Page 27 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

October 7 had all the hallmarks of a 21st-century pogrom, just as pogroms had been carried out against Jews countless times before in history.
The public silence of too many Catholic leaders in Australia has been magnified by the fact that Christian communities have been carriers of antisemitism over much of their history, a tragic fact that the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) had the courage to face, setting the Catholic Church on a sincere path of repentance and of reconciliation with the Jewish people that has been pursued for nearly 60 years. How is it, then, that a 21st-century pogrom, unleashed upon Jewish communities in the quiet of a Jewish holy day and triggering antisemitic outbursts around the world, could be met with such an underwhelming response by Australian Catholic leaders? Has the church learned nothing from the lessons of the Holocaust?
To its credit, within two days after the October 7 bloodbath, Catholic Religious Australia, the representative body for leaders of 150 Catholic religious institutes in Australia, issued a brief statement condemning the attacks and calling for the release of the hostages. A national interfaith body, the Australian Council of Christians and Jews, which includes Catholics, also promptly publicly condemned Hamas’ atrocities. However, it took another two weeks for one lone Australian bishop, in the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta, to come out with a media release that included expression of concern for Israeli and Jewish lives.
Encouragingly, the statement of the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne just issued (11 November 2023) provides clarity regarding an appropriate Catholic response to the sharp uptick in antisemitic incidents that we are witnessing in Australian streets and neighbourhoods. Still, it is disturbing
27