As the world continues to watch – and react – to the Israel-Hamas war, Jews throughout the world experience antisemitism.
In a face-to-face meeting last month with the Conference of European Rabbis, Pope Francis said, “My first thought and prayer goes, above all else, to everything that has happened in the last few weeks; yet again violence and war have erupted in that land blessed by the Most High, which seems continually assailed by the vileness of hatred and the deadly clash of weapons.”
“The spread of antisemitic demonstrations, which I strongly condemn, is also of great concern,” he continued. Good relations with people of faith, even amid “the darkness of conflict, are called to build fraternity and open paths of reconciliation for all and before all, in the name of the Almighty!”
Always promoting peace and human fraternity, Pope Francis shared that the life of faith is a life of dialogue. He said, “The Word of the Most High is the light that illumines the paths of life: it directs our own steps to the search for our neighbor, to acceptance and to patience; certainly not to the brusque passion of vengeance and the folly of bitter hatred. How important it is, therefore, for us believers to be witnesses of dialogue!”
He continued, “To become builders of peace, we are called to be builders of dialogue, not only with our own strengths and abilities, but with the help of the Almighty.” Pope Francis also took the time to emphasize how important it is for Christians to be in dialogue with Jews, “because we have Jewish roots. Jesus was born and lived as a Jew. We need Judaism to understand ourselves better.”
These words and sentiments of the Holy Father are most relevant as we see the ugly face of antisemitism rising across the world. In mid-November, a group of prominent Jewish scholars and Rabbis who have been involved in Jewish-Christian dialogue penned an open letter to Pope Francis and the Catholic community worldwide, asking us to champion the cause of both the Israeli and Jewish people. They asked the pope and Catholic Church to act as “a beacon of moral and conceptual clarity amid an ocean of disinformation, distortion and deceit,” proliferating around the world as regards to Israel and its right to self-defense. It was signed by Karma Ben Johanan, a professor of religious studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Malka Zeiger Simkovich, director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago; Rabbi Jehoshua Ahrens, Central Europe director for the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation; Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, president of the J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life, and Rabbi David Meyer, professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
In their statement, the signatories said they “share the Church’s grief for Palestinian civilians who fell under Hamas’ rule against their will and were killed as a result of the war without committing any crime,” and that they understand “that the Church seeks to maintain political neutrality on the war in the Middle East.” They ask the Church to be “mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews,” quoting from the Second Vatican Council declaration “Nostra Aetate” (In Our Time), as they asked us to “extend a hand in solidarity to the Jewish community.”
They shared that the “global surge in onslaughts against Jews since Oct. 7, including killings, physical assaults, threats, harassment and vandalism, marks the worst wave of antisemitism since 1945.” They wrote that vitriol against Israel is “directed toward all Jews collectively. Many have gone far beyond the limits of political criticism against Israeli policy by voicing protest against Israel’s right to exist and aligning with Hamas’ intentions to destroy Israel.”
In response to ongoing war, the killings and kidnapping, the displacement of so many innocent people, increased incidences of both antisemitism and islamophobia, and all the other horrors that war brings, our own American bishops issued their statement. In part, it reads, “We continue to pray for the victims caught in this cycle of violence as well as the regional and international actors who are being drawn into the conflict. We must not grow weary of offering our prayers and support for peace and justice for all concerned. A lasting solution respecting the rights, needs and aspirations of both Israel and Palestinians remains essential to these ends. With passions enflamed in our own communities online, and around the world, we must guard against any tendency to sow hatred against other people or faiths. As the Second Vatican Council teaches, ‘The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life or religion.’”
Father Joseph D. Wallace is diocesan director of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs and pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, Atco.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
