Religious Bigotry
We should all be alarmed and galvanized into action by the rise in antisemitism and a concurrent outpouring of hatred directed toward Muslims. There can be no tolerance for any expression of antisemitism or expressions of hatred or disdain for Muslims.
Sixty years ago, the Second Vatican Council issued a document, Nostra Aetate, in which the Church broke new ground in its understanding of our relationship to other faith traditions. This document reflects the definitive teaching of our Church as evident in the fact that Pope Leo XIV offered a catechesis on this document on the occasion of its sixtieth anniversary in 2025. Pope Leo reminded us of what that document taught us: “…the Church, ‘mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and not moved by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.’” Pope Leo went on to declare: “…All my predecessors have condemned antisemitism with clear words. And so I too confirm that the Church does not tolerate antisemitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself.”
There is no disputing the rise of antisemitism in the United States. In January of this year, Beth Israel Synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, was firebombed. The library and administrative offices were destroyed along with five torahs—the sacred texts of the Jewish people. In March, a man drove his truck into Temple Israel in Bloomfield, Michigan. The temple has a school that was in session at the time of the attack. Only the presence of armed guards prevented a catastrophe. The NYPD reports that in 2025 there were 330 antisemitic incidents out of a total of 576 suspected hate crimes—a suspected anti-Jewish incident every 26 hours.
What does our Church teach us with regard to the Muslim people? Return to Nostra Aetate: “The Church has a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of Heaven and earth…They strive to submit themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God…Although not acknowledging him as God, they venerate Jesus as a prophet, his Virgin Mother they also honor, and even at times devoutly invoke. Further, they await the day of judgment and the reward of God following the resurrection of the dead. For this reason they highly esteem an upright life and worship God, especially by way of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.”
Unfortunately, it has become advantageous politically to target Muslims for the vilest attacks imaginable. Rep Randy Ogles, Republican of Tennessee, has stated: “Islam is a religion of violence, abuse of women and ruthless conquest. Its laws and practices have no place in American society.” He represents a district with a sizeable Muslim population that includes membership in an Islamic center that was destroyed because of a hate crime in 2008. In Texas, state and federal campaigns are striving to outdo themselves in their anti-Islamic rhetoric. One candidate launched her campaign with the burning of a Quran while declaring: “your daughters will be raped and your sons beheaded, unless we stop Islam once and for all.” Remember that Sid Rosenberg recently referred to Mayor Mamdani as a “Radical Islam cockroach” and a “jihadist, America-hating mayor.” This is the ugly reality of American discourse today.
Returning for a final time to Nostra Aetate, hear this clear, unequivocal teaching of our Church: “…the Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against people or any harassment of them on the basis of their race, color, condition in life or religion.” Always remember that silence is complicity. We must speak out when we hear any derogatory words, or see any acts of hatred, directed toward others because of their religion. Bigotry should find no home in our hearts or in our society.
– Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J., Associate Pastor