Edith Stein

 Edith Stein: An Introduction

to Her Life and Thought


For the fourth volume in this series the Editor has chosen articles about the recently beatified Carmelite nun and philosopher convert, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross/Edith Stein. Six authors examine the life, thought, martyrdom and beatification. Included is the full text of the homily given by Pope John Paul II at the beatification ceremonies in Cologne on May 1, 1987.


Homily at Beatification

“For Edith Stein baptism as a Christian was by no means a break with her Jewish heritage. Quite the contrary, she said: ‘I had given up my practice of the Jewish religion as a girl of 14. My return to God made me feel Jewish again.’ She was always mindful of the fact that she was related to Christ ‘not only in a spiritual sense, but also in blood terms.’ She suffered profoundly from the pain she caused her mother through her conversion to Catholicism. She continued to accompany her to services in the synagogue and to pray the psalms with her. In reaction to her mother’s observation that it was possible for her to be pious in a Jewish sense as well, she answered: ‘Of course, seeing as it is something I grew up with.’”

Pope John Paul II, May 1, 1987


Address to Jewish Central Council

“Today the Church is honoring a daughter of Israel who remained faithful, as a Jew, to the Jewish people, and, as a Catholic, to our crucified Lord Jesus Christ. Together with millions of fellow believers she endured humiliation and suffering culminating in the final brutal drama of extermination, the Shoah. In an act of heroic faith Edith Stein placed her life in the hands of a holy and just God, whose mysteries she had sought to understand better and to love throughout her entire life. 

May the day of her beatification be a day for all of us to join together in praising God, who has done marvelous works through his saints and exalted himself through the People of Israel. Let us pause in reverent silence to reflect on the terrible consequences which can arise from a denial of God and from collective racial hatred. . . .”

Pope John Paul II, May 1, 1987