New York University’s Stefano Albertini, director of NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, and Lawrence Schiffman, chair of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, are available for comment on Pope John Paul II and the Vatican.
Albertini, also a member of the faculty at NYU’s Department of Italian Studies, is an expert on church-state relations. He’s written Don Primo Mazzolari e il Fascismo, 1921-1943 (Fondazione Mazzolari, 1988), a historical account of church-state relations in Italy during fascism, and is a close observer of the Vatican.
Schiffman, also the Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU, has served as a member of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee and the International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations. He was a delegate to the official Jewish Vatican dialogue meetings held in New York City in 2001 and Buenos Aires in 2004. In 2003, he was a member of the Jewish delegation of scholars and rabbis that met with a group of cardinals in New York. His published works include Who Was a Jew? Rabbinic and Halakhic Perspectives on the Jewish Christian Schism (Ktav, 1985) and Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls (Jewish Publication Society, 1994)
Reporters interested in speaking with these faculty members should contact James Devitt, Office of Public Affairs, at 914.522.3774 (Sunday, April 3) or 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu (beginning Monday, April 4).