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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a clear warning this week, with Archbishop of Portland Alexander Sample urging Catholics to reject antisemitism and the “conspiracies and lies that lead to harassment and even violence against our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
The statement directly confronts modern antisemitism in one of its most persistent forms — conspiracy theories that cast Jews as manipulative, powerful, or collectively responsible for global events. These ideas spread rapidly online and increasingly fuel real-world violence against Jews.
As Archbishop Sample noted, “The Jewish community is attacked at a far higher rate than any other religious group in the United States.”
Catholics are called to reject antisemitism and the lies and conspiracies that fuel it, and to stand clearly against hatred and violence directed toward our Jewish brothers and sisters. To defend religious freedom with integrity, we must also reject antisemitism.@ArchbishpSample… pic.twitter.com/PlGZT0ZARb
— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (@USCCB) March 18, 2026
By naming these conspiracies explicitly, the bishops moved beyond symbolic condemnation and directly addressed the mechanisms through which antisemitism spreads and adapts. As Archbishop Sample emphasized, “If we Catholics, in truly living out the Gospel, are to defend religious freedom with integrity, we must clearly speak out against it.”
The message builds on a decades-long transformation within the Catholic Church. For centuries, the charge of Jewish collective guilt for the death of Jesus helped fuel exclusion, persecution, and violence across Europe. The 1965 declaration Nostra Aetate formally rejected that doctrine, marking a decisive break and laying the foundation for the Church’s modern stance against antisemitism.
At a time when antisemitism is becoming increasingly normalized across institutions, campuses, and online spaces, clear and unequivocal leadership from major religious authorities is essential. By directly challenging the falsehoods that drive hatred, the bishops’ message reinforces the standard that antisemitism must be identified, exposed, and rejected — without qualification.
