Jerusalem, 10 December 2010 – On Friday, December 10, 2010 the Pontifical Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center hosted a congress entitled “The Mystery of Magdalene” organized by the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum College and the Pontifical Notre Dame of Jerusalem Institute.

The congress, attended by Archbishop Antonio Franco, Apostolic Delegate of Jerusalem and His Beatitude Archbishop Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, focused on the biblical figure of Mary Magdalene and the recent archeological discovery on the property of the Legionaries of Christ’s “Magdala Center.”  Amongst other artifacts, the archaeologists found a first-century synagogue  that was destroyed during the Jewish revolt against the Romans in the years 66 and 70 AD.  The discovery was presented by Father Juan María Solana, LC, Chargé of the Holy See for the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, and founder of the Magdala Center.

While focusing on the important role of women in the Holy Land, the congress emphasized the figure of Mary Magdalene from an archeological perspective (Father Eugenio Alliata, OFM, Professor of  Theology  at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem, and Dr. Dina Avshalom-Gorni, archeologist from the Israel Antiquities Authority and protagonist of the synagogue discovery), from the theological perspective (Father José Fortea, theologian and exorcist, and Father Pedro Barrajón, LC, Rector of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum of Rome), from the artistic perspective (Prof. Yvonne Dohna Buggräfin, from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome) and from the interreligious perspective (Prof. Andreu Rocha Scarpetta, from the  University Abat Oliba CEU of Barcelona).

This congress is just one of many academic activities carried out by the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum College, together with the Pontifical Notre Dame Institute of Jerusalem, with the hope of developing constructive dialogue between the different religious traditions in the Holy Land.