Pope Francis -- Into an ice age: 1. “fuels an already out of control global antisemitism” 2. “Inappropriate comments while antisemitism runs rampant in Europe” and around the world
Another letter from the pontiff, this one addressed to Middle East Catholics on the one-year anniversary of October 7 confounded those who care about Catholic-Jewish relations
Francis decried,
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“the fuse of hatred” lit the year before (though notably did not lay out who struck the match) and lamented “the spirit of evil that foments war”
Then, quoting one of New Testament verses most often used to justify Christian antisemitism, Francis wrote that this spirit was
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“murderous from the beginning” and “a liar and the father of lies”
The verse, John 8:44
The verse was used in children’s books in Nazi Germany and was cited by the perpetrator of the deadly attack on Pittsburgh’s "Tree of Life synagogue" on his social media profile
Villanova University professor Ethan Schwartz, wrote,
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“It is impossible to overstate what a disaster this is for Jewish-Catholic relations”
The Chief Rabbinate Council for Relations with the Catholic Church, in a letter to the pope, wrote,
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“We must express not only our deep concern but our absolute dismay at both,
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what was said and what was conspicuously omitted from your message”
