Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Pope Francis condemns ‘barbaric resurgence’ of anti-Semitism

(JTA) – A week before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pope Francis renewed his condemnation of anti-Semitism, decrying its “barbaric resurgence.”

Francis was addressing a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center that met with him at the Vatican on Monday.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed in Italy and throughout the world on Jan. 27 – the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in 1945.

“If we lose our memory, we annihilate the future,” the pope said. “May the anniversary of the unspeakable cruelty that humanity learned 75 years ago serve as a summons to pause, to be silent and to remember. We need to do this, lest we become indifferent.”

Francis said the world was witnessing a troubling resurgence of factionalism and populism, which provides a breeding ground for hatred.

“Even recently, we have witnessed a barbaric resurgence of anti-Semitism,” he said. “I do not tire of firmly condemning every form of anti-Semitism.”

The pope added, “However, in order to address the problem at the root, we must commit ourselves to tilling the soil in which hatred grows, sowing peace in it.”

Francis has frequently issued firm denunciations of anti-Semitism, and has met frequently with Jewish groups and delegations. He visited Auschwitz in 2016, where he engaged in silent prayer.

In his remarks on Monday the pope encouraged deeper Christian-Jewish cooperation and stressed the need to respect human dignity, which he said “is due to every person in equal measure, regardless of his or her ethnic origin, religion or social status.”

“It is extremely important to teach tolerance and mutual understanding, freedom of religion and the promotion of social peace.”

The post Pope Francis condemns ‘barbaric resurgence’ of anti-Semitsm appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.