Dr. Eugene Fisher to receive Nostra Aetate Award

Seton Hill University, through its National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education (NCCHE), established the Nostra Aetate Award to acknowledge distinguished and scholarly work done by an individual in the field of Catholic-Jewish relations. Named for the first Vatican II documents to address the Catholic Church’s relationship with non-Christian religions, the award recognizes work which has resulted in interfaith understanding and has promoted an increased awareness of the ways in which religious values are brought to bear on contemporary society.

 

This year, Dr. Eugene Fisher, will receive the Nostra Aetate Award for distinguished work in Catholic-Jewish Relations, on October 23, 2008, in St. Joseph Chapel at 6 p.m. As the Center’s 2008 award recipient, Dr. Fisher will join an outstanding group of honorees including Rev. John. T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D, Ms. Judith Hershcopf, Dr. Eva Fleischner, Dr. Jan Karski and Fr. Edward Flannery.

 

Dr. Fisher is the former Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in charge of Catholic-Jewish relations, a position he held since 1977. Dr. Fisher was the first layperson to hold the USCCB post.

 

Prior to 1977, Dr. Fisher was Director of Catechist Formation for the Archdiocese of Detroit, as well as adjunct professor of Sacred Scripture at St. John’s Seminary in Plymouth, MI, and for the Religious Studies Department of the University of Detroit. His doctoral degree is in Hebrew Culture and Education from New York University (1976).

 

Dr. Fisher, a long-time member of the NCCHE Advisory Board, is an active member of numerous learned and professional societies and associations, such as the Catholic Biblical Association, the National Association of Professors of Hebrew, and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). He has lectured widely throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America and Australia. He has published twenty books and monographs, and over 250 articles in major religious journals, many of which have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish and German for publication in Latin America and Europe.

 

In April of 1981, Dr. Fisher was appointed by Pope John Paul II to be Consulter to the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. In 1985, he was named a member of the International Vatican-Jewish Liaison Committee, representing the Holy Sec.

As Rev. John T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D, Advisory Board Chair and 2005 recipient of the Nostra Aetate Award said, “Those of us involved in Catholic-Jewish dialogue remain permanently indebted to Dr. Fisher for his years of implementing the vision of Nostra Aetate in the American Church and beyond. He brought together the documentation and resources that made such implementation a reality. He remains a valued voice regarding continuing issues in the ongoing discussion between Catholics and Jews.”