A thought-provoking series for people seeking a learning community dedicated to exploring life's meaning and purpose. The series engages the religious, sociopolitical, and scientific issues of our time to identify the best of human values and stimulate thoughtful, creative responses for the enrichment of all peoples and stewardship of our earth.

Nazareth Interfaith Centennial Summit

Learning to Live, Together, in Love

Responding to Nazareth University’s Centennial theme of Uniting Education and Action, the William H. Shannon Chair in Catholic Studies is proud to co-sponsor Nazareth University's Interfaith Centennial Summit to examine spirituality as a springboard, bringing us together as companions who share a life-affirming vocation - to offer hope, to embody compassion, and to be instruments of change.

Spring Summit

1 p.m. to 6 p.m. April 6, 2025
Shults Center Forum

Pope Francis' World Day of Peace message (January 1, 2025), reminds us that true peace comes from hearts "disarmed" of selfishness, hostility, and anxiety. In the face of social, political, economic, and religious discord, the Pope has declared 2025 a Jubilee Year of Hope. The path to peace, he affirms, calls for a "graced hope" to light the way.

The Spring 2025 Centennial Interfaith Summit will explore how spirituality enkindles connection and enlivens our desire to seek to do good with our lives by featuring noted scholars from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions who will reflect on how resources in their respective tradition underpin and inspire initiatives for interfaith dialogue, peace building, and just relationships — and how being grounded in a tradition supports and challenges them to learn to live, together, in love.

During the Summit — blending presentations and dialogue — we will:

  • discover how each panelist's tradition grounds and inspires initiatives for interfaith dialogue, peacebuilding, and fostering just and compassionate relationships.
  • participate in facilitated table conversation to break open new ways of peacebuilding at Nazareth and in our communities.
  • engage in significant Q&A, sparking discussion focused on fostering just and compassionate relationships at Nazareth and beyond.
  • reflect: What takeaways inspire you to engage dialogue, peace-making, and just relationships with creativity and hope? What resources awaken your imagination to respond to "the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties" of our time?

Speakers

Najeeba Syeed, J.D.
Title: Peacebuilding in Times of Crises

Sister Raffaella Petrini, Ph.D.
Title: Paradigm Shifts: Fostering a Leadership of Care

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Ph.D.
Title: With Strong Hands and Outstretched Arms: Extending our Circle of Compassion and Care

Fall 2024 Summit

Under the banner of “Learning to Live, Together, in Love,” the Fall 2024 Summit (September 20-21, 2024) focused on Nazareth’s mission that is informed by the charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph: to serve the neighbor without distinction. From its beginning in 1924, Nazareth has been committed to education and action — a legacy that is alive today through dynamic curricula and programs designed to respond to the needs of today. Presentations by artist Alan Pascuzzi, Sister Jean Bellini, and Sister Patricia Schoelles offered insights into how their liberal learning experience at Naz became the underpinning and incentive for their courageous, gutsy, and vigorous response to the challenges facing them. The witness of their lives offers significant testimony to how Nazareth’s mission continues today in profound and unique expressions.