Remembering and Forgetting: The Vatican, the German Catholic Hierarchy, and the Holocaust

Abstract

Abstract This study critically reviews We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, a statement the Vatican issued on March 16, 1998. Following a summary of the many positive developments in Catholic-Jewish relations since the Second Vatican Council's landmark Nostra Aetate of 1965, the article analyzes the 1998 pronouncement, focusing on a perceived attempt by the Vatican to absolve the Church of responsibility in the Holocaust. The study addresses the distinction the Vatican makes between Christian anti-Judaism and Nazi antisemitism, as well as its positive interpretation of the role Pope Plus XII and the German Catholic Church played during the Nazi era. Finally, it summarizes other statements by several national Catholic episcopates since the mid-1960s that address the anti-Jewish stance of their followers during the Nazi era. All of these contributed to a historic reconciliation between Catholics and Jews, but points of disagreement remain to be addressed.