Nearly 40 Catholic educators from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles participated in the second annual Bearing Witness Institute this June. The Bearing Witness Institute is a professional development program designed to prepare Catholic school educators to teach about the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and contemporary issues of prejudice.

The Institute, originally initiated in Washington, D.C., is now offered to educators in this area through a partnership with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Participants heard from distinguished scholars such as Dennis McManus of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Michael Berenbaum at the Mount St. Mary's College Chalon campus.

The Bearing Witness Institute promotes dialogue between the Jewish and Catholic community. It provides Catholic educators the tools to understand and teach the evolution of the Catholic Church's relations with Jews and Judaism from historical and liturgical perspectives. Conference topics ranged from 'Jewish Beliefs and Practices,' "Catholic Church and the Holocaust," and "Integrating Anti-Bias and Holocaust Education in the Catholic Curriculum.'

Participants listened to testimonies of Holocaust survivors and learned of the work of rescuers. As an introduction to the Jewish culture, participants attended a model Sabbath dinner at a local synagogue. Second year participants were placed in an advanced track and enjoyed a full schedule of discussions with scholars and visited the Skirball Cultural Center. They also assisted their colleagues in developing lesson plans for the upcoming academic year.

The 'Bearing Witness' program is funded by the Freshman Family Foundation and the Halaj Family Foundation. The advanced track program is funded by the Jewish Community Foundation. At a dinner, Sam Freshman challenged all Catholic educators present to spread the power and importance of this program, not only to colleagues, but also to neighboring Catholic secondary and elementary schools in their areas.

Catholic-Jewish relations have created many inspirational opportunities for educators to build bridges and gain new tools. To learn more about this program visit ADL's website at www.adl.org.