A Tale of Two Popes: Pope Pius XII and John Paul II (Prof. Stephen Berk)

Two brilliant men faced different and difficult times. One by the sin of omission dishonored his church. The other changed history and transformed Jewish Catholic relations.
Stephen M. Berk, who served as CSP's 10th Annual One Month Scholar in Residence in February 2011, is Professor of History at Union College in Schenectady, New York, former Chair of the Department of History, Director of the Program in Russian and Eastern European Studies and Faculty Advisor to the Jewish Student Organization. He is the author of Year of Crisis, Year of Hope: Russian Jewry and the Pogroms of 1881-1882 (Greenwood Press, 1985). He is currently writing a book titled: ”Our People Are Your People: American Jewry and the Struggle for Civil Rights 1954-1965.” The book provides an interesting discussion of an extremely important chapter in the history of the civil rights movement and attempts to dispel the myths and misunderstandings surrounding the Black-Jewish relationship. A recipient of the Citizens Laureate Award of the University of Albany Foundation, Professor Berk has been a consultant to the Wiesenthal Holocaust Center in Los Angeles, has written articles on Russian and Jewish history, anti-Semitism, and the Middle East and has lectured on throughout the United States and Canada - including such distinguished colleges and universities as Princeton, Vanderbilt, The University of Texas at Austin and Williams College.

[@Phillygirl-yf8rj]

Excellent program. Looking forward to the next lecture by Dr.Berk.

[@philiproseel3506]

An excellent lecture. As a catholic, this is the type of information which I wanted to learn. Many years ago, I did begin to wonder about the many awful things the church was involved in. Your lectures have helped me to understand that this faith, indeed all faiths, are human and, therefore, fallible.