By Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, JNS
Through a vast digital pulpit, the Catholic Church has become a global megaphone for those who weaponize antisemitism under the guise of supporting the oppressed.
Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel, has penned a letter to Pope Francis following the pontiff's ongoing criticism of the Jewish state during the Swords of Iron war. The text of his letter follows.
“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.” — Isaiah 62:1
Dear Pope Francis,
Your words and actions regarding the State of Israel are not merely disappointing, they represent a historic danger. Through modern communications, your voice reaches billions instantly, making your influence far greater than any pope before you. This unprecedented reach demands unprecedented responsibility, yet your statements have instead revived the darkest patterns of Catholic Church history—patterns that for centuries transformed false accusations into violence against the Jewish people.
The stark bias in your responses since Oct. 7, 2023, cannot be ignored. In an era where your every word is amplified across social media, broadcast globally and instantly translated into countless languages, you have repeatedly drawn a false moral equivalence between a democratic nation defending its citizens and terrorists who perpetrated the most barbaric massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Your portrayal of this conflict deliberately ignores the tragic reality that Hamas deliberately embeds its terrorist infrastructure within civilian areas using hospitals, schools, mosques and churches as military installations and weapons depots. They cynically use Palestinian children and civilians as human shields, forcing Israel to make impossible choices in its legitimate fight for survival. Your failure to acknowledge this cruel exploitation of innocent lives, while condemning Israel’s efforts to defend itself, reveals a profound moral blindness. Every casualty in this war is a tragedy, but the responsibility lies squarely with Hamas, who intentionally maximize civilian casualties for propaganda purposes. Your silence on these tactics, coupled with your persistent portrayal of Israel as an aggressor, sends destructive ripples across the global consciousness at a speed and scale unimaginable to your predecessors.
Your recent engagement with Iran’s regime is particularly egregious. Every handshake, every meeting is photographed, videoed and disseminated worldwide within minutes. By meeting with representatives of a government that openly calls for Israel’s annihilation while failing to challenge their grotesque appropriation of Jesus in their campaign against Israel and the West, you have lent papal authority to modern antisemitism. In this digital age, such gestures become powerful propaganda tools, spreading at the speed of light.
The deafening silence regarding the systematic persecution of Christians throughout the Middle East stands in stark contrast to your swift condemnation of Israel. Your selective outrage, broadcast to every corner of the earth, shapes global opinion with unprecedented force. While Christian communities are decimated across the region, you reserve your digitally amplified criticism for the one Middle Eastern democracy where Christians worship freely.
The evolution of anti-Jewish accusations is clear and damning, but never before could these dangerous narratives reach so many, so quickly. From ancient blood libels to today’s false narratives about Palestinian children, these age-old patterns find new life through your global platform. Your words, magnified by modern technology, fuel a worldwide resurgence of antisemitism at a scale previous popes could never have imagined.
The progress achieved under Pope John XXIII toward healing Catholic-Jewish relations is being systematically undermined by your pontificate. Through your vast digital pulpit, the church has become a global megaphone for those who weaponize antisemitism under the guise of supporting the oppressed.
Your reimagining of Jesus as a Palestinian symbol of resistance, broadcast to billions, isn’t merely historically inaccurate, it’s a deliberate distortion that serves to delegitimize Jewish connection to our ancestral homeland. In an age where images and messages circle the globe in seconds, depicting Jesus in a keffiyeh and Israeli soldiers as Herod’s men isn’t just bad theology, it’s dangerous incitement with immediate, worldwide impact.
The Jewish people have transcended the role of history’s victims. Israel’s existence represents not just survival, but revival, a living refutation of the notion that Jews must accept persecution as their fate. Yet your words, amplified by modern technology, threaten this hard-won sovereignty with unprecedented reach and influence.
Your accusations against Israel reverberate instantaneously across continents. In this interconnected world, your statements embolden those who attack Jewish communities worldwide with an immediacy and breadth of influence no previous pope has wielded. The dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents globally since Oct. 7 bears witness to how your words can spark violence at the speed of digital transmission.
We respectfully urge Your Holiness to recognize the awesome responsibility that comes with your unparalleled global reach. Your every word shapes opinions and actions worldwide with historic speed and scale. In the spirit of peace and understanding that marked Vatican II, we pray you will reconsider these positions, cease propagating these dangerous falsehoods and step back from alliances with regimes that promote hatred. The world needs your moral leadership now more than ever, leadership worthy of your unprecedented influence. The path forward requires adherence to truth and justice, not the amplification of ancient prejudices through modern means.
With grave concern and unwavering resolve,
Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz
