Anti-Semitism | Introduction
In Jewish theology, God deemed the Jews his “chosen people.” Ironically, in their four-thousand-year history, Jews have frequently been chosen as a target for persecution by the societies in which they reside. Jews and the teachings of Judaism have almost always been seen as the “other”— whether as a monotheistic anomaly in pre-Christian times or as a suspiciously successful minority in the modern era, particularly in the largely Christian West. While violent anti-Semitism has mostly disappeared, many observers insist that anti-Semitism persists in less virulent forms. Although this anti-Semitism is not based wholly on theological disputes, examining the role of non-Jewish religions in fomenting anti-Jewish attitudes can deepen one’s understanding of the nature and the extent of modern anti-Semitism. One religion that has played a key role in the spread and subsequent decline of anti-Semitism is Catholicism.
From its inception, the Catholic Church propagated anti-Jewish teachings. Christian theology taught that the Jews were infidels who had killed Jesus and rejected the true gospel. According to church doctrine, an essential requirement for Christian salvation was hatred of the Jews. Christianity also viewed Judaism as an obsolete religion that had been supplanted by the church and its Bible. Church policies in the Middle Ages separated Jews from the rest of the community, banned intermarriage, and imposed economic restrictions. Economic laws imposed by the church increased anti-Semitism; because Christians were not allowed to lend money at interest, while Jews were, Christians considered Jews to be evil usurers. Accusations of blood libel (claims that Jews killed Christian children and used their blood to make unleavened bread) developed out of Christian texts. The Crusades, incited by a speech by Pope Urban II in 1095, led to the massacre of thousands of “infidel” Jews.
In some ways, however, the Vatican was relatively friendly toward the Jews. According to Frederic Cople Jaher, a professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: “At the close of the Middle Ages, . . . Rome and the other papal territories alone afforded modest protection and privileges for Jews in western Europe.” The Jews were never excluded from the Holy City, and the papacy’s opposition to anti-Jewish violence made Rome and the rest of Italy a relatively safe place.
Although the Vatican may have opposed violence, the Inquisition provides an example of how Catholic teachings sometimes spread into deadly anti-Semitism. Pope Gregory IX formally established the papal Inquisition in 1233 in order to suppress heresy. The Inquisition did not formally target Jews, but in the middle of the thirteenth century, the Talmud was found to be blasphemous, and Inquisition tribunals censored and destroyed Jewish texts. Yet these actions were relatively mild compared to the Spanish Inquisition, which featured little involvement from the papacy. The Spanish Inquisitors tortured, executed, and ultimately expelled the nation’s Jews and Marranos—Jews who had been forcibly baptized but were thought to secretly practice Judaism. Jews were expelled from various states throughout western Europe during the late Middle Ages, a time that was perhaps the worst period for European Jews until the 1930s and 1940s.
The Catholic Church and Judaism in the twentieth century
Anti-Semitism is inextricably linked with the Holocaust. The actions of Pius XII, the pope during that time, have been the source of much debate. Catholics, Jews, and others have argued over how many Jews he helped save and whether he could have, or should have, done more. While Pope Pius XII did write an encyclical in 1939 that condemned totalitarianism, the Vatican maintained formal relationships with Germany, and Pope Pius XII did not speak out against Nazi persecution of the Jews. Jonathan Tobin, a columnist for the Jewish World Review, writes, “The dominant tone of Pius’s record during mankind’s darkest hour was realpolitik rather than righteousness.”
However, other people credit the pope with saving the lives of thousands of Jews, ordering them to be hidden within Vatican City and Rome. “Largely as a result of the church’s efforts, Jews in Italy had a far higher survival rate under Nazi occupation than did those of other countries,” George Sim Johnston asserts in the New York Times. Johnston cites the conversion of Chief Rabbi Israel Zolli to Catholicism after World War II as an indication of gratitude for what Pius XII had done for the Jews. Johnston and others argue that Jewish lives would have been in greater jeopardy had the pope been more vocal. The dispute over Pius XII’s actions and whether the Catholic Church was complicit in the anti- Semitism of Nazi Germany would become a topic of international interest in the late 1990s.
