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Rumi Forum, Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington, and Washington Theological Consortium present the 6th Interfaith Leadership Forum: “Covenantal Partnership with God and Other Faiths: The Legacy of Nostra Aetate” on March 4, 2025, at 5:30 pm at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, VA. The program features an interfaith panel. Presented during the month of Ramadan, the program will include an Iftar dinner.

“Covenantal Partnership” is a sociological framework for going beyond tolerance to constructive engagement with other faiths. This event will expand upon a theological rationale for Covenantal Partnership with other faiths, based on the theology of the historic document from the Second Vatican Council, Nostra aetate, (trans. “In Our Age”). The declaration draws on covenantal theology in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures to frame a deeper relationship between Christians and Jews, and by extension with Muslims and other faiths. The speakers are experts in their field and know the legacy of this document well.

Dr. John Borelli

John Borelli received a doctorate in history of religions and theology in 1976 from Fordham University, where he taught as a full-time lecturer during his final year of graduate studies. He had graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from St. Louis University in 1968. Beginning in the fall 1976, he oversaw Religious Studies at the College of Mount St. Vincent for the next eleven years and served on the Ecumenical Commission of the Archdiocese of New York for eight years prior to his departure for Washington in 1987. From 1982, he was the staff researcher and writer for that commission working part-time. In 1982, he co-founded the Faiths in the World Committee for the Catholic Association of Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officers, which is still in existence today. In 1985, he co-founded the Catholic-Muslim Dialogue of New York. During his final year in New York, 1986-1987, he also served part-time as general secretary of Religions for Peace—USA.

He is currently Special Assistant for Catholic Identity and Dialogue to President John J. DeGioia of Georgetown University, a position he had held since February 2004. In addition, he has served as Coordinator for Interreligious Dialogue and Relations for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States since 2004.  Prior to these appointments, Dr. Borelli served sixteen years (1987 to 2003) as Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Rabbi Gerry Serotta

After six years as the founding rabbi of Shirat HaNefesh, Rabbi Gerry Serotta served as Executive Director of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington from 2014 through 2020, where he continued his work as a leading voice for interfaith cooperation, religious freedom, and human rights. Rabbi Serotta has served as Executive Director of the interreligious organization Clergy Beyond Borders, Associate Rabbi of Temple Shalom in Chevy Chase, MD, and director of the Hillel Foundation at George Washington University. He was the founder and chair of Rabbis for Human Rights – North America, and he chaired the Board of Chaplains of George Washington University.

Rabbi Serotta received a master’s degree in Hebrew Literature from Hebrew Union College, a Master of Sacred Theology from New York Theological Seminary, and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College. He is married to Dr. Cynthia J. Arnson.

Dr. Pim Valkenberg

Pim (Wilhelmus G.B.M.) Valkenberg was born in the Netherlands where he studied theology at the Utrecht State University and the Catholic Theological University of Utrecht. After his M.A. in theology (with specializations in dogmatic theology and phenomenology of religions) and an M.Div. in pastoral studies, he worked for the Diocese of Breda as a specialist on adult education, and for the Netherlands School of Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion as research fellow.

After the public defense of his dissertation on Thomas Aquinas and the use of Scripture in his theology, he became an assistant and later associate professor of dogmatic theology and the theology of religions at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (1987-2007). He contributed to the establishment of a new Department of Religious Studies in 1991 with a focus on interreligious dialogue, and as associate dean of education between 1999 and 2004 he was responsible for the development of new programs of intercultural theology and pastoral studies. Dr. Valkenberg’s recent research concentrates on Christian-Muslim dialogue in the context of Abrahamic partnership, both in the present and in the past. He has been Ordinary Professor of Religion and Culture at The Catholic University of America, and is currently Professor Emeritus.

Join us for this evening of presentations and dialogue.

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About the Interfaith Leadership Forum

Interfaith Leadership Forum (ILF) is a DMV area learning platform that aims to make the existing expertise, capacity, and scholarship on interfaith engagement available to clergy, educators, public servants, and other interested individuals. The Forum is a partnership of the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington, Rumi Forum, and Washington Theological Consortium.

ILF aims to promote pluralism by convening leaders of various religious, ethnic, racial, cultural, and gender backgrounds to exchange ideas and generate an action-oriented agenda. It provides a venue where a diverse group of community leaders, scholars, clergy, and public officials can engage in in-depth discussions on shared values and explore ways to harness them for social action. ILF is open to all individuals interested in advancing their interfaith literacy and serving the community as interfaith mobilizers in their professional or individual capacities.