In the tradition of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hill University (SHU) has consistently been a leader in social justice. This summer, one of SHU’s own was richly honored for just that commitment, when Sr. Gemma Del Duca, Sister of Charity (S.C.) was presented with an Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education.
The award was presented on July 1 by the International School for Holocaust Studies of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority administered by the government of Israel.
According to Wilda Kaylor, director of SHU’s National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education (NCCHE), Del Duca is the first non-Israeli and first non-Jew ever presented with this prestigious award. Del Duca helped found the NCCHE at Seton Hill in 1987, prompted by a long interest in human rights and by Pope John Paul II’s insistence that the Catholic faithful work to heed the historical and moral implications of the Holocaust.
By Megan Ritter,
Senior Staff Writer
In the tradition of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hill University (SHU) has consistently been a leader in social justice. This summer, one of SHU’s own was richly honored for just that commitment, when Sr. Gemma Del Duca, Sister of Charity (S.C.) was presented with an Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education.
The award was presented on July 1 by the International School for Holocaust Studies of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority administered by the government of Israel.
According to Wilda Kaylor, director of SHU’s National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education (NCCHE), Del Duca is the first non-Israeli and first non-Jew ever presented with this prestigious award. Del Duca helped found the NCCHE at Seton Hill in 1987, prompted by a long interest in human rights and by Pope John Paul II’s insistence that the Catholic faithful work to heed the historical and moral implications of the Holocaust.
Del Duca could not be reached for comment, but in a documentary produced by Yad Vashem in her honor she recounts how she first became active in social justice work when she taught public high school.
“I soon learned that I had to involve myself in the issues that my students were concerned about – civil rights and the Vietnam War all became issues for me,” said Del Duca.
Bringing this background with her to study in Israel, she said, “I began to realize that two things were necessary: the recognition of the state of Israel and the study of the Shoah [Hebrew for “complete destruction”; another term for the Holocaust] by Catholics.”
The NCCHE works to educate SHU students, the Pittsburgh metropolitan community, and Catholic educators across the continent in the issues that surround the Holocaust in particular and genocide in the abstract. Del Duca, who makes her home in Israel and returns to SHU for six weeks a year, administers the NCCHE’s Israel-based partner, the Catholic Institute for Holocaust Studies.
“Through the Institute Sr. Gemma has managed to reach over 200 Catholic educators who are taking what they’ve learned all over the world,” said Kaylor.
Of the importance of her work in Holocaust education, Del Duca says, “It definitely becomes more than an experience in education. It becomes something deeply personal. The study of the Shoah touches…on the level of faith, understanding of self, death, and sorrow. [Participants in the program] become profoundly changed.”
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