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Catholic Timeline Of Jew Hatred

By Jerry Darring, Presented by Lewis Loflin

A timeline of Catholic events relating to Jews, anti-Judaism, antisemitism, and the Holocaust from the 3rd century to the third millennium.

Timeline

c. 240
Origen of Alexandria writes that Jews "have committed the most abominable of crimes" in conspiring against Christ, justifying their exile as another people was chosen by God.
248
St. Cyprian claims Jews suffer God’s wrath for abandoning Him and following idols.
306
The Council of Elvira bans Christians and Jews from intermarrying, sexual relations, or dining together.
325
The Council of Nicaea forbids clergy from conversing or fellowshipping with Jews.
4th century
Roman Christian emperors decree death for Christians converting to Judaism or Jews blocking conversions, ban Jewish-Christian marriages, and prohibit Jews from public office or owning slaves.
c. 380
St. Gregory of Nyssa calls Jews "murderers of the Lord, assassins of the prophets, rebels and detesters of God,... companions of the devil."
c. 380
St. Ambrose labels the synagogue "a place of unbelief, a home of impiety, damned by God Himself."
388
A Christian mob, incited by their bishop, loots and burns the Callinicum synagogue; St. Ambrose persuades Emperor Theodosius to condone it.
400
St. Augustine writes that Jews are cursed for killing Christ, their observance of the law fruitless without Christ’s grace.
c. 400
St. John Chrysostom calls the synagogue a "brothel and theater," comparing Jews to "hogs and goats" in their behavior.
413
Monks in Palestine destroy synagogues and massacre Jews at the Western Wall.
414
St. Cyril of Alexandria expels Jews from his city.
425
Law requires Jews to observe Christian feasts, fasts, and conversion sermons.
442
The Constantinople synagogue is converted into a church.
529-553
Justinian’s Code bans Jews from reading sacred books in Hebrew or using rabbinic interpretations in synagogues.
538
The Third Synod of Orléans prohibits Jews from appearing in public during Passover Week.
591
Pope St. Gregory the Great opposes forced baptism of Jews, fearing a worse relapse.
600
Pope St. Gregory balances limiting Jewish freedoms while protecting their basic rights.
681
The Synod of Toledo orders the burning of the Talmud and other Jewish books.
768
Pope Stephen IV condemns Jews owning estates, calling them "rebellious against God."
c. 830
Archbishop Agobard of Lyons writes anti-Jewish pamphlets, labeling Jews "sons of darkness."
c. 937
Pope Leo VII urges the Mainz archbishop to expel unbaptized Jews.
c. 1010-1020
Jews face forced conversions, massacres, or expulsion in Rouen, Orléans, Limoges, Mainz, and possibly Rome.
1050
The Synod of Narbonne forbids Christians from living in Jewish homes.
c. 1070
Pope Alexander II warns Spanish bishops against anti-Jewish violence, noting Jews accept servitude unlike Saracens.
1078
The Synod of Gerona mandates Jews pay church taxes like Christians.
1081
Pope Gregory VII warns King Alphonso of Spain that allowing Jews power over Christians exalts "the Synagogue of Satan."
1084
Bishop Rüdiger of Speyer grants Jews a charter to own land and bear arms.
1096
First Crusade massacres destroy Jewish communities in Mainz, Speyer, Worms, and Cologne; 800 are slain in two days.
1182
Jews are expelled from France, their property confiscated, debts to them largely erased.
1190
The Third Crusade under Richard the Lion-Heart triggers anti-Jewish fervor, leading to the York Jews’ mass suicide.
1198
Jews are permitted to return to France.
1199
Pope Innocent III allows Jewish worship but bans forced baptisms and cemetery desecration.
1215
The Fourth Lateran Council mandates distinctive clothing for Jews and restricts their Easter public appearances.
1222
The Council of Oxford bans new synagogue construction.
1227
The Council of Narbonne requires Jews to wear a round patch.
1230
Jews in France are barred from lending money at interest.
1234
The Council of Arles mandates a round patch for Jews.
1235
Thirty-four Jews are burned in Fulda on a blood-libel charge.
1246
The Council of Béziers orders Jews to wear a round patch.
1247
Pope Innocent IV defends Jews against false Passover murder accusations and unjust persecution.
1254
The Council of Albi requires Jews to wear a round patch.
1260
The Council of Arles mandates a round patch for Jews, except when traveling.
1267
The Synod of Vienna bans Christians from Jewish ceremonies and Jewish debates with lay Christians.
1267
The Synod of Breslau mandates compulsory ghettos for Jews.
1267
Pope Clement IV tasks Franciscans and Dominicans with addressing reverted "new Christians."
c. 1270
St. Thomas Aquinas writes that Jews’ unbelief is a greater sin than pagans’, given their prior knowledge.
1272
Pope Gregory X defends Jews against false kidnapping accusations by Christian enemies.
1275
Jews in England are forbidden to lend money at interest.
1279
The Synod of Ofen bans Christians from selling or renting real estate to Jews.
1283
Jews in France are barred from rural living.
1284
The Council of Nîmes orders Jews to wear a round patch.
1289
The Council of Vienna mandates a round patch for Jews.
1290
Jews are expelled from England and southern Italy.
1294
Jews in France are confined to special city quarters; expelled from Bern.
1298
Jews in Röttingen are massacred and burned for alleged Host profanation.
1320
The "Shepherds' Crusade" sees shepherds slaughter 500 Jews in a castle siege, sparing baptized children.
1326
The Council of Avignon mandates a round patch for Jews, except when traveling.
1345
King John allows subjects in Liegnitz and Breslau to use Jewish tombstones for city walls.
