The resurgence of antisemitism throughout much of the Western world prompts a reconsideration of the attitude of the Church and, more generally, of the Christian world toward the Jews in past centuries. It is often said that the Jews were always persecuted, victims of discrimination, confined to ghettos considered almost like prisons. This is certainly true; however, if we place the facts in context, we realize that the persecution of Jews as followers of a different religion was by no means an exception, but rather a common practice, universally regarded as legitimate in past centuries. Only in modern times, with the affirmation of democracy and freedom—beginning with religious freedom—has religious intolerance, and intolerance of any kind, been overcome and regarded as barbaric oppression.

Let us also consider that the Jews are the only religious group to have survived from antiquity to the present day: had they been systematically persecuted and fought against, this would not have happened, just as it did not happen for Muslim communities in Europe (in Sicily and Spain) and especially for the various heresies that were once widespread. One need only think of the Albigensians, against whom a bloody repression was undertaken, even termed a crusade.

It would also be useful to clarify concepts that are commonly confused today: anti-Judaism, antisemitism, and anti-Zionism.

Anti-Judaism is opposition to a religion; antisemitism is hostility toward a people identified as a race; anti-Zionism is opposition to the existence of the State of Israel and/or even just to its policies.

These are therefore three different concepts, clearly distinct, and each of them does not necessarily imply the other two. However, in our times they tend to overlap, also because, generally speaking, all three end up targeting the same people: the Jews.

In the Christian world, the distinction was simply religious. Not only were Jesus and Mary Jews, but the first founders and Christian saints were also Jews. In a world in which religious freedom was inconceivable, the Jew was guilty of not recognizing Christ and the Good News; yet if he converted, he was no longer a Jew but a Christian like any other. By the law of probability, each of us likely has some Jewish ancestor.

For Christians, unconverted Jews were the “deicidal” people, those who had crucified Jesus and had taken responsibility for it upon themselves and their descendants (as reported in the Gospels). Only with the Second Vatican Council was it clearly and decisively affirmed that there is no collective responsibility of the Jews for that condemnation, and certainly not of the Jews of today.

One also thinks, and perhaps above all, of an economic rather than a religious motive: since Jews were excluded from land ownership—the principal wealth of the Middle Ages—they engaged in trade, crafts, and also moneylending (usury), which was forbidden to Christians; hence popular hatred and the desire not to repay debts.

In any case, these episodes were always occasional, and the Jews waited for them to pass (as they also did during the Shoah, which, however, did not pass).

It is not that Jews were always persecuted, but at times popular uprisings broke out against them. The reasons were often absurd rumors, such as those claiming that Jews sacrificed children for obscure religious rites. For example, in Castile under Isabella, the rumor spread that the disappearance of a child was due to kidnapping by Jews (the “Holy Child of La Guardia,” later even canonized), and the Jews were expelled from the country.

But in general, the political authorities and the Church intervened mainly to moderate and quell popular anger. The Jewish ghettos that spread at the end of the Middle Ages should be regarded not so much as prisons but as a way of safeguarding Jews, through separation into enclosed and in some way protected quarters.

Even in the Islamic world there is no record of major persecutions comparable to those in the Christian world, and Jews played a very significant role in Arab culture and civilization. Indeed, Jews were considered, like Christians, “People of the Book” (Ahl al-Kitab). Ultimately, it was a situation similar to that of Jews in the Christian world, where Jews were protected by authority, often also—like in the Muslim world—in exchange for a tax, as compensation.

This attitude explains why, while other religious groups—pagans, Muslims, and the countless heresies—disappeared, the Jews remained.

Even in the Roman Empire, two terrible revolts against Rome led to the massacre of the Jews of Palestine and the prohibition against residing there. Jews who had already emigrated to the rest of the Empire, however, were neither harassed nor persecuted at all. Thus, the Romans, despite the terrible revolts in Palestine, did not view Jews negatively.

Indeed, it is quite strange that, although Jews, like Christians, did not sacrifice to the emperor, they were not persecuted as the Christians were.