While the events of World War II are still a matter of debate, as will be noted later, most analysts agree that since the mid-1960s, the Catholic Church has developed the most positive interfaith relationship with Judaism. Much of the credit for this improvement has been given to Pope John Paul II, but the changing attitude began with the 2nd Vatican Council, held between 1962 and 1965. The council’s Declaration of Non-Christian Religions condemned anti-Semitism and stated that Jews cannot be blamed for Jesus’s death.
Many people consider John Paul II’s papacy, which began in 1978, as a time of unprecedented Catholic outreach toward Jews and a true indication of the Catholic Church’s turning away from the anti-Semitism that marked its first two millennia. In 1985, the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations produced a document stating that Judaism is a living religion whose survival is desired and that Jewish fidelity to the Torah is to be admired, not seen as a stubborn refusal to accept Jesus’s divinity. The commission also wrote that anti-Jewish passages in the Gospels should not be seen as truth but need to be understood within the historical context of the time they were written. Catholic textbooks and passion plays have been edited to eliminate anti-Semitic statements, especially as regards Jesus’s death. In 1986, the pope was the first pontiff to visit a syna- gogue. The Vatican established diplomatic relationships with Israel in 1994. Many Jewish observers have praised these and similar actions. Tobin writes: “Where once the Church seemed to Jews to be the embodiment of hatred for Judaism and prejudice against the Jewish people, it now clearly stands among the righteous with its wholehearted condemnation of anti-Semitism.”
Responses to the Holocaust
Despite the general goodwill of modern Catholicism toward Judaism, controversy has raged over the church’s actions during the Holocaust. The debate began anew in March 1998, when the Vatican released a document, “We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah,” analyzing the role of the church during those years. While many people praised the document, others found it disappointing, especially in light of John Paul II’s pro- Jewish actions.
The controversy centers over whether the document sufficiently acknowledges the church’s role in the development of Nazism. While “We Remember” concedes that centuries of anti-Jewish teachings and Biblical interpretations resulted in discrimination, violence, expulsion, forced conversions, and other persecutions, the report states that Nazism was rooted in paganism, as opposed to Christian theology, and that the Nazis persecuted not just Judaism, but the church as well. Nazi anti-Semitism was rooted more in racism and nationalism than in religious differences, the document maintains. The work also expresses the regret of the Catholic Church that many Christians did not speak out against the Nazis: “At the end of this millennium the Catholic Church desires to express her deep sorrow for the failures of her sons and daughters in every age.”
Critics argued that the Vatican commission did not offer an adequate apology or explanation for the Nazis’ behavior and Pope Pius XII’s response to it. An editorial in the New Republic criticized the Vatican commission for not acknowledging that Nazism’s popularity was rooted in centuries of Christian anti-Semitism. Abraham H. Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that fights anti-Semitism and hate crimes, asserted that the document rationalizes Pope Pius XII’s failure to denounce the Nazis. Foxman and others contend that the Vatican paper paled in comparison to statements made by German and Polish bishops in January 1995, criticizing the behavior of some Christians during the Holocaust, and French bishops in October 1997, apologizing for the church’s silence during the Holocaust. Some Christians agreed with these criticisms. An editorial in the Catholic magazine Commonweal maintains that while Pius XII did help many Jews and does not deserve condemnation, “We Remember” fails to acknowledge the church’s culpability in the spread of anti-Semitism.
On the other hand, more conservative Catholic analysts praise the document. William Doino Jr. states in the Wanderer, a Catholic newspaper, that “We Remember” was not intended as an apology. He argues that Pope Pius XII was not silent during the Holocaust, noting that the document states that Jewish leaders and communities thanked the pontiff for all he had done. Doino also maintains that the church cannot be blamed for the sins of individual Catholics.
The debate over “We Remember” is an example of how much views of Jews and anti-Semitism have changed since the 1940s. The church’s consistent repudiation of anti-Semitism in recent decades is, ironically, what led to the disappointment many felt over the document; had the document been written before John Paul II’s papacy, many argue, it would have been more widely praised. The changing attitude of the Catholic Church is not unique; mainline Protestant denominations have also reevaluated their behavior. For the most part, blood libel and hatred of money-lending are seen as little more than medieval superstition. However, despite the many pro-Jewish strides made by the world’s religions and most governments, debate continues over whether anti- Semitism persists in modern society. The evolution of Catholic views may be a model that others are attempting to emulate, or it may remain an anomaly. In At Issue: Anti-Semitism, the authors consider the prevalence and impact of anti-Semitism throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
