Stating that “a society that protects its Jewish community is a society that protects everyone,” the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference yesterday called for the creation of a “national inquiry with sufficient authority and resourcing” to “probe into the deeper issues which lie at the heart of antisemitism.”
Since the Bondi Beach shooting, “we have heard many times that ‘there is no place for antisemitism here in Australia,’” said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, SDB, of Perth. “Tragically, we are now confronted by the terrible truth that there are dark places in our society where this most ancient of hatreds festers.”
“It is only by shining a light into the dark corners of our society—including its political, business, academic, media, religious, and cultural institutions—that we can hope to unmask the antisemitism which might otherwise go unseen, unacknowledged and unaddressed,” Archbishop Costelloe added.