World News
U.S. nun who started Holocaust seminars gets award from Yad Vashem
Published: July 3, 2007
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.
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