Jump to content

Roman Catholics and antisemitism in the 21st century

Add links
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Catholic antisemitism in the 21st century" and "Contemporary Catholic antisemitism" redirect here. For other uses, see Catholic antisemitism in the 21st century (disambiguation).

Antisemitism has been deep-rooted in Christianity since the Catholic Church was founded in Jerusalem, Judea under Roman Empire's colonial rule in the 1st century.[1] In 380 AD, when Christianity became Roman Empire's state religion, the Catholic Church became the empire's state church,[1] which came with the institutionalization of antisemitism across Europe.[1][2] In the first millennium, the following myths became the official doctrines of Catholic European kingdoms:[1][2]

  • All Jews were forever responsible for the Crucifixion of Jesus[1][3]
  • The Catholic Church had replaced Jews as the chosen people since the Jews killed Jesus[1][3]
  • The Roman destruction of Jerusalem was a divine punishment for the Jewish murder of Jesus and persistent rejection of Christian conversion[1][3]

These doctrines caused over 1,600 years of genocides, expulsions and persecutions of Jews across various regions ruled by Catholic Europeans,[1][4] including the Inquisition (c. 1229–1834) and the Holocaust (1941–1945).[1][4] Despite the Holocaust and post-war Church reforms, antisemitism still exists among Catholic communities.[5]

Background

[change | change source]

Second Vatican Council

[change | change source]

In 1965, Pope Paul VI issued the Nostra aetate at the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) to reject the aforementioned doctrines, which had been established by Saint John Chrysostom in the 4th century[3][6] and followed by the Catholic Church for over 1,500 years.[3][6] Particularly, Pope Paul VI no longer blamed Jews for the death of Jesus,[3][6]

What happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.

Since Pope Paul VI rejected the aforementioned doctrines with a view to reconciling with Jews,[7] the Roman Catholic Church has become divided.[8][9] Dozens of old guard Catholic organizations, collectively known as the radical traditionalist Catholics,[8][9] sprang up to resist reconciliation with Jews, most of which are active in the 21st century.[8][9]

2000 apology

[change | change source]

On behalf of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II made a brief apology on March 12, 2000 for the "errors" and "violence" that some co-religionists committed throughout history[10] – without specific information on the "errors" and "violence".[10] Academics were uncertain whether John Paul II referred to the Crusades, Inquisition, burning of alleged heretics or forced conversions.[10] Israel's Chief Rabbi Meir Lau was reportedly "deeply frustrated" with the Church's failure to mention the Holocaust by name.[10]

Before and after the Pope's apology, strong resistance was noted among hardliners associated with radical traditionalist Catholicism, who were more concerned about the apology being misused by those "hostile to the Church" than the victims of the historical Church atrocities.[10]

Radical traditionalist Catholics

[change | change source]
Bishop Vitus Huonder celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (Low Mass) at Society of St. Pius X's Sancta Maria Institute in Wangs, Switzerland.

A significant proportion of radical traditionalist Catholics are Neo-Nazis[8][11] and Holocaust deniers,[8][11] who have a substantial presence on large forums, including Reddit's subreddits r/Catholicism (240K members) and r/AskAChristian (21K members), while Reddit has long been criticized for unbridled antisemitism.[12] As per the American civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), radical traditionalist Catholics tend to believe the following myths:[8][9]

  • Catholics cannot trust Jews
  • Jews are the "perpetual enemy" of Christ
  • Adolf Hitler was the end-product of the "culture war" of the "Freemason" Otto von Bismarck
  • Jews have "infiltrated" the Catholic Church to induce changes in their favor
  • The Vatican II dialogue with Jews is a pantomime to destroy Catholic militancy against Judaism
  • Nazism was the result of a "Talmudist-backed" 400-year "revolution" against the "Divine Plan" to effect man's return to Him via His Catholic Church

