The Holocaust and the Search for Forgiveness: An Invitation to the Society of Jesus?

Abstract

Pope John Paul II has led the Church into a new era in its relationship with the Jewish Community. Progress rests on painstaking efforts to uncover the truth, identify failures where they exist, and humbly seek forgiveness. Recent scholarship presents a complex picture in Europe both before and immediately after the Second World War, both in the local churches and at the Vatican. Such candor prompts a question: Should the Society of Jesus, serving its own role in the universal Church, review its own history during this dark period, and where necessary, join in the Church’s search for forgiveness?