Leaders of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL’s) Southwest Region met recently with His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo to talk about issues important to ADL and discuss how the agency can work with the Cardinal and the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston.

Topics discussed at the hour-long meeting included Catholic-Jewish relations, immigration reform and refugee resettlement, opposing Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) and supporting Israel, combatting anti-Semitism, race relations and the relationship between the community and law enforcement, and the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO).

ADL lay leaders Jonathan Kessler, Robert Carlton, Denise Marks, Sue Hauenstein, Judith Finkel, and Debby Kerner participated in the meeting, along with ADL staffers Jodi Bernstein and Dena Marks.  Cardinal Di Nardo’s assistant, Reverend Jude Ekenedilichukwu Ezema, also attended the meeting.

“I think we had a very productive conversation with the Cardinal,” said Dena Marks, ADL Associate Director.  “Cardinal DiNardo was very forthcoming.  He provided good suggestions on ways we could work together, and he listened very attentively to our concerns about issues in the community.  We clearly have a friend in the Cardinal and we look forward to working with him and the Archdiocese on issues of concern to both our groups.”