The SPLC identified 13 radical traditionalist Catholic organizations active in the English-speaking world: The Fidelity Press, the Remnant, St. Joseph Forum, Tradition in Action, Legion of St. Louis, St. Michael's Parish, Society of St. Pius X, Catholic Counterpoint, Catholic Family Ministries, Omni Christian Book Club, Catholic Apologetics International, International Fatima Rosary Crusade and Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[8]

Influential radical traditionalist Catholic groups

[change | change source]

Society of St. Pius X

[change | change source]
See the main article: Society of Saint Pius X
Further information: Antisemitism in France

Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) is one of the largest radical traditionalist Catholic organizations in the world. The SSPX was founded by late French archbishop Marcel-François Lefebvre in Ecône, Switzerland in 1970 to resist the liberalized Roman Catholic Church.[8][9] Marcel-François Lefebvre was a supporter of the Nazi puppet state Vichy France,[8] who said that the liberation of France was the "victory of Freemasonry against the Catholic order of Petain."[8]

The SSPX rejected mediation attempts from the Vatican over their theological disagreements and got excommunicated. Since then, the SSPX has been the biggest Catholic publisher of Holocaust-denying materials,[8][9] with Canada being one of the countries that has banned SSPX publications.[8][9]

In 2016, it is estimated by scholars that the SSPX has 103 chapels, 25 schools and up to 30,000 followers.[13] E. Michael Jones, one of its loyal members, were also found to have promoted Nazism to his students.[13] As of October 2024, the SSPX has 700 priests worldwide, 180 of whom were based in France operating 250 places of worship and hosting at least 35,000 attendees.[14]

Richard Williamson

[change | change source]
Photo of SSPX bishop Richard Williamson.

Richard Williamson (born March 8, 1940 in Buckinghamshire, England) is an SSPX bishop who publicly engaged in Holocaust denial for several times. Since 1989, Richard Williamson has persistently denied the existence of gas chambers in the Auschwitz concentration camp,[11][13] claimed that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were true and insisted that fewer than 300,000 Jews had died in the Holocaust[11] on a Swedish TV interview,[15] which caused him to be fined €10,000 in Germany for Holocaust denial and inciting racial hatred.[11][15]

Despite his longstanding antisemitism and Holocaust denial, the Roman Catholic Church reinstated him as a bishop, sparking controversy over the influence of radical traditionalist Catholics within the Church hierarchy.[11]

Opus Dei

[change | change source]

Opus Dei is a 93,510 member-strong[16] radical traditionalist Catholic organization founded by Hutton Gibson (August 26, 1918 – May 11, 2020), who denied the Holocaust[17] and alleged that the Vatican II was "a Masonic plot, backed by the Jews."[17] in a 2004 interview with The New York Times.[18]

Mel Gibson

[change | change source]

Hutton Gibson's son Mel Gibson acknowledged the Holocaust in media interviews, but was exposed by screenwriter Joe Eszterhas to have referred to Jews as "Hebes", "Jewboys" and "oven-dodgers"[19] and the Holocaust as "mostly a lot of horses**t" during their production of a film about the Book of Maccabees.[17] The film's sources included highly antisemitic writings by two nuns.[17][20]

Mel Gibson also believed in the antisemitic trope that the Torah "made reference to the sacrifice of Christian babies and infants."[17] He was also accused of harassing American Jewish actress Winona Ryder by asking her whether she was an "oven-dodger".[17]

Influence on U.S. politics

[change | change source]

In the United States, radical traditionalist Catholics have substantial influence over politics. A 2022 poll conducted by the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations (IJCR) – 57 years after Pope Paul VI announced the Nostra aetate – found that 11% American Catholics still blamed Jews for the Crucifixion of Jesus,[21] while 13.3% saw Jews as being "cursed by God" and 15.8% believed that God's covenant with Jews had ended.[21] The poll also found that 11.4% American Catholics supported Palestine over the Israel–Palestine conflict, around the same percentage as those who still blamed Jews for the Crucifixion of Jesus.[21] In the November 2024 presidential election, an exit poll by The Washington Post found that 56% Catholic voters favored Donald Trump, while 41% favored Kamala Harris.[22][23] Among Catholics who voted for Trump, most were found to hold highly conservative views associated with the radical traditionalist Catholicism as mentioned.[22][23]

