KUL to Grant Honorary Doctorate to Rabbi Abraham Skorka

An outstanding intellectual and teacher of Judaism, a universal sage, and man of Christian-Jewish dialogue. This is the description of Rabbi Prof. Abraham Skorka in a resolution of the Senate of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, under which he received an honorary doctorate of this university. The ceremony took place on 15 October, during the inauguration of the 2023/2024 academic year.

– We are living at a favourable time for Christian-Jewish dialogue. Until a few decades ago, it would probably have been difficult to imagine a situation in which a rabbi would receive an honorary doctorate at a Catholic university, with the participation of and to the delight of representatives of the Catholic Church. This would not have been possible without the Second Vatican Council, whose famous 1965 declaration Nostra aetate ushered in a new stage in the history of relations between Jews and Christians – stressed Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski.

Recalling the great figures for the Christian-Jewish dialogue, including John Paul II, the patron and lecturer of the Catholic University of Lublin, the first pope to visit the Roman synagogue in 1986 to say there the famous words about Jews as beloved brothers in the faith, Rector Kalinowski compared Rabbi Prof. Skorka's contribution to this field with that of Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel, the patron of the Centre for Catholic-Jewish Relations established a year ago at the Catholic University of Lublin, which advances Christian-Jewish dialogue in science, education, and culture.

– They share not only the common name of Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel. Just as Heschel looked to the Old Testament and the teaching of the prophets for inspiration for modern Judaism, Rabbi Skorka taught biblical literature as a professor. Just as Heschel was involved in social issues and "prayed with his feet" during marches for human rights, Rabbi Skorka movingly calls together with Pope Francis for prayers for peace for Ukraine, Europe, and the world – observed Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski.

The motion to award Prof. Skorka with an honorary doctorate was tabled by Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Lublin, Prof. Marek Lechniak of the Catholic University of Lublin, after a positive opinion of the Council of the University's Institute of Philosophy. When discussing the activities of Rabbi Abraham Skorka, a representative of this institution, Prof. Jacek Wojtysiak, pointed out that the wisdom he offers is rooted in tradition.

– He considers each problem (usually of a practical or existential nature) in two stages. He begins with an objective description of the situation and then consults the Hebrew Bible and the later Jewish tradition for texts that illuminate the situation. This approach is a wonderful testimony for us Christians to reach for the Bible as a lamp on the paths of our lives, and gives us a profound lesson in reading the Bible and its commentaries here and now – pointed out Professor Wojtysiak.

He later added: As a Catholic academic community, we should bless God by thanking him also for Rabbi Abraham Skorka, and we should thank the Rabbi himself for all he has done for us and for the sake of the Christian-Jewish dialogue.

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Prof. Abraham Skorka is a scholar, rabbi, theologian, and teacher of Judaism. Born in Argentina in 1950, he graduated in 1973 with a degree in chemistry. At the same time, he completed his rabbinical studies and became a rabbi. In 1979, he earned his doctorate at the University of Buenos Aires, writing a thesis in the field of biophysics. In addition, he studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the major centre of Conservative Judaism, which seeks to combine religious traditions with modernity, among other university studies.

From 1973, he was rabbi of a congregation in Buenos Aires, mainly, between 1976 and 2018, of the Benei Tikva synagogue. He was a lecturer at the rabbinical seminary and at universities in Buenos Aires and, after his retirement in 2018, at American universities: in Philadelphia (Saint Joseph's University, Gratz College) and now in Washington (Georgetown University).