Gnavi, “situated in the opposite direction from the current widespread climate of the search for the enemy and the anti-Semitic experiences of our time. Let us seek instead to cultivate a spiritual and fraternal friendship that is ever more necessary between Christians and Jews, in a complex world that needs this alliance of ours for the common good, seeking in common spiritual roots the basis for building the future”.