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VASHEM-GEMMA Jul-3-2007 (330 words) With photos. xxxi
U.S. nun who started Holocaust seminars gets award from Yad Vashem
By Judith Sudilovsky
Catholic News Service
JERUSALEM (CNS) -- A Catholic nun from Pennsylvania is the first non-Jew and non-Israeli to receive Yad Vashem's Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education.
Sister Gemma del Duca, a Sister of Charity and former chair of the history department at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa., has been leading seminars for Holocaust education with the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial for two decades.
The seminars, started on her initiative, are intended for groups of Catholic educators and clergy, primarily from the United States. According to Yad Vashem, hundreds of educators have taken part in the seminars.
A native of Greensburg, Pa., Sister Gemma has been living in Israel since 1975, and she approached Yad Vashem with her idea in 1987 in response to Pope John Paul II's call to recognize the significance of the Holocaust.
"(Sister) Gemma is the person who opened the door here to bringing Catholic educators to Yad Vashem," said Ephraim Kaye, who works with international educators at Yad Vashem. "They have been a real dedicated and determined group of people who take back what they have learned here. We have (Sister) Gemma to thank for that. It is really not to be taken for granted."
Her presence as lecturer and coordinator of the program is one of the most important components of the seminar, said Kaye, adding that Sister Gemma offers emotional support for participants as they undergo a very difficult course of learning about the history of Catholic anti-Semitism and the role of Catholics in the Holocaust.
"(Sister) Gemma is one of the gentlest souls I have ever met," he said. "She has tremendous humility, modesty and intelligence."
Sister Gemma received the award July 1. Among those who attended the ceremony were Yuli Tamir, Israeli minister of education; Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem; Dorit Novak, director of the International School for Holocaust Studies; and JoAnne Boyle, president of Seton Hill University.
END
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