As Triduum approaches, USCCB posts Portland archbishop’s statement decrying antisemitism

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on March 18 posted a message against antisemitism given by the archbishop of Portland, Oregon, who decried that in the past Easter has been marked by some through “outbursts of hatred and even violence against Jews.” 

Archbishop Alexander Sample, who is also chairman of the USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty, said in the video statement that during the Easter Triduum, Catholics celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. On Holy Thursday, Catholics celebrate the institution of the Eucharist and are invited to share in Christ’s “gift of self so that we might join Him one day in eternal life,” the archbishop said. 

“The focus of our celebration is the Pascal mystery of Christ and what God has done for all of us,” Archbishop Sample continued: “There's been a tendency at times to put the focus elsewhere. Sadly, the celebration of Easter has, at times, been the occasion for outbursts of hatred and even violence against Jews. The Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches that the Jews do not bear the collective guilt for the death of Jesus.”

He later noted that the Catechism underscores “that the guilt for the suffering of Jesus is especially great in us, because we who profess to know Christ deny him with our sins.”

The archbishop also recalled how at Vatican II, the teaching against the notion of the Jews’ collective guilt was explicitly stated in the declaration Nostra Aetate, which is about the Church’s relationship with non-Christian religions. 

“What happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures,” he said, quoting Nostra Aetate.

He warned against misunderstanding what happened on Good Friday and how it should be observed. 

“Indeed, Good Friday ought to be an occasion for us to return to the Lord, not to scapegoat others,” he said. “Holding the Jews collectively responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus represents a profound misunderstanding of what took place on Good Friday.” 

This misunderstanding has also caused much of the hatred against Jewish people historically and in the present day, he added.

“As Catholics, we are called to walk in the truth and so to reject the conspiracies and lies that lead to harassment and even violence against our Jewish brothers and sisters,” he said. “There is a strong connection between religious freedom and working to counter anti-semitism.”

He quoted again from Nostra Aetate’s section denouncing all forms of antisemitism. 

“In her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone,” he recalled from the declaration. 

Concluding, Archbishop Sample called for the faithful to vocally oppose antisemitism. 

“The Jewish community is attacked at a far higher rate than any other religious group in the United States,” he said. “If we Catholics, in truly living out the Gospel, are to defend religious freedom with integrity, we must clearly speak out against anti-semitism.”

In a separate statement, Archbishop Sample also noted that the Christinan call to reject unjust discrimination does not mean one cannot offer legitimate criticism of governments. 

His additional comments came after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, reposted the USCCB’s video statement on X. Cruz, who earlier in the week reposted what many considered to be an anti-Catholic message, wrote in his repost to the USCCB video: “Amen. Thank you for speaking with great clarity. Catholics & Protestants & Jews should all be resolutely standing together in defense of our shared values.  Those seeking to divide us do not have America’s interests in their hearts.”

Responding via his personal X account as archbishop of Portland, Archbishop Sample responded to Cruz’s repost by emphasizing the importance of not approaching such issues “through the lens of personal ideology or political preference”. 

“I urge my fellow Christians to approach these matters not through the lens of personal ideology or political preference, but according to the moral principles handed on by Holy Mother Church and her magisterium,” Archbishop Sample wrote. “All Christians must reject unjust discrimination on the basis of religion or ethnicity. But that principle must not be misused to silence legitimate criticism of governments.”