See also: Catholic Voices for Israel: Charter
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Since October 7, 2023, and even more now, given the recent US-Israeli confrontation with Iran, a troubling pattern has emerged in public discourse. A growing chorus of politicians, journalists, and influencers — Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, Megyn Kelly, Carrie Prejean Boller, and groups such as LifeSiteNews and “Catholics for Catholics” — denounce American support for Israel as a betrayal of US national interest, vilify Israel’s conduct while ignoring the existential threat it has faced since its founding, and frame hostility toward the Jewish State as a matter of principle. What is striking, and cannot be dismissed as coincidental, is that a disproportionate number of these voices belong to Catholics. Their rhetoric, amplified across social media, has contributed to a climate in which hostility toward Israel is presented as the authentic Catholic position.
This is not merely a political problem. It is also a theological one. Even some mainstream apologists and theologians, podcasters, and pundits are now promoting an extreme form of supersessionism, increasingly arguing that the Church is the “new” and “true” Israel—not only in the sense of fulfillment but in the sense of cancellation and erasure. They insist that modern Israel—people, land, and nation—has nothing to do with biblical Israel, and therefore is at best irrelevant and at worst a theological fraud, if not a manifestation of the spirit of antichrist. Such claims stand in direct tension with the Church’s teaching since Nostra Aetate, which affirms that “the Jews still remain most dear to God,” and with St. Paul’s insistence in Romans 9–11 that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” The same chapters explicitly warn Gentile Christians against arrogance toward the “natural branches,” reminding the Church that Israel’s covenantal identity endures in God’s providence.
The contrast with the Protestant world is instructive. American Evangelicals have, for decades, offered Israel robust and theologically grounded support — vocal, organized, and unapologetic. No comparable Catholic voice exists. The Holy See's 1993 Fundamental Agreement recognized Israel's right to exist, but the Church has consistently declined to offer that recognition any theological foundation. More recently, Popes Francis and Leo have spoken with evident compassion for Palestinian suffering — a compassion that is entirely legitimate — yet without a corresponding affirmation of Israel's biblical, historical, and moral legitimacy. This asymmetry has consequences. It creates a vacuum, and vacuums are filled.
Into this breach have stepped anti-Zionist voices — some merely tendentious, others overtly antisemitic — who present their hostility toward Israel as the authentic expression of Catholic tradition and claim to speak for the Church. This rhetoric has fueled the global campaign to delegitimize Israel that has intensified since October 7. Anti-Zionism, fueled by classic anti-Jewish supersessionism, has become the new Catholic antisemitism. It ignores the biblical centrality of the land of Israel — the land promised by God to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — and the enduring significance of Zion in both Jewish and Christian Scripture. While the Church does not claim that the modern State of Israel is a direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy or a “messianic state,” it also does not deny the ongoing theological meaning of the Jewish people’s historical bond with the land, a bond affirmed repeatedly in Scripture and never revoked.
The damage is significant. Within the Church, this narrative sows confusion among the Catholic faithful, many of whom lack the historical and theological tools to evaluate these claims critically, and alienates them from their Jewish roots as they absorb anti-Israel narratives under the guise of “orthodoxy.” Beyond the Church, it deepens the suspicion within the Jewish world — already acute since October 7 — that Catholic institutions are indifferent or hostile to Jewish existence. That suspicion corrodes the Jewish-Catholic dialogue that has been, since Nostra Aetate, one of the most significant achievements of the modern Church.
We believe the time has come for a coordinated, intellectually serious Catholic response. Many Catholics today are unsure how to think about Israel: they want to support the Jewish people, yet they also care deeply about local Christians and worry about appearing to give Israel a “blank check.” These concerns deserve to be acknowledged, not dismissed. A faithful Catholic witness requires clarity, charity, and theological integrity — including a recognition that the Jewish people’s ongoing covenantal identity, affirmed by the Church, cannot be separated from the land that Scripture consistently presents as integral to that identity, nor from Israel’s enduring call to live in covenantal faithfulness and moral responsibility before God. At the same time, the State of Israel, like every nation, should be evaluated according to the same ethical standards applied to others, with a particular concern for justice toward all who dwell in the land, including Israeli and Palestinian Christians and Muslims. Genuine solidarity with Israel does not silence these concerns; it allows Catholics to address them truthfully and without falling into the distortions now circulating in parts of the Catholic world.
We are convinced that a Catholic voice that is both theologically grounded and credibly supportive of Israel is far better positioned to advocate for the well‑being of Christians throughout the Holy Land than one perceived as indifferent or hostile to Jewish existence. Friendship with Israel does not require ignoring the challenges faced by local Christians; on the contrary, it creates the trust and moral standing without which such advocacy carries little weight.
To that end, we are forming a broad Catholic network committed to articulating a faithful and intellectually serious case for solidarity with the people and State of Israel. We welcome all Catholic supporters of Israel, as well as non‑Catholic friends who share the aims of this initiative. We especially hope to gather scholars, clergy, journalists, public officials, and cultural leaders whose voices can help shape the wider conversation. Our aim is to publish open letters, produce media content, and organize conferences that respond — calmly, firmly, and theologically — to the specious arguments advanced in the name of Christian faith, whether from the extreme Right or the extreme Left. This initiative is not an endorsement of every policy of the Israeli government, nor is it a partisan project. It is a Catholic response to the resurgence of antisemitism under the guise of anti-Zionism and to the distortion of Catholic teaching in the public square. With the support of Catholics active in politics, academia, the media, and ecclesial life — together with the many others who stand with them — this initiative can have a decisive impact on public opinion, and help the Church discern a genuine “sign of the times” in the continued existence and flourishing of the State of Israel.
We therefore invite you to join this effort. We are not asking for any financial contribution. Our initial steps include the following:
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This invitation letter, presenting the rationale and need for this initiative.
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A charter, outlining the proposed scope of the initiative and the actions we intend to undertake.
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A short contact form, through which you may indicate your interest in joining the initiative.
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Our first public statement, which we will publish in the near future and through which you will have the opportunity to add your name in support.
By adding your name, you will be kept informed of our planned steps and asked whether you would be willing to support or contribute to them.
Your voice matters. Your participation would lend weight, credibility, and moral clarity to a cause that urgently needs both. The Church’s witness in this moment depends on the courage of those within her who will not remain silent.
Antoine Lévy, OP
Dominican friar; theologian and author
Dr. André Villeneuve
Associate Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Director, Catholics for Israel
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