Anti-semitism in the Roman Catholic Church

1st to 20th Century CE

Sponsored link.

During the 1^st and 2^nd century CE:

Circa 30 CE, the primitive Christian movement was one of about two dozen different Jewish religious/political movements, along with the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots, followers of John the Baptist, etc. The immediate followers of Jeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) looked upon themselves as a reform movement within Judaism. Confrontation between the early Christians and various Jewish groups are recorded in the Christian Scriptures (aka New Testament). There are references to instances of persecution of Jewish Christians and Pauline Christians by Jewish groups. The Gospels, particularly the Gospel of John, contains many passages in which the authors condemn "the Jews" as sons of Satan and accuse them of murdering Jesus.

Justin Martyr (circa 100 to 165 CE) and Irenaeus of Lyon (circa 130 to 200 CE) developed the concept of "supercessionism." This is sometimes called the "theology of displacement" or "replacement theology." They taught that the Jews were partly responsible for Jesus' execution. Through this act, and by rejecting Jesus' teachings, the Jews were seen as losing their favored position as God's chosen people. Christianity replaced Judaism in God's eyes as the chosen people. The Christian Church became regarded as the 'true' or 'spiritual' Israel.₄ Later, Milito of Sardis (circa 160) "through his misreading of the gospels still more bluntly than Justin held the Jews responsible for the death of Jesus..." ₅

During the 4^th century CE:

From 315 CE, (when the Roman Empire extended freedom of religion to Christians) to 395 (when Christianity had become the state religion) Christians were able to initiate programs of discrimination and oppression against Jews. Some early examples were:

During the Middle Ages and Renaissance:

During this period, there were dozens of other instances of persecution of Jews by the church, including exiling Jews from cities, dioceses and entire countries; destruction of synagogues; denial of the right to own land or to hold office; and their reduction to serfdom and slavery. Perhaps the worst instances during these centuries were genocides during the Crusades. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered in cold blood by Christian armies on their way to and from Palestine.

Some of the other acts of oppression included:

During these centuries, there were a few attempts by various popes to reduce the impact of the church's policies against the Jews. They were largely ignored. None had any lasting impact.

During 19^th and first half of the 20^th century CE:

In earlier centuries, persecution by church and state was directed at followers of Judaism. The Church believed that some Jews must be allowed to live, because the biblical book of Revelation indicated that they had a role to play in the "end times." However, since the Church at the time believed that all Jews were responsible for Jesus' death -- past, present and future -- then it was acceptable to make Jews' lives quite miserable. Jews could escape oppression by giving up their religion, converting to Christianity, and being baptized.

Subsequent attacks against Jews were mostly racially motivated, and perpetrated by Christian, governmental and secular groups and individuals. The Jewish people were viewed as a separate race more than as followers of a different religion.

The Roman Catholic Church reversed its theology later in the 20th century and is now a strong supporter of religious tolerance towards Jews.

References used:

1. "Saving our souls," The Southern Shofar, Birmingham, AL, at: http://www.bham.net/
2. Gérard Vallée, "The shaping of Christianity," Paulist Press, (1999), Page 37. Read reviews or order this book safely from the Amazon.com online bookstore
3. J. Hill & R. Cheadle, "The Bible tells me So," Doubleday, New York NY (1996), Pages 20 to 24. Read reviews or order this book
4. "History of the Holocaust," Holocaust Memorial Center, at: http://www.holocaustcenter.org/

Copyright © 2001 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2001-JUL-25
Latest update: 2008-FEB-06
Author: B.A. Robinson