Hans Ucko (born 1946) is a priest of the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

and a member of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

(WCC). He has been extensively involved in interfaith dialog, particularly between Christians and Jews. He has written a number of books on the subject.

Birth and education

Hans Ucko was born in 1946 in Sweden and educated in France, Sweden, Israel, and India. He studied in Paris at the ''"Institut Eglise et Monde Juif"'' and in Jerusalem at the

Swedish Theological Institute The Swedish Theological Institute (STI) is an institute in Jerusalem supported by the Church of Sweden. Christian students of theology can gain a deeper understanding of Judaism at the Institute, and also of Christianity and Islam. Purpose The ...

and at the

Shalom Hartman Institute Shalom Hartman Institute is a Jewish research and education institute based in Jerusalem, that offers pluralistic Jewish thought and education to scholars, rabbis, educators, and Jewish community leaders in Israel and North America. The institu ...

. He obtained a Ph.D. in Theology from

Serampore College Serampore College is located in Serampore, in West Bengal, India. Established in 1818, it is the fourth oldest college in the country after Old Seminary, Kottayam (Established 1815), CMS College, Kottayam and Presidency College in Kolkata, a ...

, Calcutta.

Career

From 1981 to 1989 Ucko was the Church of Sweden's Executive Secretary for Jewish-Christian Relations, interreligious dialogue and East Asian Relations. Ucko was appointed Program Secretary in the WCC's Office on Interreligious Relations and Dialogue. He was President of Religions for Peace Europe. In 2003 he delivered the Dr Stanley Samartha Memorial lecture to the

Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue The Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD) is an organisation based in Bangalore, India that promotes dialog between people of different faiths, attempting to defuse tensions between religious communities such as Hindus, Christians and ...

, speaking on the topic: ''"Towards an ethical code of conduct for conversion"''. This became the subject of an article in ''"Current Dialogue"''. Ucko edits the WCC's ''"Current Dialogue"'' publication. He sits on the Board of Trustees of

Hartford Seminary The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut. History Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connecti ...

. He is an official observer at the

International Council of Christians and Jews The International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) is an umbrella organization of 38 national groups in 32 countries worldwide engaged in the Christian-Jewish dialogue. Founded as a reaction to the Holocaust, many groups of theologians, hist ...

. As of 2012 he was a member of the council of the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, and co-chair of the Arigatou Foundation's joint campaign with

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

Bibliography

Ucko has written several books and articles on inter-religious dialog. * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ucko, Hans 1946 births Living people 21st-century Swedish Lutheran priests 20th-century Swedish Lutheran priests