2015 Paul Wattson Lecture at the University of San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO - Jan. 15, 2015 - PRLog -- The 35th Paul Wattson Christian Unity Lecture will be held at the University of San Francisco (USF) on Monday, February 23^th, 2015.   Prof. Dr. Karl-Josef Kuschel will deliver a public lecture at 7:30pm in the McLaren Conference Center, Room 252.

Prof. Dr. Kuschel’s lecture will explore the topic, “How the Dialog with Jews and Muslims has Changed Me as a Christian.” He will demonstrate how dialog is a core competency required in today’s world with global challenges such as climate change and war.  This is a timely topic since Pope Francis repeatedly encourages interreligious dialog as a way to help bring peace and end all forms of "fundamentalism, terrorism and irrational fears."

Kuschel was a professor of theology of culture and of interreligious dialog at the Catholic Theology at the University Tübingen from 1995 to 2013. During the same period, he was also
co-director of the Institute for Ecumenical and Interreligious Research. In addition to his academic career and his research work, he is the author of many publications on interreligious dialog, including Dispute about Abraham-What Separates Jews, Christians and Muslims - and What Unites Them; Jews- Christians-Muslims: Origins and Future; Christmas and the Koran; Rilke and the Buddha: the Story of a Unique Dialog; Living is Building Bridges; Pioneer of Interreligious Dialog.  In 1995, he authored Abraham: Sign of Hope for Jews, Christians and Muslims (Continuum, 1995), an historical and theological account of the place of Abraham in each of the three traditions and discusses what Kuschel refers to as “an Abrahamic ecumene.”

His 1977 doctoral thesis, Jesus in Contemporary German Literature, was supervised by Prof. Hans Küng and Prof. Walter Jens.  Since then, he has collaborated with Prof. Küng on works of interfaith dialog, co-editing with him A Global Ethic—the Declaration of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, among other published works.

The Paul Wattson Christian Unity Lectures honor the memory of the Reverend Paul James Francis Wattson, S.A., Servant of God (1863-1940), founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and pioneer for the cause of Christian Unity. In 2014, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to endorse the opening of Fr. Paul Wattson’s cause for sainthood. These annual lectures feature national and international leaders in the fields of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue who speak on current topics of interest.  Initiated in 1974 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, the series was expanded in 1980 to the University of San Francisco; then, in 1995 to the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax; and in 1996 to the Toronto School of Theology in Toronto.  In 1998, it was added to the ministry of the Friars at their Centro Pro Unione in Rome honoring not only Father Paul, but also Mother Lurana White, S.A., founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement.

The University of San Francisco is a Catholic institute of higher education founded by the Jesuits in 1855. The Friars have chosen to share sponsorship of this prestigious annual lecture program with USF because of its innovative and ecumenical reputation.

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement are a Roman Catholic order of brothers and priests founded in 1898 at Graymoor in Garrison.  Since that time, the Friars have worked for reconciliation and healing through “at-one-ment” — the unity of men and women with God and with one another —  so that the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” might be fulfilled.  Through their mission and ministries they serve people of every race, religion, and walk of life. Their social ministries help the poor, the needy, and the homeless; people living with HIV; frail and elderly in hospitals and hospices; those in prison; and people seeking recovery from alcoholism and chemical addictions.  Their ecumenical work makes them leaders of the international movement to heal the divisions within Christianity and among all faiths.  Through their prayers and pastoral ministries, they bring spiritual renewal, unity, harmony, and reconciliation throughout the world and carry the gospel’s message to three continents. For more information about the Friars, visit atonementfriars.org

For more information about the Paul Wattson Lecture at the University of San Francisco, contact Anne Marie Devine (415) 422-2697 or email abdevine@usfca.edu .