The meeting, chaired by outgoing ICCJ President Dr Deborah Weissman, dealt with key areas of the Council’s governance, including a review of the past year’s activities, an examination of the ICCJ’s financial statements, and reports on the work of the International Abrahamic Forum, the Young Leadership Council, and the development of an ICCJ communications strategy.
During the meeting, Dr. Philip A. Cunningham (of Saint Joseph’s University, in Philadelphia/USA) was elected as the ICCJ’s new President. Dr. Cunningham, a highly-respected scholar and leader in Jewish-Christian dialogue, emphasized the ongoing importance of Jewish-Christian relations. In addition to Dr. Cunningham, the incoming ICCJ Executive Board includes 1st Vice-President Liliane Apotheker (France), 2nd Vice-President Dr Michael Trainor (Australia), Treasurer Dr Abi Pitum (Germany), and Rabbi Ehud Bandel (Israel), Rabbi Samuel Szteinhendler (Chile), and Dr Pavol Bargar (Czech Republic).
For further information on the members of the newly-elected ICCJ Executive Board, please see here.
Over the coming months, we will be using the ICCJ's Web site to introduce the Executive Board members to the public in a more detailed way. Please keep watching our Web site for further updates.
As part of the transition to a new Board, Rev Dr John Pawlikowski OSM (of Catholic Theological Union, Chicago) stepped down as Immediate Past President of the ICCJ, after many years of long and devoted service to the organization. The Council’s membership voted to recognize Father Pawlikowski’s significant contributions to this field by naming him as one of the ICCJ’s Honorary Presidents (joining former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey, Dr. Victor Goldbloom, Rabbi Professor Dr. Peter Levinson, Rabbi Prof. David Rosen, Prof. Dr. Martin Stöhr and Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker).
The Board received an application from the Confraternidad Judeo-Cristiana de Costa Rica to become the ICCJ’s newest national member organization. The CJCCR is primarily composed of representatives of Costa Rica’s two main Jewish institutions, and members of the Lutheran and Anglican churches; it also works closely in partnership with the Sisters of Sion’s local Centre for Judeo-Christian Studies and Relations. The Confraternidad offers an annual series of concerts, lectures and courses on various topics relevant to the Jewish-Christian relationship, including the meaning of Jerusalem and the history of Jewish-Christian dialogue in Costa Rica. The ICCJ member organizations voted to approve the Confraternidad’s membership application, and to welcome them to the ICCJ family, which now includes 40 member organizations around the world.