The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation honored Sister Rose’s tireless work towards promoting Christian-Jewish relations during an event at the Museum of The Jewish Heritage, following a screening and discussion panel of the film ”Sister Rose’s Passion.”
Abigail Tenembaum, Vice President of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, presented the Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas Award to Sister Rose Thering in recognition for her work in improving the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, as well as fighting anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. Luna Kaufman, Board Chair of the Sister Rose Endowment, accepted the award on Sister Rose’s behalf.
Sister Rose has devoted her life to the promotion of Christian-Jewish relations and has been dedicated to the fighting of anti-Semitism. Among her important achievements, she banned the doctrine that blamed Jews for the death of Jesus. Her valuable work was influential to the creation of the Second Vatican Council and Nostra Aetate, document that will significantly turn 40 years on October 28, 2005.
Sister Rose is professor emeritus of secondary education at Seton Hall University in South Orange, where she helped establish the school’s graduate department of Jewish-Christian studies in the early 1970s. Thering was instrumental in creating the National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel in 1974 and helped design New Jersey’s state-mandated Holocaust education curriculum.
Winner of the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Documentary Short Award and Nominee for the 2005 Best Documentary Academy Award, ”Sister Rose’s Passion” tells the story of this exceptional woman, who has spent her life fighting anti-Semitism and promoting Holocaust remembrance. Director Oren Jacoby and Sister Mary Boys were available for a Q&A session with the audience after the screening.
This is one of the many initiatives of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, with branches in New York, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem and Caracas. The Foundation is a non-profit organization, whose goals are to promote peace among nations and people, as well as to develop educational projects based on concepts of solidarity, dialogue and understanding. We aim to promote this message and render homage to the actions and Heroes of the Holocaust, who like Raoul Wallenberg, risked their lives to save persecuted people during World War II. The Souza Dantas award is named after Brazilian diplomat Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas who saved hundreds in Europe during the Holocaust.
