Edward H. Flannery (August 20, 1912 – October 19, 1998) was an American 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.

[1] Throughout his career, he fought against antisemitism and defended the State of Israel and the Jewish people against attacks on the local, national, and international levels.

Through his work, he displayed great sensitivity to issues of the Holocaust and strong promotion of education of the history of antisemitism for both the Jewish and Catholic communities.

He then earned his master's degree at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.[4] In 1937, he was ordained; he 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] In relation to the Holocaust, Flannery illustrated the sympathies for the Nazi regime and Final Solution expressed by prominent Arab figures at the time, such as the close confidant of Adolf Hitler, Haj Amin al-Husseini.

[2] Flannery believed the vast majority of even well-educated Christians have been ignorant of what has happened to the Jews throughout history and the culpable involvement of the Church.

The author states that, by comparison, the Jews themselves are largely and acutely aware of their painful history and physical and verbal attacks in the press.

George G. Higgins of the Department of Theology of the Catholic University of America said Flannery had been called by God to break new ground; "to address the anguish of the Jews and this, of course, long before the overwhelming majority of his fellow Christians had given so much as a second thought to the Holocaust.

"[6] Cardinal William Henry Keeler said: "He was an early and effective pioneer in encouraging Catholics in the United States on how best to implement Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council's charter for fostering positive Catholic-Jewish relationships."