Examining Portrayals of Jews and Judaism in Catholic Religious Education

This paper examines Catholic RE curriculum documents from 2 jurisdictions to assess how well they present Jews and Judaism. It finds that their representations of Jews and Judaism rely on structures of thought, reinforced by normative Catholicism, that enable the conditions to reproduce supersessionist thinking and attitudes. Its conclusion argues that current Catholic RE curricula must confront the question of how to coordinate strong and generous presentations of Jews and Judaism with Christian teachings on fulfillment. No less, they must also confront the question of how to consider Judaism and Christianity as different only in kind, and not by degree.