His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, was born November 1, 1932, in Eziowelle, a city of the Archdiocese of Onitsha, Nigeria. At age 15, he began his secondary studies at the Ali Hallowa Seminary of Nuewi, studies he concluded in 1950 at Enugu. For the following two years he taught at the same seminary. After studying philosophy at Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu and theology at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1958.

He later became a professor of liturgy at Bigard Memorial Seminary where he also taught logic and basic philosophy. He was transferred to London and took courses at the Institute of Pedagogy where he earned a diploma in 1964. On July 6, 1965 he was appointed to the titular church of Fissiana and named coadjutor to the Archbishop of Onitsha. On August 29, 1965 he was consecrated bishop and, two years later, in 1967, after being asked to take over the pastoral government of the archdiocese, he was named archbishop.

In 1979 his brother bishops elected him president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, a post he filled until 1984, when John Paul II asked him to head the Secretariat for Non-Christians (now the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue).

He remained Archbishop of Onitsha until April 1985. He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by John Paul II in the consistory of May 25, 1985 with the titular church of St. Giovanni della Pigna and elevated to the title of cardinal priest on January 29, 1996. On October 24, 1999 Cardinal Arinze was awarded a gold medallion from the International Council of Christians and Jews for his “outstanding achievements in inter-faith relations.”

Rev. Mark Gruber , O.S.B.

Associate Professor of Anthropology
St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA

Father Mark Gruber is an author, a retreat master, an educator and an anthropologist involved in research. His most recent book reflects the year he spent with Coptic monks in monasteries in Egypt. The book is really his personal journal of a year of field work in the Sahara Desert and is entitled, “Journey Back to Eden: My Life and Times Among the Desert Fathers.” Father Gruber describes his experience in Egypt as a lasting affirmation of his own faith.

Father Gruber is a monk of St. Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA. He earned a bachelor or arts degree in philosophy with high honors from St. Vincent College in 1978, a master of divinity degree with highest honors from St. Vincent Seminary in 1983, a master of arts degree in anthropology from the State University of New York in 1986 and a Ph.D. in anthropological sciences.

He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology/ Anthropology at St. Vincent College and serves as faculty advisor for all anthropology majors. Father Gruber is known in his local area and beyond for his recollections, parish missions and conventual retreats. His pastoral activities have included service as assistant chaplain to the Greensburg (PA) prison and retreat director for numerous communities of religious sisters and lay groups.

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