Bring Anti-Semitic Institute to Catholic University!

by Michael Sean Winters

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In this morning's Washington Post, Walter Reich explains that Yale University is shutting down what has been, heretofore, the best academic institute for the study of Anti-Semitism in the country. He suggests that the Institute come to a major D.C. university and mentions Catholic University among them.
The value of bringing such an Institute to CUA is obvious: Few hatreds have produced greater evil in Western civilization than the hatred of the Jews, so the need to study it is obvious for any university. But, because that hatred has a decidedly religious character, and has often, tragically, found a way to thrive within the Christian community, it would be especially helpful to locate such an institute at a religious university. After all, when you study anti-Semities, you are not studying Jews.
Catholic University could not only link with other pontifical universities in Europe to study anti-Semitism there, but could also work with Catholic schools in Latin America to look at how Jews fared in those cultures. The worldwide network of Catholic universities could be tapped to examine ways that anti-Semitism is still at work spreading its evil. This could be a big step towards the "purification of memory" that Blessed Pope John Paul II called for during his visit to the Holy Land.
I am not an administrator, so I am sure that there are challenges in bringing such an Institute to CUA, but the difficulties will argue for themselves. Here is a grand conception that is worth examining.

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