Carrie Prejean Boller

Recently recognized with an award from Catholics for Catholics, her words bear repeating.

The Catholic Church has never taught that the modern State of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy or that Catholics are religiously obligated to support any political nation as part of God’s plan of salvation. Vatican II is clear. Christ instituted the New Covenant in His Blood, calling together a people made up of Jew and Gentile, uniting them not according to the flesh, but in the Spirit. “This was to be the new People of God.” (Lumen Gentium §9) The People of God are no longer defined by land, bloodline, or political borders, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Nostra Aetate affirms that salvation is not tied to ethnicity or territorial promises, but is fulfilled in Christ and extended to all through His Church. God’s covenant is not a real estate contract.

It is fulfilled in Christ. Sacred Scripture states: “the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets” 1 Thessalonians 2:14–15 Under the IHRA definition, even citing this biblical passage can be labeled antisemitic. That places Catholics and all Christians who profess the Bible on dangerous ground. Holy Scripture is not antisemitic. It is the Word of God. IHRA defines antisemitism in part as: “Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.” Our Church is universal.

Our covenant is new and eternal. Our loyalty belongs to the Kingdom of God, not to any earthly state. Political Zionism is not Catholic doctrine. Catholics are under no religious obligation to support it whatsoever. A Catholic woman appointed to defend religious freedom should not be denied her own for holding religious beliefs about a political ideology like Zionism.

That is viewpoint discrimination and a violation of my First Amendment rights while serving on a commission tasked with defending your religious freedom. Am I not entitled to my own religious liberty while serving to defend yours? It appears I was the only one on stage Monday who understood the assignment President Trump entrusted me with: protect religious freedom for all Americans, including my own, by challenging political and theological supremacy. Rejecting the claim that any modern nation-state fulfills biblical prophecy does not make me an antisemite. It makes me Catholic. I stand for religious freedom