The Holocaust, Never to Be Forgotten: Reflections on the Holy See's Document We Remember

by Avery Dulles, Leon Klenicki, Lawrence Boadt (Introduction)

On March 6, 1998, the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with Jews issued a document entitled We A reflection on the Shoah. This was an important statement for the Roman Catholic Church that acknowledged not only the tragic historical reality of the Holocaust, but responsibility for the Christian anti-Semitism that contributed to its happening. This document was the recipient of wide praise, some disappointment and much controversy. This small volume brings together the statement itself, Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy's reflection of its history and the controversy surrounding its appearance and two reflections by highly respected theologians in the Catholic-Jewish dialogue. Jesuit theologian Avery Dulles has written prolifically on the foundations of the Christian faith, while Rabbi Leon Klenicki has been productive on the fundamental principles that must govern Jewish-Christian interfaith relations. There is no better place for this document and reflections to appear than in the enduring and well-respected Stimulus Books series, which is dedicated to topics of vital interest to the Jewish-Christian dialogue. This moving, insightful and inspirational book will be a further step forward in the dialogue.

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Avery Robert Dulles, S.J. (1918-2008) was a Jesuit priest, theologian, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and served as the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University from 1988 to 2008. He was an internationally known author and lecturer.

Dulles was born in Auburn, New York, the son of future U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (for whom Washington Dulles International Airport is named) and Janet Pomeroy Avery Dulles. His uncle was Director of Central Intelligence Allen Welsh Dulles. Both his great-grandfather John W. Foster and great-uncle Robert Lansing also served as U.S. Secretary of State.

He received his primary school education in New York City at the St. Bernard's School and attended secondary schools in Switzerland and The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Dulles was raised a Presbyterian but had become an agnostic by the time he began college at Harvard in 1936. His religious doubts were diminished during a personally profound moment when he stepped out into a rainy day and saw a tree beginning to flower along the Charles River; after that moment he never again "doubted the existence of an all-good and omnipotent God." He noted how his theism turned toward conversion to Catholicism: "The more I examined, the more I was impressed with the consistency and sublimity of Catholic doctrine." He converted to Catholicism in the fall of 1940.

After graduating from Harvard College in 1940, he spent a year and a half in Harvard Law School, where he also founded the "St. Benedict Center" (which would become well-known due to the controversial Fr. Leonard Feeney S.J.), before serving in the United States Navy, emerging with the rank of Lieutenant. For his liaison work with the French Navy, he was awarded the French Croix de guerre.