Change in the church, change in the classroom: Institutionalizing Holocaust education in American Catholic high schools

What do American Catholic high schools teach about the Holocaust? After the Vatican's groundbreaking We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah , American bishops published guidelines in 2000 for teaching about the Holocaust, Jews and Judaism entitled. Catholic Teaching on the Shoah: Implementing the Holy See's 'We Remember.'; This study reviews Holocaust education curricula from 34 Massachusetts Catholic schools. Analysis determined how closely the schools' collective approach matched the bishops' guidelines, and how deeply the subject penetrated each school's curriculum. The literature identifies factors influential to the Church's decision to institutionalize Holocaust education, why follow-up is lacking, and why outcomes differ from the guidelines. Research on collective memory suggests how an evolving self-understanding might have figured into the Church's goals for creating a Holocaust memory for Catholics.