Christians did and what most
Christians did not do."
That the program has been held
at Shrine, a Roman Catholic con-
gregation whose first pastor was the
avowed anti-Semite Father Charles
Coughlin, is a purposeful act of
contrition by the current pastor,
Monsignor William H. Easton,
Blewett said.
"Monsignor Easton is on the
institute's board of trustees. His
offer for, the third year to have the
service in the church is a way of
recognizing that this is also a heal-
ing process for the.Catholic corn-
munity and he wanted to make the
church available for that reason,"
Blewett said.
Easton opened the service, wel-
coming about 300 participants to
the famous church. The crowd has
grown each year, he said, with
about 200 in attendance last year.
He explained that the church had
recently been named a national
shrine by the conference of bishops
because the patroness of the congre-
gation, Saint Therese of Lisieux,
had been officially elevated in
esteem within the Catholic Church.
He said that it was appropriate to
have the celebration there as it fol-
lowed the philosophy of the saint, a
nun who died of tuberculosis at age
24.
"She would be one of the first
people to be behind what we are
doing today because of her open,
ness to God in everyone," he said,
before about a dozen clergy from
various Christian denominations
took over the service.
Honoring- The Righteous
The memorial began with a period
of silence, followed by a reading
from Genesis. A poem by concentra-
tion camp prisoner Martin
Niemoller and a quote from Pope
John Paul II were read before speak-
er Anneke Burke-Kooistra was
introduced.
Burke-Kooistra, now a resident of
Mayville, told the congregation
about her parents, Wopke and Heil
Kooistra, members of the Dutch
underground during World War II
who hid eight Jews in their home
for nearly three years. Burke-
Kooistra was 4 years old when the
strangers came to stay in a convert-
ed dining room and was unaware of
their presence until the war ended
.
Related Editorial: page 33
3;15
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2002
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