Holy Week is upon us, which means it’s time for the American Catholic Bishops to send out their annual urgent appeal to end Catholic antisemitism. They never target the guilty individuals by name, of course, because that would create opportunity for substantiation of the charges, and we can’t have that. Better to leave it open-ended.
No, the episcopal target tends to be Catholic Everyman whose alleged blood hatred is so vile, so real, and so widespread that the shepherds must urgently warn our Jewish brothers and sisters that Easter may be the occasion when Catholic Everyman gets violent.
Where is the USCCB’s Holy Week condemnation of the Christophobic hate that has led to hundreds of church burnings in Canada, violence against Christians in Africa, and priests being attacked at their own altars in France?
Cardinal Pizzaballa (Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem) is begging the world to see that persecuted Christians in the Holy Land are disappearing, while Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon seems to think Jews are evidently in even greater danger since, at any moment, they may encounter a well-armed Catholic Everyman in tactical Easter Bunny costume.
I respect Archbishop Sample but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find his sky-is-falling video a bit cringeworthy. But you can decide that for yourself after you watch this week’s Underground (link in comments).
As Christian persecution reaches global critical mass – with human rights groups classifying Christians as the most persecuted religious group in the world – I wonder why Archbishop Alexander Sample is taking time out to warn us of Easter violence perpetrated by Catholics against Jews. Where is this happening? Who are these hateful Catholics that pose such a clear and present danger that our bishops must sound the alarm? And why is such widespread Catholic violence not dominating the headlines?
This has everything to do with the Catholic Church’s claim to be the one true Church of Jesus Christ.
Of course, antisemitism is wrong. Of course, it’s a mortal sin. But, in all due respect – given the global Christian persecution – Archbishop Sample’s PSA comes off a bit like a man pacing the promenade of the sinking Titanic but fretting over the fate of the Lusitania.
So, I’ve got a few questions to ask in the new Underground:
- Does this episcopal handwringing have anything to do with the American Jewish Committee’s contention that the Catholic Church herself is a hate group?
- Is Archbishop Sample unconcerned that his comments are music to the ears of Christophobes who denounce the New Testament itself as antisemitic?
- Where is the USCCB’s Holy Week condemnation of the Christophobic hate that has led to hundreds of church burnings in Canada, violence against Christians in Africa, and priests being attacked at their own altars in France?
- Where is the USCCB reminder of the great good the Catholic Church has done not only for billions of souls, but also for the physical health and education of entire civilizations?
- What is going on here, and does it have anything to do with the bishops’ quiet rejection of the defined dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus?
My opinion? This has everything to do with the Catholic Church’s claim to be the one true Church of Jesus Christ. It’s a not-so-veiled attack on that dogma and on Christ’s Himself – the ultimate religious “supremacist.”
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
