New York University’s Stewart Stehlin, a professor emeritus in history, 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.
Stehlin, who has lived and conducted research in the Vatican, has written Weimar and the Vatican, 1919-1933 (Princeton, 1983) as well as essays appearing in The Encyclopedia of the Vatican and Papacy (Greenwood Press, 1999), Controversial Concordats: The Vatican’s Relations with Napoleon, Mussolini, and Hitler (Catholic University of America Press, 1999), and Papal Diplomacy in the Modern Age (Praeger, 1994).
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 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edujames.devitt@nyu.edu.