SW News: In the backdrop of the recent outbreak of anti-semitic threats and violence across the country, the US bishops have called for prayers and unity in fostering a culture that rejects all forms of hatred.

Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop David P. Talley of Memphis, who is the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, in a statement said that “any attack on a community or individual on the basis of faith or otherwise is contrary to who we are called to be as the People of God.”

“We remain steadfast in the promise of the Second Vatican Council to decry ‘all hatred, persecutions, and manifestations of antisemitism directed against the Jews at any time by anyone,’” asserted the bishops and extended their prayer to all those who have been harmed and expressed that all people be united “in fostering a culture that rejects all forms of hatred, most especially antisemitism.”

In the wake of the recent conflicts in Israel and Gaza, synagogues have been vandalized and Jews have been intimidated and attacked throughout the country creating fear among Jews in both small towns and major cities. The outbreak has been most noticeable in New York, which has the world's largest Jewish population outside of Israel.