In recent decades the Catholic Church has undergone a significant theological and political change in regard to its attitudes towards to Jewish people and its state. Three Popes have visited Israel; four of them declared the struggle against antisemitism as essential, and encouraged the believers to remember, especially following the Holocaust and contrary to Medieval preaching, that the Jews are the elder and beloved brothers of the Christianity, and the olive tree from which Christianity sprang. The first question this presentation will try to answer is, what was the Jewish and Israeli response to these changes?

Art and literature in the modern and post-modern world have undergone massive changes as well. Our second question is related to the image of Jesus of Nazareth in Israeli and Jewish art and literature: has His image changed since large parts of the Jewish people became secular, and since the establishment of the state of Israel? An attempt to answer will be accompanied by a visual presentation.

 The lecture will be followed by a panel debate with:

Prof. Dr. Máté Hidvégi (Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies, OR-ZSE, Budapest)

Prof. Dr. Szabolcs Szuromi, Rector of the Péter Pázmány University Budapest

The lecture will be held in English.