The Jewish Persecution of Christianity

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The Jewish Persecution of Christianity

Of the Pro Iudaeis of the Jew Treves, disguised as a false Christian under the guise of Corrado Guidetti, Doctor in letters, we believe to have in the ten articles published so far demonstrated sufficiently the notable vanity. And although many other points of his booklet could still provide us with abundant material for a literary duel in the hall of Reason in Padua where he set us an appointment without maintaining it (and who has since heard from or seen him?); however in order not to continue after a fugitive, not preoccupying ourselves more with him but moving on, we will come now to keep the promise made to our readers in article X published on page 173 in Vol. 1 of this series. The promise is to show that Christians never persecuted Jews as the Jews and liberal judaizers and freemasons continually lie, but that instead the Jews always persecuted the Christians according to the truth of history. And that if here or there we cross paths with Treves-Guidetti, we will not fail to greet him in passing without entering further with those who do not show up for the long and more detailed discussions. So let us begin again with a new treatise on the proposed subject, which is not entirely useless, as we believe.

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Jonesing the Logos

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Jonesing the Logos

The town of Echt, close to the southern tip of Holland, has a Carmelite convent and a railway station. It was from here, in 1942, that Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce (born Edith Stein) was taken by the Gestapo to her death at Auschwitz, following a statement by the Dutch bishops denouncing the Nazi invaders’ treatment of the Jews. She had just that morning finished writingThe Science of the Cross. “We go for our people,” she is said to have told her sister Rosa, who had joined her in the Carmel, and who with Edith and 40,000 other Jewish converts to Christianity were killed in the Nazis’ monumental act of spite.

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Are Jews Our Friends?

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Are Jews Our Friends?

On February 19, 2020, Bishop Kevin Rhoades wrote a statement for his Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN diocese regarding how Catholics are to relate to Jews. Seeking collaboration in human affairs, however, often spills over into religious issues about which Christians and Jews are naturally at odds. It is a tough road for those who are seeking human friendship to wade through the rough waters inherent in spiritual matters. Over the last 70 years or so, various Catholic and Jews have attempted to forge these deep waters. Unfortunately, they find the pathway strewn with the dead bodies of compromise, contradiction and confusion. As a case in point, let us delve into the bishop’s efforts to give it another try.

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"Catholic Zionism" Contradiction in Terms

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"Catholic Zionism" Contradiction in Terms

In the January 2020 issue of First Things, a new phrase was coined to advance the ecumenical efforts between Jews and Catholics. That phrase is “Catholic Zionism,” appearing here in the literature for the first time. It seeks to make itself the Catholic version of the more common “Christian Zionism” by divesting itself of the apocalyptic dimensions of the latter but continuing to advance the idea that God still owes land to the Jews and has been fulfilling that promise by giving them the present land of Palestine. The full title is: “Catholic Zionism: The Jewish State is a Sign of God’s Fidelity,” written by Gavin D’Costa. The author tries to convince his reader that Catholics should help in this divine endeavor and by doing so they become “Catholic Zionists.”

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Benedict XVI on Jesus, the Church, and the Jews

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Benedict XVI on Jesus, the Church, and the Jews

The election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 gave the world a Bishop of Rome coherent with, but significantly different from, his predecessor. Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger were close colleagues in the Vatican for many years. As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger was point man on several important doctrinal disputes that historians will consider crucial to John Paul’s papacy—liberation theology, faith and reason, and reproductive morality in particular. Ratzinger was primarily responsible for the Catholic Catechism. The two functioned almost as one mind.

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