A Vatican cardinal marked the 80th anniversary Tuesday of the gas chamber killing of the Jewish-born Catholic convert Edith Stein by celebrating a Mass near the former Auschwitz death camp and telling the story of his own family’s Jewish origins and their fate under the Nazis.
Michael Czerny is one of cardinals most closely associated with Pope Francis’ pontificate. A Jesuit who ministered in El Salvador, Czerny heads the Vatican office responsible for Francis' priority portfolios of migration, the environment, development and social justice. A Czech-born Canadian, Czerny recently joined Francis on his landmark visit to Canada to apologize to Indigenous peoples for the Catholic Church’s role in running the country’s notorious residential schools.
