02/14/2026
The Scholarly Advisory Board of the Saint Leo University Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies has selected Fr. Dennis McManus as the 22nd recipient of the Eternal Light Award. Since 1999, the Eternal Light Award is presented to a scholar who has made significant contributions to Catholic-Jewish studies and relations.
Rev. Dr. Dennis D. McManus is an American Catholic priest whose work has focused on Catholic–Jewish relations, the history of anti-Judaism in Christianity, and the theological and liturgical implications of Nostra Aetate. He is professor of theology at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California. Since 2009 he has served as Delegate for Jewish Affairs for the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops). From 2012 to 2021 he was Visiting Professor and Associate Director of the Center for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University, where he remains Senior Research Fellow in the Office of the President.
Over a period spanning more than three decades, McManus has worked at the intersection of scholarship and interreligious dialogue, often in advisory, editorial, and coordinating roles. His work has combined historical and theological analysis with practical involvement in Catholic–Jewish and Catholic–Muslim relations, particularly in the implementation of Nostra Aetate within Catholic teaching and liturgical practice. A central theme of his scholarship has been the persistence of anti-Judaic patterns in Christian theology and preaching—and the need for their systematic correction.
From 1996 to 2008 he served, together with Rabbi Leon Klenicki, as co-editor of the multi-volume series The Word Set Free: Preaching the Lectionary Free of Anti-Judaism (Paulist Press), devoted to the reception of Jews and Judaism in the New Testament and its liturgical use. From 1996 to 2006 he was a board member and editor of the Stimulus Foundation, an imprint devoted to publishing works in Jewish–Christian relations.
At Georgetown University he taught theology and Jewish studies, including courses on the history of Catholic–Jewish relations, Holocaust studies, interreligious dialogue, martyrdom, and the anti-Iudaeos literature of the Latin Church Fathers. He also participated in team-taught courses and seminars with figures such as Abraham Skorka, Patrick Desbois, Imam Hendi, and Rabbi Harold White, and supervised work within the Center for Jewish Civilization’s undergraduate program.
Within the USCCB, McManus has served as staff secretary for multiple official Catholic–Jewish dialogues, including those with the National Council of Synagogues, the Orthodox Union, the Rabbinic Council of America, and Modern Orthodox rabbis and scholars. He participated in the Vatican–IJCIC (International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations) meeting in Budapest in 2008. From 2009 to 2011 he served as Delegate of the Archbishop of New York to the Jewish community, liaising with organizations including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, the World Jewish Congress, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. For several years he also served on the board of the “Bearing Witness” program, a joint Catholic–Jewish initiative for Holocaust education in Catholic schools. With the Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights and the Anti-Defamation League, he pioneered teacher education programs in Catholic schools on Judaism, the Holocaust, and Catholic-Jewish relations.
His publications also include “The Unfinished Reforms of Nostra Aetate: Five Areas for Further Consideration” (2017), “Sustaining a Quiet Revolution: Popes and Jews since the Shoah” (2024), and "Catholic-Jewish Dialogue: An Essential Process of Catholic Self-Understanding" (2025).
Fr. McManus will deliver a lecture and receive the Eternal Light Award on Sunday, November 15th, at a special event open to the public in Tampa Bay. A save-the-date announcement will be sent in the coming months.
