The Church, a 2020 documentary directed by Anat Tel, tells the story of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in contemporary Jerusalem, focusing on the various Christian denominations that share the place of worship, the Muslim families that serve as the guardians of the entrance key, and the Israeli police officer charged with maintaining the status quo of the ancient site.
Join us for an exclusive screening of this film, followed by a panel discussion featuring Fordham theology professors George Demacopoulos, Sarah Eltantawi, Sarit Kattan Gribetz, and Michael Peppard. Their areas of expertise cover Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; history, theology, art, ritual, sacred space, violence, and inter-religious relations; and the development of religion from antiquity to the present moment.
This event is co-sponsored by Fordham’s Center for Jewish Studies and the Orthodox Christian Studies Center. To see a trailer of the film, visit https://go2films.com/films/the-church/.
About the Panelists
Demacopoulos is the Father John Meyendorff & Patterson Family chair of Orthodox Christian Studies and co-founding director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham. He is the author of Colonizing Christianity: Greek and Latin Religious Identity in the Era of the Fourth Crusade (Fordham University Press, 2019), Gregory the Great: Ascetic, Pastor, and First Man of Rome (University of Notre Dame Press, 2015), The Invention of Peter: Apostolic Discourse and Papal Authority in Late Antiquity (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013), and Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007).
Eltantawi is an associate professor of modern Islam at Fordham and the author of Shari’ah on Trial: Northern Nigeria’s Islamic Revolution (University of California Press, 2017). She is currently working on a project on the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from 1928 until the present, as well as a book of essays that tackle problems ranging from Islamic reform to spiritual offerings of Islam for American Muslims.
Kattan Gribetz is an associate professor of Judaism and acting chair of Jewish studies at Fordham. She is the author of Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism (Princeton University Press, 2020) and is currently writing a book titled Jerusalem: A Feminist History.
Peppard is the professor of New Testament, Early Christian Studies, and Religion and Public Life in the theology department at Fordham. He is the author of The World’s Oldest Church: Bible, Art, and Ritual at Dura-Europos, Syria (Yale University Press, 2016) and The Son of God in the Roman World: Divine Sonship in its Social and Political Context (Oxford University Press, 2011).
This event is open to alumni, faculty/staff, parents, students, and the public.