Anti-Semitism is Not a Christian Value
We condemn all discriminatory measures against any
religious or racial group. We proclaim with Pope Pius XI that
"it is not possible for Christians to have any part in anti-Semitism."
By attacking a people from whom Christ was born, anti-Semitism is
manifestly anti-Christian in its roots. Every doctrine is contrary to
Christianity that mistakenly or out of hatred prevents men from
exercising their natural rights by reason of their ethnic or
religious affiliation. If individuals or established social and
religious groups harm the common good, punishment for such acts
should be meted out according to the responsibilities of the persons
involved. Preventative measures cannot deprive any individual of his
natural rights and of the conditions of a free, dignified, and humane
life-that the state by reason of its existence ought to guarantee to
each person. Every exceptional or discriminatory law is unjust. We
know moreover that Christians ought not only care for themselves and
their interests but also for the good of their brothers and the
future of justice and law. The abominable racial, religious, and
political persecutions which today bloody the word wound the health
of each of us who belong to Christ.
Jacques Maritain, Oeuvres Completes, vol.
7, 1224.Quoted in: Jacques Maritain and the Jews, ed. by
Robert Royal (Notre Dame 1994).
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