Amid the din of antisemitism, a growing chorus of voices is speaking up in support of the Jewish People and Israel. Even as we struggle against the scourge, we should note the remarkable ways in which our friends are standing with us to ensure that we need not face it alone.
Whether it is the Black Christian Leadership Council on Israel Relations, which is planning a trip for 500 leading Black pastors to Israel or the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Eagles’ Wings, and the Israel Allies Foundation, which with Jewish Federations of North America and other organizations brought hundreds of Christian and Jewish leaders together in support of Israel and against antisemitism, we feel bolstered by those who stand with us.
We know that the Southern Baptist Convention’s condemnation of antisemitism means the support of the largest Christian denomination in the US and behold with optimism the newly formed Hindu-Jewish Coalition of America (with which this writer remains involved). We note that for the first time in history, a Muslim group marched in the Israel Day Parade and that local Latter-day Saints communities are collaborating with their Jewish counterparts around security.
Now, a key voice in the Catholic Church, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, is speaking up in support of the Jewish people, affirming that it remains in a living covenant with God and that Christianity is a sibling faith, not a successor.
Allies stepping forward
Cardinal Cupich’s standing within the Church, as a close adviser of Pope Leo XIV and colleague of his counterparts in other cities, suggests that his efforts may resound from other pulpits across the country. We hope and pray that they do and are grateful for the lead that Cardinal Cupich has taken around antisemitism as a problem not only for Jews but also for Catholics and Americans everywhere.
In his homily this past Sunday, Cardinal Cupich called Catholic colleagues to hold Jews as “brothers in faith” and recipients of “God’s love.”
Cardinal Cupich also counters ancient theological forms of antisemitism, which have returned with renewed force in some Christian – and even Catholic – circles. First, he notes that the Jewish people not only enter into a covenant as individuals but as a group. This affirms our duality as a family that became a faith but stayed a family – a group of people responsible for one another and which transcends more limited notions of a religious community.
Antisemites today directly attack notions of Jewish peoplehood, both in Israel and today; Cardinal Cupich made clear that these attacks defy the teachings of the largest religious community in the world.
Further, Cardinal Cupich speaks of the impermissibility of proselytizing Jews, noting that Jews entered into a covenant with God freely and that those who enter the Catholic Church must do so of their own free will, not because of pressure or coercion. This reaffirms approaches to Catholic-Jewish relations, which do not depend on changing one another but on understanding one another more deeply.
Most importantly, Cardinal Cupich affirmed that Catholic regard for Jews is not a passive act, but one that requires action, especially at this time. He called upon Catholics to “push back on actions or remarks that are antisemitic.” He calls his faithful to stand in defense of the Jewish people whenever they are “derided or persecuted” – notably today.
If America’s 67 million Catholics rise and meet Cardinal Cupich’s call to them, American discourse about Judaism and Israel would change for the better. We are blessed to have friends like Cardinal Cupich and pray that our Catholic neighbors heed his important messages.
Rabbi Yehiel Poupko is a rabbinic scholar at the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago.
Rabbi Joshua Stanton is the associate vice president of interfaith and intergroup initiatives for Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).