Aaron Butts , assistant professor, Semitic languages and literatures, was interviewed by Catholic News Service and EWTN News Nightly about a recent Syriac Christian conference and display of artifacts on campus. The Arlington Catholic Herald also covered the conference. See below.
From: Catholic News Service (via the Pilot) Date: July 10, 2015 Author: Abbey Jaroma
Sitting in the May Gallery in the John K. Mullen of Denver Memorial Library at The Catholic University of America in Washington, one can feel immersed in 19th-century Syriac Christian life.
Held every four years since 1991, the North American Syriac Symposium brings together university professors, graduate students and scholars from around the country and abroad to discuss topics related to the language, literature and cultural history of Syriac Christianity. Catholic University is the only university to host the symposium twice.
Aaron Butts, an assistant professor in the Department of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures, told Catholic News Service the university "has a huge collection" of artifacts from Msgr. Henri Hyvernat that makes it "a great place to have the conference. You have all these original artifacts that just add an element that if you had the conference at another university, you wouldn't have."
Those artifacts include manuscripts, photographs and an incantation bowl.
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From: EWTN News Nightly Date: July 9, 2015
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From: Arlington Catholic Herald Date: July 1, 2015 Author: Christine Stoddard
As attacks against Christians in the Middle East continue, Christianity and Islam peacefully converged at the Seventh North American Syriac Symposium June 21-24 at Catholic University in Washington. Scholars explored everything from the portrayals of the Virgin Mary in the Quran to Christian law in medieval Iraq, with an emphasis on late antiquity.
In his presentation entitled, "Shaping Christian Law in Abbasid Iraq," Catholic U. Professor Lev Weitz, said, "Family structure and social laws were similar for Christians, Jews and Muslims. ... There was an integration of Christians into the Muslim world."
"Civil law was rooted in regional (not religious) patterns," he said. "There is this false assumption that Christian law in the Middle East stemmed from Roman law."
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Read more about Butt's expertise .