Church of England admits Christian anti-Semitism led to Holocaust
New major report urges Christians to accept importance Zionism held for most of Jewish people, admits Christian teaching has provided 'fertile seed-bed for murderous antisemitism in modern era'
In a major report, that took three years to make, “God’s Unfailing Word: Theological and Practical Perspectives on Christian–Jewish Relations,” said that the church urged Christians to accept the importance Zionism held for most of the Jewish people.
The report calls for “attention to the persecution and prejudice experienced by Jewish people through history” and “the responsibility held by Christians for that and its persistence in the contemporary context.” Christian teaching, it admits, has provided a “fertile seed-bed for murderous antisemitism in the modern era”.
In an indirect swing at UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the report read “some of the approaches and language used by pro-Palestinian advocates are indeed reminiscent of what could be called traditional antisemitism”.
In an afterword written by UK's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, he praised the 105-page report for its "sensitivity and unequivocality in owning the legacy of Christianity’s role in the bitter saga of Jewish persecution".
Mirvis goes on, though, to express his “substantial misgiving” at its unwillingness to condemn the “efforts of those Christians, however many they may number, who, as part of their faithful mission, dedicate themselves to the purposeful and specific targeting of Jews for conversion to Christianity”.
The chief rabbi warns of a “real and persistent concern, set in a tragic historical context, that even now, in the twenty-first Century, Jews are seen by some as quarry to be pursued and converted”.
