'Direct line to some redemption': Catholics examine duty to combat antisemitism
WASHINGTON — Amid rising antisemitism across the globe, Orthodox Jew Phillip Dolitsky believes it's crucial for Christians to build friendships with Jewish people.
Dolitsky was one of several speakers at a one-day conference hosted by the Philos Project and the Catholic Information Center on Monday, which focused on the responsibilities of Catholics in addressing antisemitism and confronting their Church's history with humility.
As a strategic advisor at The Philos Project, a nonprofit that equips Christians to stand with Israel and the Jewish people, Dolitsky shared how he wept after learning about the full extent of the atrocities the Hamas terror group committed on Oct. 7, 2023, when they killed over 1,200 people in southern Israel.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Hamas attacked during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which meant Dolitsky couldn't use his phone right away at the synagogue he was attending as news of the tragedy began to spread.
After he turned on his phone, he was so overcome with grief that it took him a moment to realize that it was ringing.
"And I kept rejecting whoever it was that was calling me. And lo and behold, when I finally listened to the voicemail afterward, it was a Catholic professor at a university that I had never attended," Dolitsky said.
In the voicemail, the professor told the Jewish man he wanted to check in, stating, "I'm here for you." The Catholic professor and Dolitsky maintained correspondence over the years to discuss literature and poetry.
Following Hamas' invasion, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 individuals and the abduction of over 240 others and sparked Israel's military offensive in Gaza, Dolitsky was inundated with messages from people expressing concern for him, as well as his friends and family in Israel.
"If that isn't friendship, then I don't know what is," the advocate said. Dolitsky also highlighted his friendship with Philos Catholic Director Simone Rizkallah and its Associate Director James O'Reilly, a relationship that consists of learning from one another.
"It's that type of friendship that we have to work on facilitating because I truly believe that's a direct line to some redemption," the advocate said.
The event, "Catholics and Antisemitism — Facing the Past, Shaping the Future," featured various discussions about how the Catholic Church could strengthen Catholic-Jewish relations amid a global surge in antisemitic incidents.
The 1965 declaration by the Second Vatican Council, "Nostra Aetate," is credited with paving the way for respectful, interfaith dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. "Nostra Aetate" rejected the claim that Jews were collectively responsible for the death of Jesus, declaring antisemitism a sin against God.
Throughout most of Dolitsky's life, he has found himself "amidst a sea of intellectual Catholics." While some Christians that he has met have encouraged him to convert or expressed surprise that he hasn't already, Dolitsky argued that building relationships with Jews for the sake of converting them is an "awful way to view friendship."
"I think most good friendships are built off of curiosity, mutual respect and wanting to learn from one another," he said.
Maggie Phillips, the author of Tablet Magazine's series "Religious Literacy in America," encouraged church leaders to show parishioners how to accompany their Jewish brothers and sisters while seeking to learn from them.
Phillips urged Catholics to do this by reaching out to their Jewish neighbors by attending a Shabbat dinner or presenting themselves with a "spirit of humility."
"You know, I love Jews so much that I pray to a Jewish guy every day," the Christian woman told event attendees. "If you're a Catholic, you believe that there is a Jewish heart in Heaven, a real Jewish heart that beats with love for humanity."
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
