Antisemitism Studies

At the outset, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who offered their incisive reflections on my article. They have written from the experience of many years of work on the issues raised by the long history of antisemitism in Christianity as well as in civil society. Each respondent brought vital questions and issues to the forefront in this complex discussion of the history and continued presence of antisemitism across the globe. They have added in different ways to an understanding of the wide contextual setting for this profound social disease, which has often reduced Jews to spiritual skeletons. All have constructively expanded our discussion of antisemitism.

Let me make one important point at the beginning of this response. My original article was never intended to serve as a comprehensive introduction to the topic of antisemitism. Hence, my colleagues have expanded the parameters of my own article in important ways. My principal goal in writing my essay was to ask whether antisemitism has been successfully removed from Christian self-understanding in the almost 60 years that have passed since the issuance of Nostra Aetate at Vatican II. My personal answer is no, and I appreciate that all of the contributors to this forum, many of them with extensive experience in Christian-Jewish dialogue, [End Page 394] confirm my basic judgment and agree that considerable work still awaits the Christian community if antisemitism is finally to be removed from its basic proclamation.

Readers will hopefully see that the cleansing process cannot be completed without a clear repudiation by Christian churches of the biblical texts and the widespread patristic teaching that laid the foundation for the theological gutting of the Jewish religious tradition and the social marginalization of Jews as a people throughout history. While today's patristic and biblical teachings about Jews and Judaism may not be overtly taught and preached as they were for centuries, the influence of this historic denigration on the consciousness of the Christian community will not be fully extricated without a clear repudiation of these texts. As I indicate in my article, the late Raymond Brown began such a process by unequivocally asserting that the passages in the Gospel of John in which Jews are described as under satanic influence can no longer be used in catechesis or liturgical celebration.

Several contributors to this forum have rightly acknowledged certain Catholic documents, such as the statement on the Holocaust issued by the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews titled We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah¹ and the controversial text released by the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) titled Dominus Iesus,² caused dismay both within segments of the Catholic community as well as its ecumenical and interreligious partners, including Jews. Both documents created ambiguity regarding the Vatican's supposed new commitment to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue after centuries of promoting the notion of Catholic superiority. With regard to Dominus Iesus, several prominent Catholic leaders, such as Cardinals Walter Kasper and William Keeler, argued that the document did not pertain to the Jews but rather to certain situations in Asia. The logic of the document seems to include all who do not identify with Catholicism as their basic belief system.

We Remember clearly refers to the Catholic-Jewish relationship. This document falsely claims that antisemitism was a marginal [End Page 395] Catholic outlook perpetuated by fringe and rogue elements in the Church. It also maintained that during the Shoah antisemitism was largely the work of pagans who attacked all religious belief, whether Christian or Jewish. Such statements are patently false in light of the historical record. There has been a persistent effort by some in the Church to say that antisemitism only took hold in deviant sectors of Catholicism.

I recall a visit some years ago to Strasbourg, France, and its famous cathedral. The edifice is known for its face, which contains a depiction of the Christian-Jewish relationship through two women, one being young and vibrant representing Christianity and the other old and bedraggled holding a...