New Directions in Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Workshops for Catholic Religious Educators

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Q: Does the workshop target teachers of a particular grade level?
A: All teachers at all grade levels can profit from this workshop.
Q: Our textbooks have been newly revised. Do we need this workshop?
A: Although most current religion textbooks reflect the new direction of Vatican II in their presentation of Jews and Judaism, not all series and texts within the same series are equally clear or correct. The teacher must learn to assess each lesson with sensitivity to this problem.
Q: Do I have to teach Judaism now?
A: Whether they realize it or not, Christian teachers are already teaching about Jews and Judaism as they teach about Jesus and the early Church. The workshop aims only to make them more conscious and more careful as they do so.
Q: In this another exercise in "political correctness'?
A: No. This is an answer to the call to conversion sounded in the Gospel and echoed in the mandate of Vatican II.
Q: I'm not prejudiced.
A: Most Catholics have abandoned the anti-Jewishness of the past. Yet stereotypes continue to distort the way we think and talk about Jews. We all need help to recognize such "blind spots" in ourselves and to respond to them in our students.
Q: What is the cost of the workshop?
A: The workshop is offered free of charge.