Archbishop Charles J. Chaput released the following statement Oct. 29, two days after a shooting in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue that left 11 adult Jewish worshipers dead and six people injured, including four police officers.

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“Religious and ethnic hatred is vile in any form, but the ugly record of the last century is a lesson in the special evil of anti-Semitism. That evil has not been stamped out. Rather, it has been resurgent in many areas of the world for the last several decades.  It has no place in America, and especially in the hearts of Christians.

“I want to express the heartfelt support and prayers of Philadelphia’s Catholic community, and my own, for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack and their families. May God give them courage and solace, and may this be a statewide wake-up call to resist religious hatred.