Cordoba, Spain - The Holy See called for commitment to the struggle against anti-Semitism as well as all other forms of violence and discrimination against religions, particularly Christianity.
Archbishop Antonio Cañizares of Toledo voiced this concern of the Church during the June 8-9 conference promoted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on "Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Violence."
The archbishop appealed to the delegates of the countries represented to draw conclusions from the Holocaust against the Jews. The Vatican press office published his addresses today.
The Shoah "extends like a shadow over Europe and over the whole world," he said. It is "a crime that darkens forever the history of humanity."
"The enormous tragedy of the Holocaust is also a dramatic call to educate, especially young generations, not to yield to ideologies that justify the possibility of 'trampling' on human dignity on the basis of ethnic, linguistic, national or religious diversity," said the archbishop, who headed the Holy See's delegation to the conference.
The Catholic Church "deplores all displays of anti-Semitism, of which the Jews have been the object, at all times and by any person," he added.
Paradoxical
Later, the Holy See delegate said that in Europe, "intolerance and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions are worrying phenomena, to which an end must be put with the same determination with which anti-Semitism and discrimination against Muslims is combated."
"In fact, it would be paradoxical to omit concrete measures to guarantee religious freedom to Christians and members of other religions without any form of discrimination and intolerance, precisely when an attempt is being made in a general plan to eliminate discrimination and intolerance," he continued.
Archbishop Cañizares said that what must be avoided is to make "a sort of hierarchy of anti-Semitism and discrimination against Muslims or Christians."
"Each one of these plagues makes man sick, degrades him," the prelate said. "Therefore, they must be cured quickly."