Francisco José Gómez de Argüello and Rabbi David Shlomo Rosen will be invested as doctors. honoris causa on Monday, October 25, in a solemn ceremony that will take place at the Francisco de Vitoria University. With this investiture, the University wishes to recognize the contribution of the new doctors to the dialogue between Jews and Christians. Argüello and Shlomo Rosen "have placed their friendship at the service of goodness and beauty" states the note in which this investiture was announced.
Among other things, it highlights the joint work that resulted in the symphony "The Suffering of the Innocents", composed by Argüello himself to pay a moving tribute to the innocents of the Shoah, and performed in 2012 at the Avery Fisher Hall in New York before the main representatives of the international Jewish community.
The new "honorary" doctors
Kiko Argüello is the initiator, together with Carmen Hernández He founded the Neocatechumenal Way in 1964, one of the most important realities of the Catholic Church in the last century. He is also a painter, writer, architect, sculptor and musician. At present, the Way has more than 21,000 communities and more than one million members present in 135 nations of the five continents and is acquiring a special presence and relevance in the university world to which it has contributed hundreds of professors.
In 1993 John Paul II appointed him as consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and confirmed him for the rest of his pontificate. The same decision was made by Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, the latter in 2014. Added to this is his appointment as consultor to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization in 2011 and auditor of the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops ("The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith") in 2012.
Pope Rabbi David RosenThe current International Director of Interfaith Affairs for the American Jewish Committee is one of the foremost Jewish leaders in this field. He was Chief Rabbi of Ireland and Chief Rabbi of the largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in South Africa. In November 2005, Pope Benedict XVI named him a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great for his contribution to promoting reconciliation between Catholics and Jews.
Among other awards, in 2016, the Archbishop of Canterbury presented him with the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation "for his commitment and contribution to the work of interfaith relations, in particular, the Jewish and Catholic faiths."
