Today, on the eve of August 9, the feast day of the patron saint of the Association of Hebrew Catholics, an inaugural ceremony was held, focusing on the life of Edith Stein – a saint of two worlds. The ceremony also included a Holy Mass followed by a prayer for the victims of the Holocaust and the Righteous Among the Nations.
A bridge between two worlds
In his inaugural lecture, Father Jaquin Paniello presented Edith Stein as a figure symbolizing a bridge between Christianity and Judaism. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was born into a Jewish family on the day of Yom Kippur. As Father Paniello emphasized: She did not deny her origins; they were very important to her. She believed that Jews and Christians shared common roots (...) The date of her birth, Yom Kippur, a holiday of atonement and repentance, was also significant. She interpreted this date as a sign that she should devote her life to these practices. She converted to Christianity in 1922, despite opposition from her family.
An attitude of courage
Edith Stein, as an exceptionally talented woman, devoted herself to academic work until 1933, when she was forced to give it up due to the introduction of anti-Jewish laws. After Hitler came to power, she felt called to join a convent and help those in need. As Fr. Paniello emphasized: She was not only a philosopher and thinker, but also actively worked to help others. She was 42 years old when she entered the convent of the Discalced Carmelite Sisters. It was a very courageous decision. She must have been very humble to enter the novitiate at that age and study alongside young girls, said Fr. Paniello. According to the sisters' accounts cited during the lecture, Edith was characterized by great serenity in suffering; she also liked to laugh, especially at herself.
Due to the intensifying persecution of people of Jewish origin in Germany, in 1938 she was transferred to a convent in the Netherlands. Shortly afterwards, the German occupation also reached that area and nowhere was safe. In 1942, after Dutch bishops announced their opposition to the deportation of Jews, the Gestapo arrested Edith, her sister Rosa, and other Catholic nuns of Jewish origin in retaliation. She said to her sister: “We must be with our brothers and sisters, even and especially in this suffering,” quoted Fr. Paniello. They were transported to Auschwitz and murdered in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942.
Martyr and saint
The Catholic Church recognized Edith Stein's martyrdom. In 1987, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and then canonized in 1998. As Fr. Paniello admitted, at that time there were some voices of uncertainty about the canonization of a person of Jewish origin, but Pope John Paul II saw no problem with it. During the canonization, the pope said: “Eleven years later, I have the opportunity to solemnly present this distinguished daughter of Israel and faithful daughter of the Church as a saint of the whole world.”
In 1999, St. Edith Stein was proclaimed one of the patron saints of Europe. To this day, she is considered a bridge between Christianity and Judaism and a symbol of courage and solidarity in suffering.
About the AHC
As reads on the Association’s website:
The Hebrew Catholic Association is an association of Catholics of Jewish and non-Jewish descent. The Association was founded in 1979 by Father Elias Friedman, a Hebrew Catholic and Carmelite friar who lived at the Stella Maris Monastery on Mount Carmel until his repose in 1999, and Andrew Scholl, a Holocaust survivor. The Association of Hebrew Catholics was established in the United States and shortly thereafter the printing arm of the Association, Miriam Press, was founded. In 1987, the Association published Father Elias' book, "Jewish Identity." The book was given the Imprimatur by the Archbishop of New York. "Jewish Identity" forms the theological and historical background for the Hebrew Catholic Association.
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