January 02, 2013 Q. What is the basis for ADL's concerns about Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ"?A. We first learned about Mr. Gibson's plans to make a film based on the final hours of Jesus' life in a New York Times Magazine article that appeared in February 2003. An early version of the script was shared with us. In August 2003, an ADL representative saw a rough cut in Houston. On January 21, we saw a version of the film at a screening in Orlando, Florida. We had hoped to see the film…
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New York, NY, October 24, 2012 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed the expulsion of Holocaust denying Bishop Richard Williamson from the traditionalist Catholic sect Society of St. Pius X, but said it “in no way repairs the damage already done by his abhorrent beliefs.” Bishop Williamson has repeatedly made statements denying the extent of the Nazi Holocaust and was convicted of Holocaust denial in Germany. A year ago he wrote an essay on his blog suggesting…
New York, NY, November 16, 2010 … A delegation of leaders from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) held a meeting earlier this month with Archbishop Kurt Koch, the Vatican's newly appointed liaison to the Jewish people. The hour-long meeting at the Vatican on November 4 included a serious and frank exchange of views on topics of concern to the Jewish community, and followed an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. "Archbishop Koch welcomed our group and we had a frank discussion on a number of…
New York, NY, October 25, 2011 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today said it was deeply disturbed by disparaging remarks about Judaism from Archbishop Edward Gilbert, the leader of the Catholic Church in the Port of Spain, who reportedly likened politicians in Trinidad and Tobago to Jews and suggested that, "...they have the mindset of the original Jewish people." Archbishop Gilbert was reported to have made the remarks during a Jubilee Mass held October 24 at Our Lady of Perpetual…
New York, NY, October 19, 2011 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the Vatican to publicly repudiate anti-Semitic statements by Bishop Richard Williamson, a member of a schismatic Catholic group known as Society of St. Pius X, in which he suggested that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus. "Bishop Williamson's remarks are further evidence that the Society of St. Pius X has no place in the mainstream church," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "It is…
New York, NY, September 16, 2011 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) urges the Vatican to ensure that a breakaway Catholic sect which teaches anti-Judaism will be required to accept the church's official positive teachings about Jews and Judaism before they are fully accepted back into the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican announced earlier this week that in order for The Society of St. Pius X to gain full reconciliation with the church, SSPX must accept some core church teachings, but…
New York, NY, February 4, 2009 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed as a "major positive step forward" the Vatican's demand that Bishop Richard Williamson publicly and unequivocally recant his Holocaust denial if he is ever to regain his clerical responsibilities in the Church. Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement: We sincerely appreciate that Pope Benedict XVI heard our pain and anguish over the acceptance back into…
New York, NY, January 29, 2009 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed Pope Benedict XVI's condemnation of Holocaust denial and expression of solidarity with the Jewish people. "We are heartened that the Pope heard our deep concern about the future of Catholic-Jewish relations," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "He responded to our anguish over the virulent Holocaust denial by Bishop Richard Williamson, but also to the deeper question of the continuing authority…
New York, NY, March 2, 2011 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed as "an important and historic moment" the publication of a new book by Pope Benedict XVI that includes a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus. Pope Benedict's book, "Jesus of Nazareth – Part II," excerpts of which were released today, builds an argument against the anti-Jewish concept of "deicide" through a thorough reading and analysis of the Gospels, leading to his conclusion that…
by: Abraham H. Foxman | July 11, 2007 Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK (JTA) – With anti-Semitism resurgent in the world, one of the encouraging elements for the Jewish people, particularly if one is to compare things today to the 1930s and 1940s, is the remarkable change in the Catholic Church's attitudes toward Jews. In the past four decades, a conceptual revolution has taken place in the church's relationship with the Jewish people. The first step came with Vatican II and its…
August 01, 2006 The following is the text of Mel Gibson's apology to the Jewish Community for his anti-Semitic statements. There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of Anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge. I am a public person, and when I say something, either…
In 1965, the Second Vatican Council made historic changes to church policies and theology. Among them was Nostra Aetate, Latin for "In Our Time," a document that revolutionized the Catholic Church's approach to Jews and Judaism after nearly 2000 years of pain and sorrow.
Section four of Nostra Aetate repudiates the centuries-old "deicide" charge against all Jews, stresses the religious bond shared by Jews and Catholics, reaffirms the eternal covenant between God and the People of…
ADL's Role in Fighting Anti-Muslim Bigotry
ADL plays a leading role in exposing and combating anti-Muslim bigotry. As levels of anti-Muslim bigotry continue to surface in a variety of public forms and fora, ADL has produced reports and resources on several groups and individuals whose public campaigns have both sheltered and fueled such bigotry.
The threat of the infiltration of Sharia, or Islamic law, into the American court system is one of the more pernicious conspiracy…
Freedom of religion is one of our nation's most cherished liberties. It is at the very foundation of America. Our nation's Constitution protects religious freedom for all, prohibits religious tests for public office, and mandates separation of church and state. These are essential American ideals and values, which candidates for public office should respect.
Candidates for public office are, of course, free to worship as they choose. And they should feel comfortable explaining their…
The central narrative of Christian theology is the passion, i.e. the trials and crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. There are four different accounts of the passion in the gospels of Christian Scriptures, in which Jews play different roles. All these accounts culminate in the death and resurrection of Jesus as revealing God's saving power available to humanity. Good Friday and Easter celebrate respectively the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as the high points of Christian creed and…