FBI memo incident

[change | change source]

In April 2024, the FBI was forced to withdraw an internal memo on antisemitic violence committed by radical traditionalist Catholics due to backlash from some conservative Republican Congresspersons,[24] who misrepresented FBI's moves as "persecution of Catholics".[24] In one of the FBI-handled cases, a young SSPX member, who claimed to be "anti-Zionist" and "anti-progressive", was arrested for the illegal possession of one smoke grenade, 6 smoke bombs, 8 molotov cocktails and firearms components of an intact Glock 19 slide/upper receiver, a lower parts kit, a 3D-printed Glock 19 frame, a magazine, and 9mm ammunition.[24] Later, a 120-day congressional review found no evidence of FBI bias against Catholics.[25] Since then, no apparent actions have been taken by the U.S. authorities against radical traditionalist Catholics who promote antisemitic violence.

Rapid expansion

[change | change source]

A rising number of American Catholic churches have drifted towards radical traditionalist Catholicism,[26] rejecting the Vatican II that renounced antisemitism and endorsed religious freedom.[26] Radical traditionalist Catholic organizations, including but not limited to the FOCUS and Newman Centers, have also seen a massive spike in youth membership,[26] alongside the drastic expansion of viewership of their allied cable TV networks, such as the EWTN.[26]

Academics

[change | change source]

Antisemitism among Catholics in the 21st century is not limited to those associated with Catholic churches but also scholars with Catholic background in Anglo-American academia.

Marek Jan Chodakiewicz

[change | change source]

Marek Jan Chodakiewicz (born July 15, 1962 in Warsaw, Poland), an American Polish historian who promoted controversial views about the Holocaust, is identified with the Polish Catholic Church.[27] Chodakiewicz believed that the murder of Jewish survivors returning to their homeland[28][29] was "not antisemitic" due to what he alleged to be "many Jews collaborating with Soviet Communists [. ...] Jews more likely to kill Poles after WWII."[27]

Many historians, including Princeton University history professor Jan T. Gross and University of Toronto Polish history professor Piotr Wróbel, said that Chodakiewicz had written several pieces trivializing the Holocaust and the violent antisemitism of many Polish Catholics,[27] including his 2003 book After the Holocaust: Polish Jewish Relations in the Wake of World War II where he underestimated the number of Jews killed by Polish Catholics in post-war pogroms[28][29] and accused many of the victims of being "Jewish Communists."[27]

Chodakiewicz also appeared in radical traditionalist Catholic media, such as the antisemitic Radio Maryja.[27] In a 2001 interview with this radio, he accused "Jewish memoirists" of "bragging about" the shooting of hundreds of Poles by "Jewish partisans."[27] Despite Chodakiewicz's track record, he was appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush as a member of the oversight board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in the American capital, serving until 2010.[27]

Inquisition denial

[change | change source]

Background

[change | change source]
Main articles: Inquisition and Spanish Inquisition

In 1229, Dominicans in Rome set up the permanent Inquisition to persecute heretics and non-Christians,[30] especially Jews. Meanwhile, the Spanish Inquisition was founded in 1478 and run until 1834, during which the Catholic Spanish Empire unleashed a systematic campaign of persecution of Jews,[4][31] due to its racist belief that Jews who converted to Catholicism (conversos) were mostly faking as Christians,[4][31] including those forcibly converted following the Alhambra Decree, or the Edict of Expulsion.[4][31] As many as 300,000 Jews under Catholic Spanish rule were killed over false charges of "crypto-Judaism",[4][31] a charge slapped on Jews who were forcibly converted.[4][31]

The Vatican

[change | change source]

In 2004, the Roman Catholic Church published so-called findings that the judges of the Inquisition were "not as brutal as previously believed."[32] The Roman Catholic Church also, based on questionable evidence, denied that most trials were carried out by Catholic courts,[32] while whitewashing them by alleging that the victims put on trial were often "tortured for only 15 minutes in the presence of doctors" as if it was justified.[32]

