CANADIAN CHRISTIAN DECLARATION ON ANTISEMITISM
Thank you for taking an interest in the Canadian Christian Declaration on Antisemitism. Our goal is to have 500 Christian leaders across Canada support and affirm the Declaration in support of our Jewish cousins, who are our fellow citizens in this great country of Canada. I hope that you will sign on to the declaration below. Please invite others in your network to do the same. In recent years antisemitism has been on the rise in our communities and our institutions, with Statistics Canada data showing the most acute increase in antisemitic hate crimes occurring in 2023 (900 reported in 2023, a 71% increase over 2022). On our streets, on our university campuses, and in other public spaces where all citizens should be free to express their religious beliefs we see larger and increasingly hateful protests advocating violence against Jews. This is not our Canada.
In making this declaration we show Canada’s Jewish communities that we stand with them as Christian leaders; that they are not alone. This is not a geopolitical statement; it is a theological declaration grounded in the universal and objective goods of human dignity, justice, and freedom.
Please join me in standing with Canadian Jews in these days. May God bless us and guide us in this noble endeavour.
In Christ,
Rev. Dr. Andrew P.W. Bennett
Canadian Ambassador of Religious Freedom, 2013-2016.
We are Christian leaders from across Canada. We come from many different churches and denominations with differing theologies, yet we stand united today to denounce the plague of antisemitism that has spread across our great country. Hatred of Jews is an unconscionable violation of the principles of justice, freedom, and human dignity, principles that all Canadians and our institutions must seek to uphold and defend.
We condemn unequivocally the fomenting of antisemitism in Canada. We will stand peacefully against all those in this country, regardless of motivation or ideology, who seek to demonize and dehumanize our Jewish fellow citizens. As Christians, we recognize that all are created in the image and likeness of God and that antisemitism is a gross violation of human dignity rooted in this truth about who we are as persons.
We recognize that there are intense feelings and different beliefs among Jews, Christians, and Muslims on the complicated issues in the Holy Land. However, there is absolutely no justification for the rising tide of antisemitic hatred that is spreading in our communities here in Canada.
We are compelled to act through our faith in Jesus Christ. We confess Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, the Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary. He is a Jew and it is through His coming into the world and dying and rising from the dead for our salvation that we are bound to the Jewish people as the church of the Gentiles and so grafted on to the Tree of Israel forever. As Christians, we must still repent for past expressions of antisemitism in our churches. In that light and in support of this declaration, we affirm that the Jewish people remain God’s chosen people. The law and the covenants that God gave to the Jewish people, which we see as fulfilled in Christ, remain intact.
We will speak out and act peacefully for the fundamental freedoms of Canadian Jews. As Christian leaders, we will speak out and act peacefully against all who promote violence against Jews and Jewish places of worship, as well as Jewish homes, schools, community centres, places of business, or any identifiably Jewish institution. We will inspire our fellow Christians in our congregations to join with us in this endeavour. And so,
We declare to you, our Jewish cousins, that in these challenging times we are with you. We will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in defence of human dignity, justice, and freedom--these cherished Canadian values—and we will turn back the tide of antisemitism in Canada together. As Christians, we will not simply speak but act peacefully in support of you, our Jewish friends, in the interest of all that is just and good. We will not abandon you.