Roman Catholics and antisemitism in the 21st century

According to historians, many Christians have had some antisemitic ideas since early Christianity. For instance, the Church used to teach that all Jews were to blame for Jesus' death. However, in the 21st century, antisemitism still exists in some Roman Catholic communities. These antisemitic ideas became common in many European kingdoms during the first millennium:
* Because the Jews killed Jesus, they aren't God's chosen people any more; Catholics are  These policies caused over a thousand years of persecution towards Jews, according to these historians, including:

### 20th century
#### Second Vatican Council (Vatican II)
In 1965, Pope Paul VI wrote a document called the *Nostra aetate*. It rejected the Church's old antisemitic ideas.  For example, it said that Jews were not to blame for Jesus' death: Vatican II caused division within the Roman Catholic Church. Some conservative Catholics believed the Church's traditional ways should not be changed. Radical traditionalist Catholics were formed to oppose the Vatican II reforms.''' Academics are uncertain whether John Paul II was talking about the Crusades, the Inquisition, the burning of alleged heretics, or forced conversions to Christianity.

Some radical traditionalist Catholics are considered Holocaust deniers.

According to the SPLC, Traditional Catholics believe that:  

The SSPX has become the biggest Catholic publisher of Holocaust-denying materials. As of October 2024, the organization had 700 priests worldwide. Of these priests, 180 were based in France; they operated 250 places of worship and hosted at least 35,000 attendees.

#### Richard Williamson
Richard Williamson (March 8, 1940 – January 25, 2025) is an SSPX bishop who publicly denied the Holocaust several times. He said there were no gas chambers in the Auschwitz concentration camp. As a result, he was fined €10,000 in Germany for Holocaust denial. The poll also found that 13.3% of these Catholics thought Jews are "cursed by God". Additionally, 15.8% believed that God's covenant with Jews had ended. and misrepresented the FBI's moves as "persecution of Catholics".

### Expansion
A rising number of American Catholic churches have drifted towards radical traditionalist Catholicism, rejecting the Vatican II that renounced antisemitism. Chodakiewicz has promoted controversial views about the Holocaust, including: was "not antisemitic"

Many historians, including Princeton University history professor Jan T. Gross and University of Toronto Polish history professor Piotr Wróbel, criticized Chodakiewicz. They said that Chodakiewicz had written several pieces that trivialized the Holocaust and the violent antisemitism of many Polish Catholics. He also accused many of the victims of being "Jewish Communists". especially Jews. Meanwhile, the Spanish Inquisition was founded in 1478 and run until 1834, during which the Catholic Spanish Empire unleashed a systematic campaign of persecution of Jews, due to its racist belief that Jews who converted to Catholicism (*conversos*) were mostly faking as Christians, The church that ,) have emerged to rewrite the history of the Spanish Inquisition. Members of the movements released a series of books, films, TV programs and mobile exhibitions
followed by Belgium (24%), France (17%), Germany (12%) and the UK (10%). In July, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that 78% of Spanish Jews saw antisemitism as a big problem in Spain.

## Responses
### United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
On December 11, 2024, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop (USCCB) announced the adoption of the *Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition* drafted together with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in response to worsening antisemitism in America since 7 October 2023.

As of December 30, 2024, the 1985 revision of the USCCB *Guidelines for Catholic-Jewish Relations* is still in place. The *General Principles* of the *Guidelines* include but not limited to
# Prayer in common with Jews should be encouraged when mutually acceptable
# Proselytism, which *does* not respect human freedom, is carefully to be avoided
# Catholic–Jewish meetings are dedicated to fostering mutual respect and eliminating misunderstandings
# A commission or secretariat is recommended to be assigned to Catholic–Jewish relations in each diocese
Meanwhile, the *Recommended Programs* under the *Guidelines* encourage the
# Advancement of Catholic–Jewish relations on all levels
# Removal of content from catechesis and homilies that blames all Jews for the Crucifixion of Jesus
# Rejection of the historically inaccurate notion that Judaism was a "decadent formalism and hypocrisy"
# Further analysis of such phrases as "the Jews" by St. John in modern context to erase negative undertones about Jews

## References