Two St. Joseph’s University students are sharing insights about Catholic and Jewish religious traditions with young adults from across the United States.
Seniors Matthew Dunne and Joe Pro were appointed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs as part of the inaugural interfaith dialogue between Jewish and Catholic young adults.
Last spring the USCCB and the American Jewish Community (AJC) hosted three such interfaith dialogues with St. Joseph’s University.
Matthew Dunne is a St. Joseph’s University senior with a double major in international business and business intelligence and analytics, with a theology minor. He is a member of St. Eleanor Parish in Collegeville.
Attendees, including Dunne and Pro, broke into small groups and shared their thoughts and personal experiences on discussion topics such as, “How do you view the common good?,” “What steps can we take to continue to foster positive relations between our communities?” and “How can we take these discussions and move them into practice?”
“I will always be thankful to St. Joe’s because I never would have had an opportunity to do something so different and something that’s been really rewarding,” said Dunne, a member of St. Eleanor Parish in Collegeville, Montgomery County..
Dunne, who is double majoring in international business and business intelligence and analytics with a theology minor, has studied the history of Jewish and Christian relations. He has taken an advanced course in understanding the differences between Jewish and Christian interpretations of Scripture with St. Joseph’s professors Adam Gregerman and Philip Cunningham.
His personal experience with interfaith conversations encouraged him to study and participate in the formal dialogues between members of the Jewish and Catholic traditions.
“I have become passionate about learning about the different dialogues between the two faiths,” said Dunne. “I think this generation is going to determine how the next few generations are going to play out with how we treat each other.”
Joe Pro is a St. Joseph’s University senior double majoring in accounting and business intelligence and analytics. He is a member of St. Thomas More Parish in the Diocese of Camden.
Pro is a member of St. Thomas More Parish in the Diocese of Camden. Double majoring in accounting and business intelligence and analytics, and a recipient of the Joseph M. Ragan ’69 scholarship in accounting, he is active in several student organizations at St. Joseph’s.
He has been involved in organizing faith reflection opportunities for his peers at the university and has also studied the history of the Jewish and Catholic religious traditions. A participant in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Pro is committed to faith discernment and dialogue as part of his college experience.
“St. Joseph’s blew away all my expectations by just allowing me all these different avenues and opportunities to grow my faith,” said Pro.
As both men look to enter the workplace in the spring, they hope to continue having these important interfaith dialogues.
“When you look at the world of business, you have to learn how to be among other people, communicate with them and form relationships. And I think that’s what these interfaith dialogue opportunities allowed me to do,” said Pro.
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Writer Layal Srour is a senior at St. Joseph’s University. This story first appeared in the university’s 2024 annual report.
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