Edward Flannery

Edward H. Flannery (1912 – October 19, 1998) was a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, and the author of The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism, first published in 1965.

Fr. Flannery was the first director of Catholic-Jewish Relations for the U.S. Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, a position he held from 1967 to 1976. ^[1]

Early life

Flannery was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of a police officer. He studied at St. Charles College in Catonsville, St. Sulpice Seminary near Paris, and the Catholic University in Washington. He was ordained in 1937 and spent most of the next 30 years in the Diocese of Providence working as a pastor and chaplain as well as writing for the diocesan newspaper. ^[2]

Work

Flannery devoted his life to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews, and to the study of antisemitism. In an interview in 1967, he said: "The anti-Semite, not the Jew, is the real Christ-killer. He thinks he's religious, but that's a self-delusion. Actually he finds religion so heavy a burden, he develops 'Christophobia.' He's hostile to the faith and has an unconscious hatred of Christ, who is for him, Christ the Repressor. He uses anti-Semitism as a safety valve for this hostility and is really trying to strike out at Christ." ^[3]

Forms of antisemitism

Flannery traces antisemitism back to the 3rd century BCE. He identifies five strains:

• Political and economic antisemitism, giving as examples Cicero and Charles Lindberg;
• Theological or religious antisemitism, sometimes known as anti-Judaism;
• Nationalistic antisemitism, citing Voltaire and other Enlightenment thinkers, who attacked Jews for supposedly having certain characteristics, such as greed and arrogance, and for observing customs such as kashrut and shabbat;
• Racial antisemitism, as practised by the Nazis.

Flannery also was one of the 53 author's to respond to Simon Wiesenthal's book The Sunflower.

See also

• Antisemitism
• History of antisemitism
• New antisemitism
• Racial antisemitism
• Religious antisemitism

Notes

1. ^ "Leaders Mourn Passing of Father Edward Flannery, A Pioneer in Catholic-Jewish Relations", United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, October 20, 1998.
2. ^ Pace, Edward. "The Rev. Edward Flannery, 86, Priest Who Fought Anti-Semitism," New York Times, October 22, 1998.
3. ^ Pace, Edward (1998-10-22). "The Rev. Edward Flannery, 86, Priest Who Fought Anti-Semitism". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5DF103DF931A15753C1A96E958260. 

Further reading

• Flannery, Edward H. The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism, first published 1965; latest edition Paulist Press 2004.