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The massacre in Noto and Modica occurred in a growing climate of hostility toward Jews in Catholic Europe at the end of the 15th century, as discussed at the conference moderated by UCEI Vice President Giulio Disegni and promoted by the Catania section of the Jewish Community of Naples. Local preachers, particularly Franciscans and Dominican monks, played a key role inciting violence in Sicily, historians explained. Beyond religious motives, economic and political factors also fueled the massacre, which was meticulously organized by arming hundreds of people, including those recruited from nearby cities. “Today, we give voice and recognition to those massacres, recovering part of what was lost over the centuries with the expulsion of Jews from the socio-economic and cultural fabric of Southern Italy,” Di Segni said, recalling that the massacre was followed by the expulsion of the Jewish community from Southern Italy, ordered by the Spanish monarchy in 1492, which ruled the region at the time.\nThis expulsion, as the conference participants in Noto and Modica explained, impoverished Southern Italy, and devastated a significant part of its social fabric.
\nWhat happened half a century ago serves as a lesson for today. “The Jewish presence and its contribution to development, then and now, represent the challenge of coexistence,” Di Segni remarked. “Coexistence requires knowledge and cultural sharing. Memory is both a responsibility and a commitment to act with consistency in the present. To those who continue to legitimize hatred and terrorism with dogmatic assertions, we remind once again that the abuse of religion and state power \u2013 then by the Church, and today by Palestinian leadership and other theocracies \u2013 is the evil that generates destruction.”
\nDelivering a message from the Bishop of Noto Salvatore Rumeo, Father Giuseppe Stella emphasized that today “the commitment of everyone, including the Catholic Church, is to reject antisemitism, encouraging while encouraging dialogue, fraternal collaboration, and remembrance.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"