1347-1350
Jews are blamed for the Black Death, accused of poisoning wells; thousands are killed despite Pope Clement VI’s defense.
1350
Jews are expelled from parts of Germany.
1367
Jews are expelled from Hungary.
1368
The Council of Vabres orders Jews to wear a round patch.
1381
Jews are expelled from Strasbourg.
1394
France completes Jewish expulsion begun in 1306, finalized on the Day of Atonement.
1420
Jews are expelled from Mainz by the archbishop.
1421
Jews are expelled from Austria.
1424
Jews are expelled from Fribourg and Zurich.
c. 1425
Pope Martin V denounces anti-Jewish preaching and forced baptism of children under twelve.
1426
Jews are expelled from Cologne.
1432
Jews are expelled from Saxony.
1434
The Council of Basel bans Jews from academic degrees.
1435
King Alfonso orders Sicilian Jews to wear a round patch on clothing and shops.
1438
Jews are expelled from Mainz by town councilors.
1439
Jews are expelled from Augsburg.
1453
Jews are expelled from Wurzburg.
1454
Jews are expelled from Breslau.
1456
Pope Callistus III bans Christian-Jewish social interaction.
1462
Jews are expelled from Mainz amid an archepiscopal dispute.
1467
Jews are expelled from Tlemcen.
1471
Jews are expelled from Mainz by the archbishop.
1475
The Trent Jewish community is executed over a ritual murder allegation.
1485
Jews are expelled from Warsaw and Cracow.
1492
Spain expels Jews after branding baptized ones Marranos and burning 700 at the stake.
1497
Jews are expelled from Portugal.
1519
Jews are expelled from Regensburg.
1553
Cardinal Carafa orders a public burning of the Talmud in Rome.
1555-1559
Pope Paul IV confines Jews to ghettos and mandates distinctive headgear.
1566-1572
Pope St. Pius V expels Jews from Papal States, except Rome’s ghettos and Ancona.
1592-1605
Pope Clement VIII bans all Jewish books in the Index of Forbidden Books.
1826
Pope Leo XII confines Jews to ghettos and confiscates their property.
1858
Papal police abduct 6-year-old Edgardo Mortara, secretly baptized, despite global outcry; Pope Pius IX refuses his return.
1904
Pope St. Pius X tells Theodor Herzl the Church cannot sanction Jewish control of Holy Places due to their rejection of Christ.
1919
Poland mandates Sunday rest to force Jews to observe the Christian Sabbath.
1921
A Vatican spokesman for Pope Benedict XV opposes Zionist control of the Holy Land, citing Jewish "rebellious spirit."
1925
Bishop Sigismund Waitz calls Jews an "alien people" corrupting nations at a Catholic conference.
1933
Cardinal Faulhaber defends the Old Testament but not contemporary Jews; Bishop Gföllner urges breaking Jewish cultural influence.
1933-1939
Polish Catholic papers advocate reducing Jewish influence and mass emigration.
1935-1936
The Polish Church supports government policies encouraging Jewish emigration.
1936
Cardinal August Hlond warns against Jewish influence but condemns violent antisemitism.
1937
Bishop Alois Hudal defends Nazi racial laws, backed by Archbishop Theodor Innitzer.
1938
Pope Pius XI denounces antisemitism, saying "spiritually we are all Semites," though unreported by Vatican media.
1939
Priest-President Josef Tiso of Slovakia deports Jews to death camps, calling it "Christian action."
1941-1945
The Holocaust kills six million Jews in Christian Europe with little Church protest.
1941
Croatian Bishop Ivan Saric seizes Jewish property; German bishops ignore Jews in a pastoral letter.
1941
Provost Bernard Lichtenberg prays for Jews and dies en route to Dachau.
1941
Bishop Brisgys in Lithuania forbids clergy from aiding Jews.
1942
French and Dutch clergy protest Jewish deportations; Pope Pius XII’s Christmas address omits specific mention of Jews.
1942-1945
Cardinal Adolf Bertram avoids protesting Jewish massacres, later honoring Hitler.
1943
German bishops decline to confront Hitler over the Holocaust.
1943
Slovak bishops protest Jewish deportations, though many priests resist.
1945
Pope Pius XII mourns priests lost in camps but omits Jews.
1965
Vatican II’s Declaration rejects blaming all Jews for Christ’s death and condemns antisemitism.
1967
U.S. bishops establish an Office on Catholic-Jewish Relations; Cardinal Frings questions Holocaust scale.
1974
The Vatican condemns antisemitism as un-Christian.
1979
Pope John Paul II calls the Holocaust "the Golgotha of our century" at Auschwitz.
1980
German bishops denounce antisemitism and seek dialogue with Jews.
1984
Brazilian bishops reject the "deicide" label for Jews.
1985
The Vatican urges better understanding of Judaism to combat ignorance.
1987
Pope John Paul II’s meeting with ex-Nazi Kurt Waldheim sparks controversy.
1988
The Vatican labels antisemitism a tragic racist ideology.
1989
Cardinal Glemp defends a convent at Auschwitz, accusing Jews of anti-Polonism.
1993
The Holy See recognizes Israel diplomatically.
1994
Pope John Paul II hosts a Holocaust concert with Jewish participation.
1994-1995
Bishops in multiple nations condemn antisemitism on the Holocaust’s 50th anniversary.
1997
French bishops confess their WWII silence was a sin; Swiss bishops seek pardon for past persecution.
1998
The Vatican’s We Remember calls for a future free of anti-Judaism; Italian bishops aim to end antisemitism.
2000
Pope John Paul II honors Holocaust victims at Yad Vashem and prays for forgiveness at the Western Wall:
God of our fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your Name to the Nations: we are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant

Acknowledgment

Acknowledgment: Thanks to Grok, an AI by xAI, for formatting help. The content is Jerry Darring’s, presented with my edits. —Lewis Loflin

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