Spain

[change | change source]
Further information: Antisemitism in Europe § Spain

For the past decade, Catholic-led movements within Spain (67.4% Catholic in 2018[33]) have emerged to rewrite the history of the Spanish Inquisition.[34] Members of the movements released a series of books, films, TV programs and mobile exhibitions[34] to beautify the Inquisition-associated Spanish history.[34]

Meanwhile, a 2023 ADL poll found that 26% of Spain's population held extensive antisemitic beliefs,[35] followed by Belgium (24%), France (17%), Germany (12%) and the UK (10%).[35]

In 2024, Spanish Jews make up 0.093% of Spain's population of 48,370,000. In April, the Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience found that at least 36 attacks had happened to Spanish Jews between 7 October 2023 and 19 April 2024, about six attacks per month.[36] In July, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that 78% of Spanish Jews saw antisemitism as a big problem in Spain.[37]

Responses

[change | change source]

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

[change | change source]

On December 11, 2024, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop (USCCB) announced the adoption of the Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition[38] drafted together with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in response to worsening antisemitism in America since 7 October 2023.[39]

As of December 30, 2024, the 1985 revision of the USCCB Guidelines for Catholic-Jewish Relations is still in place.[40] The General Principles of the Guidelines include but not limited to[40]

  1. A commission or secretariat is recommended to be assigned to Catholic-Jewish relations in each diocese
  2. Catholic-Jewish meetings are dedicated to fostering mutual respect and eliminating misunderstandings
  3. Proselytism, which does not respect human freedom, is carefully to be avoided
  4. Prayer in common with Jews should be encouraged when mutually acceptable

Meanwhile, the Recommended Programs under the Guidelines encourage the[40]

  • advancement of Catholic-Jewish relations on all levels
  • removal of content from catechesis and homilies that blames all Jews for the Crucifixion of Jesus
  • rejection of the historically inaccurate notion that Judaism of Jesus' time was a "decadent formalism and hypocrisy"
  • further analysis of such phrases as "the Jews" by St. John in modern context to erase negative undertones about Jews
[change | change source]

