26 | JULY 11 • 2024
and activists attended
a discussion on Jewish-
Catholic relations held at
the church, spearheaded by
the local Jewish Community
Relations Council/AJC and
the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The event was an attempt to
heal the old wounds struck
by Coughlin and by his
remaining loyalists in the
church.
But many Jews in
attendance were dismayed
to find that, in the midst of
interfaith dialogue in which
even the Shrine’s own staff
admitted Coughlin was
antisemitic, the version
of history captured on
the church’s grounds still
spoke of “accusations of
antisemitism.”
A revision was already
in the works, Shrine staff
and parishioners said at
the time. They brought
Smith and other Jews
into discussions about
what should be said about
Coughlin, and how the
church should frame
his legacy more than 80
years after the height of
his infamy. The changes
were then approved by
the Archdiocese, the same
body that had condoned
Coughlin’s antisemitism for
years as he spewed it from
the airwaves.
“We can’t erase our past,
but we should learn from
it,” Rev. John Bettin, current
head pastor at the Shrine,
told JTA. “All we can do is
look at our mistakes and
follow through that and do
better in the future.”
Bettin is relatively new
to the Shrine, which has
undergone significant staff
turnover in recent years.
He joined the parish in July
2023, after the revisions were
already underway, and was
not involved in their drafting.
Yet he said he agreed with
the decision to change the
material and, when the new
plaque and website went
up in November, offered a
blessing. Smith, meanwhile,
recited the Shehechiyanu, a
JEFF KOWALSKY/JTA
OUR COMMUNITY
continued from page 24
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