Nazi Hunters and Their Catholic Proxy Warriors - Part II

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Nazi Hunters and Their Catholic Proxy Warriors - Part II

Bishop Rhoades was inspired to write his statement after attending a “Violins of Hope” inter-faith prayer service at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, celebrating the arrival of “violins that were played by Jewish prisoners at concentration camps during the Holocaust.” Listening to those violins brought tears “of both sadness and joy” to Bishop Rhoades’ eyes. He felt “joy at the love we share as brothers and sisters, drawn together by a common spiritual patrimony” but sadness at the “rise in recent years of anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic rhetoric in our society,” as well as “incidents of violence incited by hateful speech about Jews.”[15]

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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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Ben Shapiro and the Myth of the Judeo-Christian West

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Ben Shapiro and the Myth of the Judeo-Christian West

As the cathedral of Notre Dame burned in Holy Week, Ben Shapiro took time out to tell his vast social media audience that: “If we wish to uphold the beauty and profundity of the Notre Dame cathedral, that means re-familiarizing ourselves with the philosophy and religious principles that built it.” Shapiro went on to clarify that the cathedral was a “central monument to Western civilization, which was built on the Judeo-Christian heritage.”1 The term ‘Judeo-Christian’ is a favourite of Mr. Shapiro’s and appears with wearying frequency throughout his latest bestselling book The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great. 

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Anti-Semitism and Thought Control at Catholic University

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I was in the middle of a tune when I got the call. On Monday nights I play Irish music at a pub in South Bend. On Monday, February 11, I was planning an early departure on Tuesday morning to speak at the Catholic University School of Architecture, as part of a lecture series on Building Catholic Communities.

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