Since its founding in 1987, the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education at Seton Hill University has been steadfast in its efforts to support Holocaust education in schools, foster Catholic-Jewish dialogue and combat antisemitism.

As part of those efforts, the Center commemorated the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate during the annual Eva Fleischner Lecture this fall. Nostra Aetate is the 1965 Declaration on the Church’s Relationship to Non-Christian Religions issued by the Second Vatican Council.

The guest lecturer for the event was Dr. Elena Procario-Foley, who is the Brother John G. Driscoll Professor of Jewish-Catholic Studies, Professor of Religious Studies, and Director of the Core Curriculum at Iona University.

In an introduction at the lecture, The Most Rev. Larry J. Kulick, Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, offered remarks about the importance of Nostra Aetate, calling its issuance, “a profound moment of renewal and courage in the life of the Catholic Church.”

“Now 60 years later, we can see with even greater clarity what a watershed moment this was - not only for the Second Vatican Council - but for the life of the modern Church itself,” he said. “In an age and a time marked by war and division, polarization and disunity, this declaration calls the Church - the Body of Christ - to strive for the unity of all peoples, rejecting nothing that is true and holy in other religions.”

Procario-Foley, who spoke on the topic, “Dignity and Friendship: The Moral Authority of Jewish-Catholic Dialogue in Our Time,” said that 60 years ago, it would have been quite uncommon for Jews and Christians to get together to talk about their religious identities or their theological similarities and differences.

“Only 20 years distant from the Holocaust, and Christians - and not many I dare say - were only beginning to ask questions about the relationship of Christians, Christianity and Christian thought to the Holocaust,” she said.

And while much progress has been made - through centers like the NCCHE at Seton Hill - it is evident that more needs to be done when surveys show people around the world do not have an understanding of the gravity of the Holocaust and antisemitic violence continues to rise.

“Though these dialogues are today under some stress - they endure,” she said. “It is clear there is a moral necessity to build a bond and continue the work that Holocaust education and Christian-Jewish dialogue has begun.”

October's Fleischner Lecture was one of several events held during the fall semester by the NCCHE, including:

• The dedication of an Anne Frank Tree planted on campus. The sapling was propagated from the original horse chestnut tree that grew outside the annex where Anne Frank, her family and others hid from the Nazis. Donated by the Anne Frank Center USA, the tree - which was planted on the road leading to Caritas Christi and across from the Sisters of Charity cemetery - will serve as a space for reflection and remembrance.
• The Art and the Holocaust Workshop. Middle school students from two area Catholic schools gathered at Seton Hill to hear from Dr. Elizabeth Hlavek, a Maryland art therapist who has researched the art of the Holocaust extensively. The students made visual art related to the Holocaust and listened to music composed by people incarcerated in ghettos and camps. The workshop was supported by a leadership gift from Distinguished Alumna Janice Flood Nichols ‘69 and her husband, David Nichols, M.D.
• The annual Kristallnacht Interfaith Remembrance Service, which featured remarks by Shawn Brokos, a retired FBI supervisory special agent who oversaw the investigation into the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh in October 2018. Brokos now serves as director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, where she currently oversees physical security enhancements, Active Threat training and threat mitigation and serves as a law enforcement and community liaison for the 62 organizations that comprise Jewish Pittsburgh. During her remarks, Brokos discussed rising extremism today and ways to effectively combat bigotry to foster a more inclusive and peaceful society.

In the spring, Seton Hill will host a symposium and exhibition made possible by a gift from Distinguished Alumna Gloria Fiorelli Pollock ‘68 and her husband, Arthur. The Isadore M. and Ida D. Pollock Holocaust/Genocide Endowment for the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education at Seton Hill University will create and endow the event open to juniors and seniors in high school. Each year’s event will have a different theme related to Holocaust/Genocide topics. Junior and senior high school student participants will produce creative works - such as essays, poetry, artwork, music, dance or theatrical performances - that will be exhibited or performed at Seton Hill.

Other programming will also be expanded through a recent gift made to the NCCHE by the Westmoreland County Jewish Council in honor of Sister Gemma Del Duca, co-founder of the Center.