My 40th anniversary = July 31

By FATHER JIM KANE- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

On July 31, I will be Diocesan Director for Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs for 40 years! For this 253rd “Our Neighbors’ Faith” column, I would like to share with you, in chronological order, my “Top 10” Ecumenical/Interfaith events during these 40 years:

1. Participated in two goodwill missions to Israel and Rome: Co-led by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, Rabbi Martin Silverman and Rev. Robert Lamar in 1983 and 1985. These missions led to the reconstituting of the Jewish-Roman Catholic Dialogue that began in 1968. Edward Cardinal Cassidy (Vatican) said Albany is the second best diocese in the U.S. for Jewish-Catholic Relations — at CSR on March 29, 2001.

2. Participated in the “From Fear to Friendship” Service of Reconciliation and Atonement with the Jews at our Cathedral on March 23, 1986. The “Portal” sculpture of a Jew and Christian in embrace stands outside our Cathedral.

3. Hosted the national Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue meeting at our two Cathedrals on June 18, 1986. This led to our two Cathedrals being in a “covenant.” (June 16, 1987). One of the great honors of my 40 years was being named an honorary Canon of All Saints Episcopal Cathedral on Nov. 7, 1999.

4. Participated in the planning of the Albany Billy Graham Crusade in July 1990. This opened some doors to the local evangelical Protestant community

5. Participated in the dedication of the Buddhist Peace Pagoda in Grafton on Oct. 2, 1993.

6. On Sabbatical in Israel — at Tantur Ecumenical Institute (founded by Pope Paul VI and run by Notre Dame) in 1995. One of the courses I took was on Islam and one of my accomplishments of which I am most proud is the 82 times I have presented “Islam 101” throughout our Diocese. I attended a lecture to black Muslims by Francis Cardinal Arinze on Aug. 16, 1998.

7. Attended a lecture by the Dalai Lama (with Bishop Hubbard) in Albany on May 6, 2009.

8. Visited the new Church of Jesus Christ of latter-Day Saints Temple (non-Mormons not admitted after the dedication) in Hartford, Conn., with Father Dan Dwyer, OFM, on Sept. 27, 2016.

9. Attended a service (with both of our bishops) for the Dedication of St. Mary and St. George Coptic Church in Albany on Sept. 19, 2018 and met Coptic Pope Tawadros II.

10. Attended the Dedication Service for the Capital District Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Niskayuna on April 28, 2022. The memorial is to be built on cemetery land donated by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, who spoke during the dedication.