Illustrative Father Francesco Patton, the Custos of the Holy Land for the Roman Catholic church and other Franciscan Friars. March 27, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad.

Senior Catholic archbishops on Tuesday called on members of their faith to fight antisemitism and be allies of the Jewish people during a global online event hosted by Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).

CAM held the event to honor Monsignor Giuseppe Placido Maria Nicolini for creating the “Assisi Network,” an effort by Catholic bishops to shelter Jews fleeing Nazi persecution in twenty six churches and monasteries in the Italian town of Assisi. It is estimated that Nicolini, who died in 1977, saved roughly 300 members of the Jewish community. In 1977, Yad Vashem recognized him as Righteous Among the Nations, a title awarded by the Israeli government to commemorate those who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

“Sadly, in our day, we are witnessing a troubling increase in hate filled antisemitic language and acts of violence against Jews in the US and elsewhere,” Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich said on Tuesday. “Christians can not just be alarmed by antisemitism. We must look to the example of Bishop Nicolini and band together in a network of support and protection.”

Others who spoke emphasized the Catholic Church’s opposition to antisemitism, with Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Cyprus Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana saying the church is “totally committed in fighting it as one of mankind’s oldest, most pernicious and most destructive forms of bigotry and hate.”

Father Manual Barrios, Secretary General of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union said, “Combating antisemitism also means combating its causes and identifying them. These include social distress, uncertainty, fear, and the scapegoat mechanism.”

Remarks were also given by Anna Cividalli, a descendant of one of the people the Assisi Network saved, as well as Mayor of Assisi Stefania Proietti, Ambassador of Israel to the Holy See Raphael Schultz, B’nai B’rith International CEO Dan Mariaschin, and Benjamin Albalas, Chairman of the European March of the Living.

CAM said on Wednesday that part of its mission is to recognize those who resisted antisemitism and allied with the Jewish community in hope that it encourages others to do the same.

“In 2023, we stand at a unique point in history,” Catherine Szkop, CAM’s Partnerships and Diplomatic Relations Manager, said. “Let’s follow in the footsteps of the holy and righteous men and women who have gone before us to achieve what many claim to be impossible: peace between peoples, and an end to antisemitism and all forms of hate.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.