Who Killed Jesus?
Was it Pilate and the Romans? Was it the Jewish leaders at the time? Was it collectively, the Jewish people? Was it yours and my sin? These questions echo down through the centuries and are still being asked today.
Leslie and I just returned from Washington, DC, where we attended a conference at the Saint John Paul II Shrine celebrating the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, a document in which the Catholic Church finally addressed this question, In the history of religion, few allegations have cast as long and dark a shadow as the charge of "deicide" placed against the Jewish people by much of the Christian world, and especially within the Catholic Church. Deicide, meaning "God-killing," refers to the idea that Jews as a whole were responsible for the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. This belief, rooted in early Catholic writings, grew into a key source of antisemitism for centuries, shaping theology, politics, and society. But what exactly is this accusation? How did it become part of the Catholic tradition, and where does the Church stand today? In this post, I will explore its history, implications, and the journey toward reconciliation. Let’s look at the issue!
The Origins of the Deicide Charge
The accusation starts with the New Testament accounts of Jesus' trial and crucifixion. Passages in the Gospels—especially Matthew 27:25, where the crowd says, "His blood be on us and on our children!"—have been interpreted by some as blaming the entire Jewish people for Jesus' death. Early Church Fathers like John Chrysostom in the 4th century expanded on this in sermons that portrayed Jews as "Christ-killers," using it to justify turning against the Jews and rallying Christian communities against supposed threats.
By the Middle Ages, this theological idea had become common belief. The Catholic Church, as the leading Christian authority in Europe, played a key role. Papal bulls and church decrees often reinforced this view. For example, the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 ordered Jews to wear distinctive clothing to mark them as "perpetual witnesses" of their alleged role as “God killers.” The Church's liturgy, including the Good Friday prayer that once called Jews "perfidious" (unfaithful), further reinforced this accusation.
It's important to recognize that not all Catholics or Church leaders agreed. Figures like St. Thomas Aquinas debated it theologically, arguing for Jewish rights under Christian rule while still maintaining the idea of deicide.
The Devastating Impact
The deicide charge was not just a theological point—it fueled real violence and anti-Semitism. Medieval blood libels, false claims that Jews ritually murdered Christian children, grew out of this narrative. These myths led to systemic pogroms and expulsions, especially in Eastern Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries, where thousands of Jews were killed and synagogues and homes destroyed. The deicide myth not only blamed Jews for a historical event; it depicted them as cursed forever, outsiders in a Christian-dominated world.
In the modern era, echoes of this accusation also contributed to the Holocaust. Nazi propaganda drew on centuries-old Catholic and Christian antisemitism, with figures like Martin Luther's fierce anti-Jewish writings (which included deicide references) providing ideological cover. The human toll was immense, resulting in the genocide of over 6 million Jews. Thankfully, some Catholics and clergy risked their lives to save Jews, defying the Nazi’s edicts.
A Turning Point: Vatican II and Beyond
The 20th century saw a significant shift. The horrors of the Holocaust led to a deep self-reflection within the Church. In 1965, the Second Vatican Council issued Nostra Aetate, a groundbreaking statement on the Church's relationship with other religions. Paragraph four explicitly rejects the deicide charge: "What happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today." It highlights the shared spiritual heritage of Judaism and Christianity, rejects collective guilt, and promotes mutual respect.
These were not just words. Pope John Paul II, during his 1986 visit to Rome's main synagogue, was the first pope to do so, calling Jews "our beloved elder brothers." Later popes, including Benedict XVI and Francis, continued this path. In 2015, marking the 50th anniversary of *Nostra Aetate*, Pope Francis reaffirmed the Church's commitment to fighting antisemitism, stating that "a Christian cannot be an antisemite."
Reflections and Moving Forward
The deicide accusation may be the Catholic Church's most serious past mistake, leading to the exclusion and hatred of the Jews for centuries. Yet the Church’s repentance, begun but not yet complete, as expressed in the document Nostra Aetate, is an important step forward.
For Leslie and me, attending the conference celebrating the Church’s 60th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate, networking with Catholic and Jewish leaders, and helping to form a Catholic-Jewish Coalition has now become a lifelong pursuit. As Leslie points out, this powerful Scripture verse says it all: John 10:17-18: “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 18: No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father.”
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