In the 24 hours before a fringe Catholic political group planned to host a gala in Washington honoring a number of public figures who have faced accusations of antisemitism, several prominent members of the American Catholic Church stated unequivocally that antisemitism is not a part of their religious doctrine.

“The Jewish community is attacked at a far higher rate than any other religious group in the United States. If we Catholics, in truly living out the Gospel, are to defend religious freedom with integrity, we must clearly speak out against antisemitism,” Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, the archbishop of Portland, Ore., said in a video posted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Wednesday. 

Sample is the chairman of the religious liberty commission at the USCCB, the membership organization of current and retired Catholic bishops in the United States. The video was timed with the upcoming Easter holiday, which Sample said has “at times been the occasion for outbursts of hatred and even violence against Jews” by Catholics who collectively hold the Jews responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.

“As Catholics, we are called to walk in the truth and so to reject the conspiracies and lies that lead to harassment and even violence against our Jewish brothers and sisters,” said Sample. 

On Thursday morning, Vince Haley, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, delivered greetings from President Donald Trump at the annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington. Haley, who is Catholic, wrapped up his own remarks with a call for Catholics to take a stand against antisemitism. 

American Catholics have a responsibility, Haley said, “to render assistance to and speak out tirelessly in defense of our beloved Jewish neighbors and fellow citizens in the face of rising attacks and the tidal wave of hatred that is being manufactured against them.”

“Hatred toward Jewish people is ugly, despicable, an affront to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and surely an occasion of terrible grief for our Jewish mother, Mary,” Haley continued. “And such evil should be condemned loudly and often by all people of goodwill, especially us.”

Neither Haley nor Sample mentioned the Catholic Prayer for America Gala, an event being hosted on Thursday night in Washington by Catholics for Catholics, a far-right political advocacy organization with a mission of targeting Catholic politicians who they deem to be insufficiently supportive of their perspective on church doctrine. 

But the gala raised eyebrows across Washington when the organization announced just hours after Joe Kent resigned as director of the National Counterterrorism Center in protest of Trump’s policy toward Iran earlier this week that Kent would speak at the event. 

Kent, who has a history of ties to far-right extremists and sought the support of antisemitic influencer Nick Fuentes during a 2022 congressional run, claimed that the U.S. was driven into war by “Israel and its powerful American lobby.” 

The event’s lineup already featured a who’s who of right-wing media personalities who have faced accusations of antisemitism. 

Carrie Prejean Boller, a former beauty pageant contestant who was fired from the White House Religious Liberty Commission Task Force in February after a disruptive anti-Zionist tirade at a public hearing, will be speaking. She was invited soon after the blow-up at the hearing, and in the weeks since she has doubled down on posting antisemitic content online. 

At the Religious Liberty Commission hearing, Prejean Boller came to the defense of the far-right influencer Candace Owens, who since parting with the Daily Wire in 2024 has become a reliably antisemitic voice on social media. Owens will also be speaking at the Catholics for Catholics event, along with Michael Flynn, who served as national security advisor for the first 22 days of Trump’s first term.