Catholic Standard El Pregonero
Latest Paper Classifieds Buy Photos

Archdiocese decries ‘vile incident’ of anti-Semitic vandalism at George Washington University

Following reports of anti-Semitic vandalism at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington issued the following statement Nov. 1:

“The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington expresses its great sorrow at the anti-Semitic vandalism that occurred this weekend at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at George Washington University. We stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters in repudiating the hatred and intolerance that lies behind such vile incidents.

“In addition to the deeply troubling rise of anti-Semitic attacks in our nation, violence against numerous religious institutions has also been increasing.

“May all people of good will unite to work for peace and interreligious understanding, so that members of every religious tradition may worship God and express their beliefs freely, without fear of reprisal or violence.”

According to various news reports, sometime over the past weekend vandals desecrated a Torah scroll, ripping it apart and dowsing it in laundry detergent, and poured hot sauce throughout the fraternity house. The fraternity issued a statement calling it a “blatant act of antisemitism and violence against our (Jewish) brothers,” and asked the local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League to investigate the incident.

Thomas LeBlanc, president of the university, issued a statement saying, “I want to be clear: I condemn all such acts of antisemitism and all forms of hatred, discrimination, and bias in our community. Any act of antisemitism is an attack on the entire GW community and cannot, and will not, be tolerated.”

The vandalism at GW comes less than two weeks after a swastika was found painted on the pillar at Annunciation Catholic Church’s parking lot in Washington, D.C. The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), classified that graffiti as a hate crime.

At the time of the incident at Annunciation Church, Father Charles Cortinovis, who serves as priest secretary to Cardinal Wilton Gregory and also as the executive director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, contacted several nearby congregations – including the Washington Hebrew Congregation – “to alert them that this is occurring in the community.”

“We wanted to inform our neighbors that there are people out there who are willing to make a public display of hateful behavior,” Father Cortinovis said at the time.

Menu
Search