Founding Catholic Theological Union Faculty Member John Pawlikowski Remembered as Pioneer in Christian-Jewish Relations

John T. Pawlikowski, a founding faculty member of Catholic Theological Union, died earlier this year at age 85. He was born in 1940 in Chicago, entered the Order of Friar Servants of Mary in 1958, and was ordained a priest in 1967. He later became a doctoral student at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he focused on Catholic-Jewish relations in the wake of the Holocaust and Vatican II. Robert Cathey, a retired Presbyterian minister and professor emeritus at McCormick Theological Seminary, wrote a tribute to him.

Pawlikowski was the author of ten books, and his articles, lectures, and unpublished papers fill 30 boxes cataloged by the Servites. He was a charter member in 1969 of the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations and served twice as president of the International Council of Christians and Jews. Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush appointed him to four terms on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. He also helped bring about the 1993 Parliament of the World’s Religions and served on its board as it held later gatherings in several cities. Cathey writes that Pawlikowski was instrumental in inviting other Christians and church-related institutions into this interreligious work.

Cathey also describes Pawlikowski’s theological work. According to the tribute, Pawlikowski criticized the idea that Jesus’ life fulfilled ancient prophecies in a way that set aside Jewish scripture, and he criticized what he called “blood Christology,” which centers on the passion and crucifixion. The tribute says he drew on the incarnational theology of John’s Gospel and emphasized God’s covenant with the Jewish people. Cathey writes that Pawlikowski applied this thinking to biblical studies, catechesis, liturgy, and theological ethics, and that he also worked on environmental ethics at the United Nations.

In 2015, Cathey told Pawlikowski that a Festschrift, a volume of essays in honor of a scholar, was being prepared for him. Pawlikowski was stunned by the news. When word of the book leaked out before the editorial deadline, two of his colleagues in Christian-Jewish relations asked to contribute chapters. The book, *Righting Relations After the Holocaust and Vatican II*, was published in 2018.

On July 9, 2026, the evening before his funeral mass, an interfaith service in his honor was held at Assumption Catholic Church in Chicago. Michael Siegel, rabbi emeritus at Anshe Emet Synagogue, gave the eulogy. Siegel said that when controversy arose between local Christians and Jews, Pawlikowski was willing to confront fellow Christians about what was at stake for the Jewish community, a practice of speaking the truth with care (Ephesians 4:15). Cathey notes that Siegel described Pawlikowski as a true friend of the Jewish people.

Cathey writes that Christian institutions have, for centuries, failed to protect the safety and autonomy of all people, and he grieves the resurgence of antisemitism and Islamophobia around the world. Siegel said Pawlikowski stood between the two communities as both a bridge and a self-critical voice, calling for deeper listening, repentance, and renewed relations.

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