World News
CUA president says anti-Semitism a threat to all faiths
Published: March 4, 2013
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Anti-Semitism poses a threat to all faiths and undermines the fundamental premises of a liberal democracy, said the president of The Catholic University of America. Testifying at a Feb. 27 hearing of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, John Garvey said anti-Semitism violates human dignity by deny the right of equality to all people of all faiths. "To persecute people for their religious belief and form of worship is to deny the most fundamental commitment of a liberal democracy," Garvey told the subcommittee. The Catholic Church, he explained, is especially concerned about anti-Semitism because Catholics and Jews "are one family in the Abrahamic tradition." Citing the Second Vatican Council's comments on the common ancestry of Catholics and Jews, Garvey said the church "decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone." The hearing was called by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., subcommittee chairman, who expressed concern that Jewish communities worldwide are being targeted through verbal harassment and attacks on individuals, synagogues, Jewish cultural sites and cemeteries.
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