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The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) slammed remarks made by Pope Francis, who reportedly called in a new book for an investigation into whether that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”
“The State of Israel is currently facing a war of intended annihilation on seven fronts, and these remarks look like a possible opening of an eighth front, from of all places, the Vatican, which can also lead to the spilling of Jewish blood around the world,” said CEO of CAM Sacha Roytman. “For a Pope who appears to prize even-handedness and peace, we see that the Jewish state once again appears to be the exception. We had hoped after Nostra Aetate in 1965 that the Jewish people would be seen as equal to all others around the world by the Catholic hierarchy, but these claims suggest otherwise, and out of all the conflicts and real genocides around the world, the national homeland of the Jewish people is once again singled out as a target for opprobrium.”
“The Catholic Church has a very troubling history of investigations into the conduct of Jews, which were frequently called Inquisitions,” Roytman continued. “It would behoove Pope Francis to choose his words more carefully because they bring to mind a horrific and bloody history of Catholic religious leaders attacking Jews for the enjoyment of others in public at tribunals and Inquisitions where the Jew would always be found guilty regardless of the facts.”
Last year, CAM leaders met with Vatican representatives in Israel to offer them seminars on antisemitism which unfortunately were never followed-up on.
