Antisemitism, Secularism, and the Catholic Church in the European Union

Abstract

The evidence of a rising antisemitic quandary in the European Union has grown to a pinnacle point too severe to disregard. In the wake of decreasing amounts of religiosity, antisemitic hate attacks are increasing. While European populations are overwhelmingly advocating for secularism, the Catholic Church continues to maintain a tight fist in matters such as cultural outlook and political influence. It is notable that the Catholic Church continues to exercise great influence in the governmental structures and political arenas throughout Europe; in amalgamating the deeply entrenched impact of the Catholic Church on political attitudes with the upsurge of secularization sentiments in the European Union, it stands to reason that a culture of antisemitism could result from this contradiction. This study aims to combine the aforementioned factors of Catholic influence and secularism to develop a well-rounded and holistic observance of the antisemitic phenomenon in the European Union. The methodology required of this is extensive research through historical, religious, and political lenses, considering only the European countries that present themselves to have this issue. Analysis is divided into examinations of historical and current expressions of antisemitism in the context of secularism and the Catholic Church. We expect to find a strong correlation between antisemitism and countries that, while secular in political categorization, are historically influenced by the catholic church. In contrast, we expect to find that countries with no set catholic affiliations and or secularism, tend to not experience as many antisemitic incidences. We conclude that traditionally Catholic and Christians nation states hold antisemitism as a historical leftover, whether it be consciously in terms of public policy or subconsciously. These can manifest higher when there is a veil of “secularization”, and depending on the severity and type of secularization, can result in higher incidents of antisemitism.