Why is Catholic Theology Anti-Semitic?

Question

Examples - forcing Jews to wear yellow crosses, and live in ghettos during Spanish Inquisition, and just after the Albigensian Crusade of the 13th century.

Answer 1

Christian theology started out a bit anti-semitic because of how the Jews were portrayed in parts of the New Testament. The whole "take the Bible literally" thing.

While it did take us a while to see beyond the anti-semitism of the New Testament, the Catholic Church is no longer anti-semitic.

The Catholic Church officially teaches:

When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, "the first to hear the Word of God.

The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant.

To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ"; "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."

Neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during the Passion of Jesus Christ. The Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from Holy Scripture.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 597 and 839:
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt2art4p2.htm#597
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p3.htm#839

Rabbi David G. Dalin's book "The Myth of Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews From the Nazis" documents how the Popes over the centuries have tried to protect the Jews.

It "was a tradition with the popes of rome to protect the Jews" --"Jewish live in the Middle Ages", 1896, by Israel Abrahams, a Jewish scholar from Cambridge University.

Pope Gregory I (590-604) began the tradition of protecting Jews. He issued a historic decree beginning with the words Sicut Judaeis (”As for the Jews”), which thereafter introduced all subsequent papal edicts defending the Jews. He affirmed that the Jews “should have no infringement of their rights. ... We forbid to vilify the Jews. We allow them to live as Romans and to have full authority over their possessions.”

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

The only anti semitic, or anti Jewish aspect of it is that it insists the Jews killed Jesus, when common sense and a basic knowledge of history show otherwise. Only the Romans ever used crucifixion. Often it was Jews that they crucified; in one day, they sometimes crucified more than 200 Jews.

The Romans killed Jesus because he was a threat; he was an agitator. The Jews did not ask the Romans to do it, as some suggest; they were not in any position to petition the Romans, their oppressors, to do anything.

The Jews may not always have approved of what Jesus suggested, but he never renounced his faith and he died a Jew.

Answer 3

Neither of the examples you cited are based in Catholic theology.

Catholic people are human and they all make mistakes. Some of them make HUGE errors that cost people their lives. But that doesn't mean all of Catholic teaching supports the heinous crimes committed by these people in error.

Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church and you will see for yourself -- there is nothing Anti-Semitic in it at all. Catholic teaching has great respect for the Jewish tradition and recognizes the Jewish nation as God's Chosen People to this day.

Answer 4

Read the Documents of Vatican II where antiSemitism and claims of Jewish Deicide of Christ is condemned.

The Funda.Prot. theology is antisemitic,even when pro Zionist, since it demands that God burn all non Fundaprot Jews is everlasting Hell.

Catholic theology even 500 years ago was not antisemitic,but many Catholics were very antisemitic. The Catholic Church today is very much involved in fighting antisemitism.

Answer 5

The early Church fathers slagged each other off constantly over minute theological interpretations. On occasion, they even worked themselves up to all-out violence and killing. That's historical fact, so don't thumb me down on it.

In that milieu, Judaism was just another competing sect to be insulted and ridiculed. Accuracy wasn't important in the least either. (Every early Christian rant was followed by -- 'and even worse - he has women followers!'. They ALL had women followers. Women bank-rolled early Christianity.)

Then some hundreds of years later, a couple of people dug out those old lies and started embellishing them even further. What had been a matter of putting down another religion in order to gain converts became an excuse for severe discrimination and murder.

Answer 6

The antisemitism came from European culture in the middle ages, not Catholicism. Similar antisemitism still exists in Europe today.

Answer 7

I don't know, why are all Southern Baptists, Southern Methodists, Evangelicals, and Fundamentalists members of the Klu Klux Klan?

Answer 8

Simply put: The reason that the catholic church hates the Jews is because centuries ago, the catholic church wanted to move out of Rome to the Holy Land but the Jewish people wouldn't let them. The vatican wanted to move there to mislead people into beliving that it is the "one true church" of God. It's not.

Quoting Abraham Lincoln on the catholic church: "They never forgive and they never forget."

Answer 9

The jews convinced the people to decide between Barrabas and Jesus for who of the two was going to be crucified.

Answer 10

with a screen name like realchurch historian it is odd how you can not provide any evidence to back up your outlandish claims. you are making yourself look bad.

again what have protestants done to catholics and to jews,are you going to highlight these aswell or are you out to blacken the name of the catholic church? your insights are very one sided and as we know there are always atleast 2 tales to every story. put the events in context and give impartial details,you are only highlighting an agenda.