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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