Worcester, MA- The Assumption College Rabbi Joseph Klein Lecture took place this evening, Thursday, March 23, at 7:00 p.m. This year's speaker, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, spoke about "Good News, Bad News: Extraordinary Achievements and Current Tensions in Catholic-Jewish Relations." By coincidence, his speaking at Assumption took place the same day that Pope John Paul II visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yoffie is a native of Worcester and since 1996 the President of The Union of American Hebrew Congregations. At this evening's lecture, the College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Rabbi Yoffie's lecture reflected on the Pope's remarks that were delivered at Yad Vashem at 5:00 a.m. EST this morning. On this most important of occasions, Rabbi Yoffie commented, "One can't help but be impressed by the fact that this is a deeply personal journey for the Pope and that the tragedy of the Shoah has a profoundly personal meaning for the him. He was expressing his sorrow not only as head of a billion member church, but, also, as a man who knew personally so many victims of the slaughter."

"I believe that Jews everywhere were touched by the ceremony and by his words, which so clearly came from his heart, and that following this visit and this event, Catholic-Jewish relations will be immeasurably strengthened," said Yoffie.

For more information, please contact Heidi M. Paluk, director of Media Relations, at (508) 767-7173.
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