History professor weighs in on inter-religious relations after the Holocaust
November 2, 2017
King's history professor, Dr. Robert Ventresca joined Dr. Adele Reinhartz of the University of Ottawa to discuss major developments in inter-religious relations after the Holocaust, especially in the field of Jewish-Christian dialogue.
The event, "A Radical Transformation: Jewish-Christian relations 1947-2017", was hosted at Regis College, University of Toronto on October 16, 2017. It was sponsored by several leading inter-faith groups.
Dr. Ventresca's talk highlighted the need for faith traditions to grapple with the cultural and political power of religious beliefs and practices. This means grappling with religion's potential to foster exclusion and violence, but also to promote reconciliation and positive change in social relations.
Drawing on lessons from the early history of inter-religious dialogue, panelists and audience members engaged in a wide-ranging discussion of the role inter-faith networks today can and should play in addressing major humanitarian crises of our time.
At King's, The Centre for Jewish-Catholic-Muslim Learning works toward the establishment of a trilogue between all three Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
This year, Dr. Ventresca is teaching “Revolutions in World History” and “Fascism, Nazism, Stanlinism Compared.” He is a member of The College of the Royal Society of Canada.