“The great patrimony we share with the Jewish people”
The Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell has condemned “displays of antisemitism when delivering a lecture on religious freedom.
Cardinal George Pell Photo: Henry Benjamin
Cardinal Pell was speaking at the annual Lecture on Religious Freedom at the University of Notre Dame Australia School of Law.
During the course of his address, Cardinal Pell said: “As the Second Vatican Council declared, the Catholic Church rejects every form of persecution.
Mindful of the great patrimony we share with the Jewish people, we also condemn hatred, persecution and displays of antisemitism directed against them at any time.
In the Middle East and Iran there are sometimes antisemitic statements from government leaders, including Holocaust denial and calling for the destruction of Israel. Antisemitism also continues to be a problem in some European countries, where there have been some isolated but nonetheless shocking antisemitic crimes, including murder.
This problem does not always seem to receive the attention it deserves. I am not sure whether this is simply a specific instance of a more general lack of interest in religious freedom issues on the part of politicians, opinion leaders and human rights groups, or an indication of something more worrying at the bottom of the garden of political and religious life.”
