[ad_1]
The St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago hosted Farrakhan on Thursday, just a week after being banned from Facebook for fomenting "hatred and violence."
The pastor of the church, Reverend Michael Pfleger, said that he had known Farrakhan for 30 years and had invited the controversial leader because he disagreed with Facebook's decision. Despite the ban, the speech was broadcast live on the Facebook page of Sainte-Sabine.
"Without consulting me, Father Michael Pfleger invited Minister Louis Farrakhan to address the Sainte-Sabine Church in response to Facebook's decision to ban it from its platforms," Cupich said on Friday. evening.
"Minister Farrakhan could have taken this opportunity to convey a unifying message of God's love for all his children." Instead, he repeatedly repeated the Jewish people, using a combination of discriminatory rhetoric to barely veiled and blatant defamation, "continued Cupich.
Farrakhan made several anti-Semitic statements during his speech, accusing Judaism of promoting pedophilia and claiming that Jews do not like it because it "exposes their hatred of Jesus". He also stated that his divine mission was to "separate good Jews from satanic Jews".
"Such statements shock the conscience," said Cupich. "People of faith are called to live as signs of God's love for the whole human family, to demonize none of its members."
"Anti-Semitic rhetoric – discriminatory invective of any kind – has no place in American public life, much less in a Catholic church, and I apologize to my Jewish brothers and sisters, I cherish the friendship, of whom I learn so much, and whose covenant with God remains eternal, "continued the cardinal.
On Friday, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said it was "deeply disappointing that (Farrakhan) was offered a platform in a church to spew his hateful vitriol".
"It is typical that, even in defending against anti-Semitic claims, Louis Farrakhan once again invoked a more anti-Jewish hatred." His comments last night were vintages: a multitude of tropes about how "Satanic Jews" corrupt society with immoral acts and that Jewish writings, "promote pedophilia," said Greenblatt.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center appealed to the archdiocese of Chicago to eliminate Pfleger.
"How is it that Farrakhan was invited to use a prominent Catholic church to denounce the" satanic Jews "of the pulpit," asked Rabbi Abraham Cooper, director of the center's social action.
"It is now up to the leaders of the Catholic Church to dismiss their important priest from his sacred post," continued Cooper. He chose to channel the hatred of the Jews that Pope John XXIII's popes to Pope Francis condemned as being contrary to Christianity ".
Pfleger kissed Farrakhan after his speech, called him "his brother" and prayed for the leader of the Nation of Islam, even after Farrakhan made several antisemitic statements on Thursday night.
Farrakhan said, pointing out his mouth: "That's what they fear.I do not have an army.I know the truth.And I am here to separate the good Jews from the Jews. satanic. "
The Nation of Islam presented Farrakhan's speech as a response to "public outrage at the unprecedented and unjustified lifetime ban."
But the invitation of Saint Sabine to Farrakhan was sharply criticized by the Holocaust Museum in Illinois. The organization criticized the church, saying the speech would provide a "platform for bigotry".
"It's a problem of freedom of expression," Pfleger told CNN. "I do not agree with all that Minister Farrakhan said, I do not agree with anyone about everything, but we are in a dangerous period where we can no longer dialogue without demonizing each other. "
Before the speech, Pfleger said that Farrakhan "has been a bold voice against the injustices committed against blacks in this country and that his voice deserves and must be heard".
The Anti-Defamation League has described Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam since 1977, as "probably the most popular anti-Semite in America".
"Farrakhan claimed that the Jewish people were responsible for the slave trade and conspired to control the government, the media and Hollywood, as well as various black people and organizations," said the ADL.
Pfleger, who has worked for a long time with African-American leaders in Chicago, said Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam were respected locally for their anti-violence and anti-drug campaigns.
"No one has done more to save the lives of young blacks and transform lives than the Nation of Islam, and his respect for the African-American community has been consistent."
But Pfleger said e-mails and phone calls had poured in this week criticizing him for harboring Farrakhan and threatening to withdraw his donations to the church and its programs.
"If you had heard and seen everything that was sent, you spoke to me last week," he said. "I was shocked – and I had a lot of hatred in my life – people said they were going to destroy me."
[ad_2]
Source link