References

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
    • "Antisemitism in History: From the Early Church to 1400". Holocaust Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
    • "Christian Persecution of Jews over the Centuries". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). Retrieved December 28, 2024.
    • "The Early Church and the Beginnings of Anti-Semitism". Jewish Virtual Library (JVL). Retrieved December 29, 2024.
    • Patrick, James (May 12, 2022). "Why Christians should repent of past antisemitism". Premier Christianity. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
    • Dr. David R. Reagan. "The Evil of Replacement Theology: The Historical Abuse of the Jews by the Church". Lamb & Lion Ministries. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6
  5. ↑ Tausch, Arno; Obirek, Stanislaw (2020). Global Catholicism, Tolerance and the Open Society: An Empirical Study of the Value Systems of Roman Catholics. ISBN 978-3-030-23241-2. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2
    • "The resurrection of Christian antisemitism". The Jerusalem Post. June 18, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2024. John the Golden-Throat (a.k.a. Chrysostom), ascended the pulpit in 347 CE where he began the first of eight sermons in a series titled, Adversus Judaeos; in English, Against The Jews [. ...] Chrysostom began his diatribe against all Jews by attacking Christians who celebrated Jewish holy days honoring the same God as Christianity, agreeing to disagree about Jesus. "We must first root this ailment out," he said, "and then take thought of matters outside. We must first cure our own." They are sick, he said, "with the Judaizing disease [...] deserving stronger condemnation than any Jew.
    • Berger, J. M.; Broschowitz, Michael S. (April 25, 2024). "John Chrysostom: The Architect of Antisemitism". Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism. Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Retrieved October 6, 2024. Modern antisemitism is informed by concepts articulated more than 1,600 years ago by John Chrysostom, an early father of the Christian Church [. ...] Chrysostom articulated several key tropes [...] including the belief that Jewish people are "schemers" and that they engage in human sacrifice [. ...] introduced dehumanizing language that foreshadowed the genocidal rhetoric of the Nazis who cited John Chrysostom [... .] Chrysostom is still cited by antisemitic extremists online and offline on a daily basis.
    • Rev Tim Gutmann (May 10, 2024). "Christians can't let history repeat itself when it comes to antisemitism". Premier Christianity. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  7. ↑ Fumagalli, Pier Francesco. "The Roots of Anti-Judaism in the Christian Environment". The Vatican. Retrieved December 12, 2018. Finally, two points are repudiated which in the past were the roots of persecution: the accusation that the Jewish people were collectively and forever responsible for the death of Christ (the so-called deicide) and anti-Semitism.
  8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Radical Powerhouse". Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2024. The Society of St. Pius X, which has chapels and schools across the United States, remains a font of anti-Semitic propaganda.
  14. ↑ Lasserre, Matthieu (October 10, 2024). "36 years after the schism, what does the Society of Saint Pius X represent?". La Croix International. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Meikle, James (April 16, 2010). "German court fines British bishop for Holocaust denial". The Guardian. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  16. ↑ "What is Opus Dei, and why is it so controversial — both in and out of the Catholic Church?". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). January 30, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 McDermott, Jim (January 13, 2023). "Mel Gibson and the dangers of Catholic antisemitism". American Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Hutton Gibson, Extremist and Father of Mel Gibson, Dies at 101". The New York Times. June 4, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2024. His anti-Semitic, anti-Vatican views gained notoriety after his son directed the controversial film, "The Passion of the Christ."
  19. ↑ An insult to Holocaust survivors who had not been burned in the ovens at the Auschwitz concentration camp run by Nazi troops in occupied Poland.
  20. ↑ Hier, Marvin; Brackman, Harold (June 22, 2003). "Mel's Passion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Gfeller, Kevin (April 20, 2023). "First-of-its-kind Survey Reveals American Catholics' Attitudes Toward Jews Have Improved in Last Century". Saint Joseph's University. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Exit polls from the 2024 presidential election". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Catholic voters favoured Trump over Harris, according to polls". The Tablet. November 6, 2024. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Pattison, Mark (April 24, 2024). "FBI memo examined activities of far-right radical Catholics ahead of 2024 election". La Croix International.
  25. ↑ "No Bias Found in F.B.I. Report on Catholic Extremists". The New York Times. April 18, 2024. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Sullivan, Tim (May 1, 2024). "'A step back in time': America's Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways". Associated Press (AP). Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 Keller, Larry (November 29, 2009). "Historian Marek Jan Chodakiewicz with Controversial Views Served on Holocaust Museum Board". Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Retrieved December 29, 2024. A historian with unusual views — some call them anti-Semitic — helps oversee a key institution memorializing the Holocaust
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1
  30. ↑ Lea, Henry Charles (1888). "VII". A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages: Volume 1. ISBN 1-152-29621-3. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2
  33. ↑ "2018 Report on International Religious Freedom: Spain" (PDF). U.S. Department of State. 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Jones, Sam (April 29, 2018). "Spain fights to dispel legend of Inquisition and imperial atrocities". The Guardian. Retrieved December 24, 2024. Campaigners want to reclaim the country's past from 'distorted propaganda'
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 "Antisemitism is deeply ingrained in European society, says EU official". The Guardian. October 30, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  36. ↑ "36 attacks in 6 months against Jews in Spain, with a government praised by Hamas". Contando Estrelas. April 22, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  37. ↑ Grave-Lazie, Lidar (November 21, 2024). "Is it safe to be Jewish in Spain?". Ynetnews. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  38. ↑ "Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition" (PDF). American Jewish Committee (AJC). Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  39. ↑ "New Glossary Breaks Ground in Tackling Antisemitism Through a Catholic Lens". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 "Guidelines for Catholic-Jewish Relations". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Retrieved December 30, 2024.
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roman_Catholics_and_antisemitism_in_the_21st_century&oldid=9985195"