Judaism

The Catholic community has come a long way in its relationship with its Jewish brothers and sisters, but there is more to be done. American Catholics can no longer be passive in our fight against antisemitism; we must be active, and we can start in our Catholic schools.

Jealousy, love, and punishment are not bad ways of understanding the rise in both government-based religious discrimination and societal religious discrimination, as Jonathan Fox shows in his newest book, Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me: Why Governments Discriminate against Religious Minorities.

Amanda Achtman recently sat down with Bishop Bawai Soro, an Iraqi Christian leader serving Canada’s approximately 40,000 Chaldean Catholics who is passionate about exploring the common heritage of Iraqi Jews and Iraqi Christians. In this interview, Achtman spoke with Bishop Soro about some of the shared patrimony, the Jewish roots of the Chaldean liturgy, and how Middle Eastern Christians can help combat antisemitism.

How should Christians respond to the killing of someone so monstrous that their death seems to be a net gain for the world, a victory for the goods of justice, order, and peace?

As American Christians, what is our relationship with the Middle East, and why does it matter to us? How does our relationship contrast to the superficial and shortsighted way governments engage the region?

The Christmas story doesn’t tell us how to reconcile the virtues and the vices of universal cosmopolitanism and local loyalty. But it suggests that we can somehow try to be true to both ideals: to be loyal members of our nations, our families, our tribes—and at the same time to reach out to the broader human community of which we are also a part.

That little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying so demurely in the manger is the biggest troublemaker in world history, and the shocking claims that Christianity makes about who He is and what He means irritate and antagonize people all over the world.

As we start to look at this whole Christmas phenomenon, it makes sense to begin with the basics. The first questions any sensible person asks about Christmas are pretty straightforward: What event is this holiday supposed to commemorate, and do we know that it actually happened?

Some people did not like Robert Nicholson’s article on Ilhan Omar’s run-in with Israel because they disagreed with the way he classifies Judaism and Christianity in a category separate from Islam.