The Israeli Embassy to the Holy See, together with the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), organized a visit to Rome and Israel from December 5-11, 2014. The delegation was comprised of Rectors, Vice Rectors and Provosts of Catholic Universities in Europe and from the East Coast of the United States.
This visit was unique for a number of reasons. It was a joint project of the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See and the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) and included for the first time a visit to Rome and Israel. The participants came from different countries and many of them have never visited Israel before.
The participants were:
1. Prof. Lorella Congiunti, Vice Rector - Pontificia Università Urbaniana, Italy
2. Prof. Taras Dobko, Senior Vice Rector - Ukrainian Catholic University, Ukraina
3. Fr. Barnabè Dsouza, Deputy Secretary General - International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), France
4. Dr. Maria da Glória Ferreira Pinto Dias Garcia, Rector - Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal
5. Pe. Ángel Galindo Garcia, Rector - Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain
6. Mr. João Garcia, Portugal
7. Prof. Michael A. Hayes, Rector - Mary Immaculate College, Ireland
8. Prof. Peter Rolf Lutzeier, Vice Chancellor - Newman University, UK
9. Prof. Benito Marin, Director International Relations - Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain
10. Very Rev. Mark Morozowich, Provost - Catholic University of America, USA
11. Pr. Mgr Guy-Réal Thivierge, Secretary General - International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), France
12. Prof. Frantisek Trstensky, Vice Rector for International Relations - Katholicka Univerzita v Ruzomberku, Slovakia
13. Don Grégory Woimbée, Vice Rector - Institut Catholique de Toulose, France
14. Reverend Father Prof. Wojciech Zyzak, Rector - Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie, Poland
The visit began on December 5 in Rome where the delegation had the opportunity to attend Friday night services at the Great Synagogue. The participants then had a Shabbat dinner at the home of Ambassador Evrony and Rita Evrony. Ambassador Evrony spoke about the different traditions and prayers of Shabbat. This was a great opportunity for the participants to get to know each other before the trip to Israel and to learn about the program.
On December 7, the participants left Rome for Israel and started their intense 5 days visit of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Some of the highlights were: visiting the Hebrew University, Bar Ilan University and the Technion with their respective professors and Rectors. They also visited Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, modern and ancient Jerusalem, met the Chief Rabbi, David Lao, met with Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz and visited Nazareth.
The participants returned enthusiastic and appreciative of this unique experience.
These are some of their comments they shared with us.
“Unfortunately our visit came to the end. What a beautiful time we had together. What a great idea you developed!” Prof. Frantisek Trstensky, Vice Rector for International Relations - Katholicka Univerzita Ruzomberku
“Since it was my first trip to the Holy Land, I am grateful for the possibility to visit holy places and pay homage to the sources of my faith and religious tradition. It was a deep and rewarding experience on a very personal level as well.” Prof. Taras Dobko, Senior Vice Rector - Ukrainian Catholic University
“The program was excellent. It offered opportunities to establish personal contacts, to immerse into educational, cultural and religious situation of modern Israel and to get excited about learning more on the Middle East region in general and the Holy Land in particular.” Prof. Taras Dobko, Senior Vice
Rector - Ukrainian Catholic University
“All the meetings you have organized were interesting and I am sure that from many of them new working and academic relations will be established.” Prof. Lorella Congiunti, Vice Rector - Pontificia Università Urbaniana
“There are (in Israel) very high quality universities and the opportunities they offer for postgraduate students and professors in many fields of knowledge and research are very promising. We intend to encourage them to our students and staff”. Father Angel Galindo Garcia, Rector – Pontificia Universidad de Salamanca.
Visit of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum