"Pope Pius XII and the Jews"
Lecture sponsored by Ecumenical Institute at Assumption College
Worcester, MA—The Ecumenical Institute at Assumption College will present the annual Rabbi Klein lecture on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 7:00 p.m. The lecture will be delivered by Rabbi David Dalin of the Jewish Theological Seminary and is titled, "Pius XII and the Jews."
The topic is based on an essay Rabbi Dalin wrote which argues that the "wartime Pontiff did far more to rescue Jews during the Holocaust than any other ‘Righteous Gentile’ recognized by the state of Israel, including Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler.
During his lecture, Rabbi Dalin will consider the findings by Israeli diplomat Pinchas Lapide, whose 1967 work, Three Popes and the Jews, concluded "that the Catholic Church under the direction of Pius XII, was instrumental in saving at least 700,000 but probably as many as 860,000 Jews from certain death at Nazi hands." And from a Catholic perspective, Dalin will discuss his call to Christians and Jews to repudiate the ongoing anti-historical attempt led by dissident Catholics, to discredit Pius XII, the papacy, and orthodox Catholic teachings.
Rabbi Dalin is an Associate Professor of History at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
This is the fourth lecture in the series sponsored by the Institute. The Ecumenical Institute provides a forum for discussion of issues relevant to people of all faiths.
For more information, please contact Heidi M. Paluk at (508) 767-7173.