With the rise of antisemitism since 2021, the U.S. Bishops Conference Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs has is urging Catholics to decry and remain vigilant against antisemitism in all of its forms.
“Outraged by the deeply hurtful proliferations of antisemitic rhetoric, both online and in-person, and the violent attacks on Jewish individuals, homes, and institutions, we wish to convey our sincere support to the Jewish people,” the committee members said in a Nov. 28 statement. “As Pope Francis has stated, ‘A true Christian cannot be an antisemite.’”
“In unequivocal terms, we condemn any and all violence directed at the Jewish people, whether motivated by religious, racial, or political grievances,” the USCCB statement said. “We furthermore denounce any rhetoric which seeks to demonize or dehumanize the Jewish people or Judaism as a religious tradition.”
The statement was signed by Bishop David Talley of Memphis, who leads the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, and the eight other bishop members. It also affirms that Jewish people cannot be held responsible for the death of Christ or be “depicted as rejected or accursed in theological discourse,” noting that Jesus, Mary, and his apostles were all Jewish.
More than a condemnation of the rise of antisemitism, the statement is a recommitment by the USCCB to a relationship with the Jewish community with the 60th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s Vatican Council declaration about other world religions, Nostra Aetate (“In our time”) a few years away, “marking a milestone in the relationship” between the two religions.
The statement highlights the partnerships built over the last six decades between U.S. Catholic leaders and Jewish leaders, where members of the two faiths have “learned to encounter each other in a spirit of good will and a sincere desire to encourage our respective faithful to live together in a society increasingly diverse in its racial, ethnic, religious, and political makeup.”
“As partners and neighbors, we seek to foster bonds of friendship between members of the Body of Christ and the Jewish people,” the statement reads. “With this in mind, and in light of the upcoming 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, we recommit ourselves to broadening the implementation of the teaching found within that prophetic document.”
It also touches on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stating that the conference remains firms in its “dedication to a just political solution, a secure and recognized Israel living in peace alongside a viable and independent Palestine.”
