CANDACE OWENS'S REPEATED USE OF ANTISEMITIC TROPES AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES DIRECTLY CONTRADICTS CATHOLIC TEACHING

Antisemitism is not Catholic: Why the church cannot platform Candace Owens

Granting legitimacy to rhetoric that conflicts with sacred teachings risks confusing the faithful and undermining moral authority. 

 

By Gerard Filitti 

 

JNS

Feb 6, 2026

 

 

           

When Catholic institutions invite speakers who promote antisemitic conspiracy theories, the concern is not about free speech but about upholding Church teachings. Catholic doctrine expresses deep respect for the Jewish people, recognizing them as elder brothers and sisters in faith. This bond, rooted in sacred scripture and affirmed through Church teaching, stands as an unbreakable covenant that demands both respect and active opposition to any form of Jew-hatred.

Within this context, statements by Candace Owens, a self-identified Catholic political commentator, are especially concerning. Her repeated use of antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories directly contradicts Catholic teaching. Giving her a platform at faith-based events risks scandal and undermines the Church’s commitment to truth, charity and interreligious harmony.

The Second Vatican Council, in Nostra Aetate (1965), unequivocally condemned antisemitism as incompatible with the Gospel: “The Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.”

This teaching echoes the words of Pope Pius XI in 1938, who declared that “spiritually, we are all Semites,” and insisted that antisemitism is “a movement with which we Christians can have nothing to do.”

Pope Francis has stated that “antisemitism is a sin against God,” emphasizing the Church’s call to solidarity and the rejection of any ideology that dehumanizes or demonizes Jews. These teachings reflect core Catholic principles: the inherent dignity of every person, created in God’s image, and the commandment to love one’s neighbor.

Antisemitism violates these principles by fostering division, prejudice and hatred.

Catholic institutions do not merely “host” speakers; they confer moral credibility and signal that a speaker’s views align with Church teachings. Granting legitimacy to rhetoric that conflicts with these teachings risks confusing the faithful and undermining the Church’s moral authority.

Public statements by Owens are incompatible with the Catholic faith. She has defended aspects of Adolf Hitler’s early actions in Germany, mocked Jewish concerns over antisemitic remarks by figures like rapper Kanye West and claimed that Hollywood is controlled by “sinister Jewish gangs.” She has also promoted conspiracy theories alleging that Jews orchestrated the slave trade; urged audiences to study antisemitic texts such as German theologian August Rohling’s Der Talmudjude (which revives medieval blood libels); and described Israel as a “cult nation” while referring to the Star of David as a “hexagram.”

These are the same harmful tropes the Church has explicitly repudiated—claims of Jewish cabals, media control and ritualistic evil. Such ideas fueled pogroms and the Holocaust, and cost millions of Jews their lives. By invoking them, Owens distorts history and promotes a worldview in which Jews are seen as existential threats, a stance the Church deems contrary to Christian charity. As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has affirmed, “A true Christian cannot be an antisemite,” for such hatred severs one from the love of Christ, who himself was a faithful Jew.

Publicly platforming Owens as a Catholic speaker at faith events compounds this discord, turning personal error into an institutional scandal. The Church’s mission is to proclaim the Gospel in its fullness, fostering unity rather than division. Giving a platform to someone whose views have been condemned by Church leaders risks misleading the faithful, falsely suggesting that antisemitism is compatible with authentic Catholicism. It undermines the hard-won progress in Jewish-Catholic dialogue, initiated by Nostra Aetate and nurtured by saints like John Paul II, who called Jews “our beloved elder brothers.”

In a time of rising global antisemitism, such associations dishonor and undermine the Church’s role as a beacon of moral clarity, alienate Jewish communities and weaken the pursuit of the common good. As Cardinal Timothy Dolan has noted, the evils of antisemitism require unequivocal rejection, lest we betray our shared heritage with Judaism.

In fidelity to the Church’s teachings, Catholics are called to discernment: to embrace voices that uplift truth and fraternity, while distancing themselves from those that sow discord. The Church’s witness relies on drawing principled lines where doctrine requires it, and uncritically platforming voices that promote antisemitic tropes is incompatible with that witness.