Why this Canadian Catholic leader is rallying Christians to stand up against antisemitism

The CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner

Just before Rosh Hashanah, Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett, a Catholic community leader in Ottawa, launched a campaign to convince more of his Christian colleagues to take a public stand against spiking antisemitism. Bennett, a deacon with a Ukrainian Orthodox shrine in the national capital, made the Canadian Christian Declaration Against Antisemitism, hoping to receive a few hundred signatures by the time his petition closed on Oct. 25. To his delight, more than 700 people joined his initiative, including faith leaders from many Christian denominations—including leaders from Catholic, Anglican, United and Evangelical churches. So what happens next? Bennett has committed to put the declaration’s words into action, with plans to hold a summit in 2025 for interfaith leaders. His ultimate goal is to establish a year-long program to pair individual congregations, schools and groups for in-person events and Shabbat dinners. On today’s The CJN Daily, Bennett joins to explain why he believes Christians have an ancient moral and religious responsibility to protect and encourage their “Jewish cousins”, and why he believes Canadians–including Christians and also Muslims–cannot remain silent in the face of record-breaking anti-Jewish hate crimes.

Related links

• Learn more about the Canadian Christian Declaration on Antisemitism, and what's behind the group's support for Jewish Canadians.
• How Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett served as Canada's first and only Ambassador for Religious Freedom from 2013-2016, in The CJN.
• Read about Dr. Phil (McGraw) and the eight non-Jewish allies honoured last week by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, in Toronto.
• Watch the Rally for Humanity interfaith event held Sunday Nov. 10 in Vaughan, Ontario, and learn more about their petition headed for the House of Commons.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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