By Gina Christian , OSV News
Two U.S. Catholic bishops expressed their “profound grief and outrage” over the May 21 killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington.
“We stand in prayerful mourning with our Jewish brothers and sisters and denounce this act of violence and antisemitic hatred in the strongest possible terms,” said Bishop Joseph C. Bambera of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia in a May 23 joint statement.
The bishops — who respectively chair the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development — said their hearts were “burdened by sorrow” over the murders of 26-year-old Sarah Lynn Milgrim and 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky, who were fatally shot at close range while leaving a young diplomats reception at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.
The couple was set to become engaged in Jerusalem next week, with Lischinsky purchasing the ring only days ago, according to Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S.
Suspect Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old Chicago resident, was filmed chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” following the attack. He was detained and has been charged with both federal and local murder offenses, including the murder of foreign officials and two counts of first-degree murder.
The attack has been widely condemned as an act of antisemitism.
In their statement — which joined similar outcries from Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia — Bishop Bambera and Archbishop Gudziak said, “As Catholics, we are called not only to reject such hatred, but to actively foster mutual understanding, respect, and solidarity with the Jewish people.”
They pointed to Catholic teaching on the church’s relationship to the Jewish people.
“With urgency and clarity, we renew the commitment made through the Second Vatican Council’s declaration ‘Nostra Aetate’ to affirm our common patrimony with the Jews and stand against any and all forms of antisemitism,” they said, referring to the landmark conciliar document that is currently marking its 60th anniversary this year.
“Nostra Aetate” (“In Our Time”) is believed by scholars to have been inspired by a brief but pivotal 1960 encounter between renowned French Jewish historian Jules Isaac and St. John XXIII, during which Isaac presented his research demonstrating a centuries-long “teaching of contempt” toward the Jewish community by Catholic and other Christian theologians.
Regarding the murders of Milgrim and Lischinsky, Bishop Bambera and Archbishop Gudziak said, “The suffering generated by this senseless and violent action against the Jewish community wounds us all and compels us toward renewed vigilance and action.”
The bishops also acknowledged “the grave responsibility we all share in the language we use, especially when speaking about the conflict in the Holy Land,” pointing to the Israel-Hamas War, which began after the latter’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed at least 1,200 and saw some 250 taken hostage. According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, at least 53,655 have been killed in Gaza as of May 21.
“Complex political realities can never justify rhetoric that demonizes a people, faith, or community,” said Bishop Bambera and Archbishop Gudziak. “Harsh or dehumanizing language, even when unintended, can sow seeds of suspicion and fear, which too easily bear the fruit of violence. In our public discourse, as in our prayers, we must choose the path of truth spoken in love (Ephesians 4:15), never allowing geopolitical tensions to justify antisemitism or any form of hatred.”
In December, the USCCB and the American Jewish Committee released “Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition,” a resource to confront antisemitism by cataloging anti-Jewish slurs, while providing Catholic teaching that counters such hatred.
Bishop Bambera worked closely with Rabbi Noam Marans, the AJC’s director of interreligious affairs, on the 61-page glossary of antisemitic terms and commentary, which built on the AJC ongoing “Translate Hate” initiative, launched in 2019.
“To our Jewish neighbors, partners and friends: We walk with you. We grieve with you. We stand with you,” said Bishop Bambera and Archbishop Gudziak in their statement. “May the God of justice and peace comfort the wounded, strengthen the fearful, and bring healing to all affected by this violence. Let us together be instruments of peace, as we heed the words of the prophet Micah: ‘Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.'”
