[1]  Interestingly, while the Holocaust is clearly the context of Jules’ Isaac’s study and the two historical papers, it is not dealt with separately on its own as an agenda item, but simply listed as one of the chain of Jewish tragedies suffered at the hands of Christians over the centuries.  Nor is the term, “Holocaust” (or Shoah) used in the book, but just the reference to “Auschwitz.”  This was, of course, before either term came into common usage in Jewish, much less general conversation.  The fact that these terms are commonly used in the general population in Western society, of course, reflects the deep impact of the dialogue on contemporary society.  Ironically but also significantly, the term, “deicide,” is one with which most Catholics born after the Council are unfamiliar.

[2]  The US Conference of Catholic Bishops published in Catholics Remember the Holocaust the text of the Holy See’s statement in 1998 along with statements by European and US bishops’ conferences commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and a statement clarifying key points of We Remember by Cardinal Edward I Cassidy.  In 2000 the US bishops published guidelines for implementing We Remember, entitled, Catholic Teaching on the Shoah.

[3]  Scharper, op. cit., 27.  It should be noted that both Baum and Sheerin, in the years following the Latrobe conference modified their views to accept a greater amount of continuity between Christian and Nazi anti-Semitism.

[4]  Joint communiqués of the national dialogues with both the National Council of Synagogues (Conservative and Reform Judaism) and the Orthodox community can be found on the website of our Bishops’ Conference: www.usccb.org.

[5]  See, for example, the essays in Eugene Fisher, editor, The Jewish Roots of Christian Liturgy (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1990).

[6] E.g., Joseph Gutman, “Christian Influences on Jewish Customs,” in Leon Klenicki and Gabe Huck, editors, Spirituality and Prayer: Jewish and Christian Understandings (Paulist Press, 1983) 128-138.

[7]  The website of The Center for Christian-Jewish Learning of Boston College () contains a link to the Holy See’s text as well as a number of excellent commentaries.

[8]  An excellent summary of Augustine’s position, which was contrary to that of his mentor, Ambrose of Milan, can be found in Marc Saperstein, Moments of Crisis in Jewish-Christian Relations (London: SCM Press and Philadelphia: Trinity Press, 1989). 

[9]  Tommaso Federici, “Mission and Witness of the Church,” in International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee, Fifteen Years of Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, 1970-1985 (Libraria Editrice Vaticana, 1988) 46-62.

[10]  See, Avery Dulles, SJ, “Covenant and Mission,”America (vol. 187, no. 12, Oct. 21, 2002) 8-11, and Eugene J. Fisher, “The Catholic Church and the Mystery of Israel: the State of the Question,” Josephinum Journal of Theology, 2004, vol. 11, no. 1, 14-25.

[11]  One can see the commonalities of social policy stances in the joint statements of the US Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations and the National Council of Synagogues over the years, .