Two Catholic school teachers from Colorado, just back from one of the Anti-Defamation League’s premiere educational programs, say they are better prepared and committed to incorporating lessons from the Holocaust in their social studies classrooms.

Linda Digan, a middle school teacher at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School in Denver, and Fran Clay, a middle school teacher at Divine Redeemer Catholic School in Colorado Springs, participated in the Bearing Witness Summer Institute, July 20-25 in Washington, D.C.

The Eileen Ludwig Greenland National Bearing Witness Summer Institute brings together approximately 40 Catholic school educators from around the country to engage in five days of intensive study designed to give them the skills and resources necessary to bring the lessons of anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and modern-day prejudice to their students and school communities.

The program takes place at various sites around Washington, D.C., including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Embassy of Israel, Georgetown University, and a local synagogue. Specialists in the fields of Jewish studies, Holocaust studies, and Catholic-Jewish relations lead the sessions.

“It was my honor and privilege to recently attend the Bearing Witness Institute in Washington D.C.,” said Fran Clay. “Over the course of the program, I was able to hear the story of the Jewish community within the narrative of the Holocaust and the problems that are faced today because of anti-Semitism. I feel a great responsibility to continue to open the hearts and minds of my students to continue the dialogue between the Jewish community and the Catholic community in embracing our shared devotion and love of Our Lord.”

Bearing Witness is a unique professional development opportunity designed to provide Catholic school educators with the training and resources necessary to teach their students about the historical relationship between Jewish and Catholic communities and the impact of that relationship on Catholic teaching, catechesis and liturgy.

Bearing Witness is a partnership between ADL, the National Catholic Educational Association, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and local dioceses. Since its inception, Bearing Witness has trained more 1900 Catholic school educators across the country.