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Summary: The longest hate.
Review: A monumental piece of work. Antisemitism is an integral part of Christianity begining with the 4th Gospel. Without the hate of the Jewish people, Christianity will cease to exist. Some things never change. I also suggest to those interested in this subject that they read The Crime of Christiandom by Fred G. Bratton.
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Summary: A Modern Day Descartes?
Review: In the early 17th Century, Rene Descartes was faced with a problem. He knew that the "New Science" that was emerging at the time was correct. (Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, etc.)And he also knew that Galileo had to stand trial and ended up condemned to house arrest for his "heretical" views about the physical universe. Descartes was no dummy, he knew Galileo to be correct, but he didn't wish to end up under house arrest himself...or worse, which is what the Church did to such "heretics." So he concocted his "Discourse on Method," which, for the first time, reconciled the "New Science" of the time, with the teachings of the old religion. He even used a rudimentary version of the "Scientific Method" to prove the existence of God, in a successful attempt to pacify the easily-offended Church and the faithful who followed what the Church had to say about such things. James Carroll just may be a 21st Century version of Descartes. For the subject that he tackles is certain to be met with defensiveness from the Church. Carroll will unquestionably be labeled a "disgruntled Catholic," by many, a "heretic" by some, yet the fact is, he is anything but. If a Christian can somehow read this book, understand the points Carroll is making (it is neither anti-Catholic or anti-Christian) then that which has been painfully clear to Jews for centuries might finally become clear to Christains. Carroll offers a way for Christians to understand that anti-semitism was the equivalent of a "load-bearing wall" in the foundation of the Church. His story is about mortals who fell into this trap...and his point is that mortals are capable of falling out of it as well. Like Descartes, Carroll offers a way for the Catholic Church, and Christians in general, to come to terms with Christian history (which is man-made) without the process having to result in a denial of Christian faith. If anything, it should strengthen it. Congratulation to James Carroll, who, by the way, tells us all clearly in the beginning of the book about the way he uses "primary sources" (heaven forbid anyone should upset the politics of the present-day historian-establishment) and that his story is as much a personal one as an historical one. Keep that in perspective and you can begin to understand why the Jews have been on the receiving end of the world's "longest hatred." Carroll does get very personal sometimes in this work, and I am not sure that the work couldn't have been even more effective without it. But then again, the revelations Carroll shares are not only historical, but deeply personal as well. For a Christian to truly come to grips with the need of the Church to have its villains, and still remain faithful (as Carroll does), will require more than just reading this book. A deeply personal transformation and new level of understanding will be required as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Rabid reviews badly miss the point
Review: The attempt by some Catholic reviewers of this book here to use their reviews as any opportunity to shore up their extemely positive view of the Church from the perceived hostility of everyone everywhere ("militany Jews"?! "liberals"?) amazes me. It's like none of the frantic reviewers actually let the larger issue of immense suffering sink in, so concerned are they with their own apologetic. Did you miss the point of the book, in the midst of cataloging your slights? How about a little humility for a brutally sad topic rather than simply a rabid defense of your own religious views and your view of the Church's past? The lack of nuance in so much of this dialogue is stunning; so many reviewers here seemed to be so on the defensive that anything critical thoroughly unhinged them. Just look over these many reviews. How sad.
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Summary: A most significant read
Review: I commend James Carroll for the time, energy and thought that drove him to present us with this thoughtful and detailed analysis of the church-synagogue relationship. This book is a classic and hopefully will be referred to in attempting to better interreligious relationships among Christians and Jews in the future. Those who have trashed this book in the above reviews seem to have an agenda or haven't really read the book; many of the reviews sound like they were written by an anti-Carroll committee. How can we understand anti-semitism? Carroll gives us a thorough picture of the history that should bring shame to anyone who looks at it. Unlike the self-righteous, Carroll believes everyone is to blame including himself for this prime problem of the church. He is right in having the focus now fall into the immediate future: it didn't have to be that way and all of us can change it in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: In sheep's clothing
Review: Like the recent works of Gary Wills and John Cornwell, this book appears to be a critique of the Catholic Church's misuse of power toward the Jews. But this tendentious book is not really about that subject. It's just another self-hating jeremiad by an embittered Catholic who wants his church to be just like that nice liberal, all-inclusive church down the street: no moral laws, no dsiciplinary rules, no clams about salvation. Just sweet and light, as the Boston Globe editorial page defines sweet and light..
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Summary: Odd conclusion
Review: The obvious purpose of this book is to pin the Holocaust on the Catholic Church, but the book defeats its very purpose. Despite himself, Carroll has to admit that the leading authorities of the Catholic Church (popes, councils, key theologians) repeatedly condemned any use of violence against Jews. Many reached out to protect Jews against marauding Christians. In many moments of persecution, the Jews found a safe haven in the Papal States. Obviously, Jews often suffered second-class citizenship: restricted neighborhoods, restriction of rights. There were efforts to convert them, but the Church opposed foced conversions. But nowhere does one find the genocidal policies advocated by the Nazis. The Church's attitude of tolerance stands in stark contrast to the terror of the Nazis. Even if you don't read the many Church documents protecting the Jews which the author ignores, the insecapable conclusion is that the Catholic Church has been a clear if imperfect defender of the basic rights of all humans, regardless of belief. Once again we blind ourselves to the unique horror of the Nazis, who can't be explained by the Germans of the Weimar Republic (which they destroyed) or by the Christianity which they bitterly rejected and persecuted.
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Summary: Sorry, Wrong Number
Review: This is a vicious work fueled by anti-Catholic prejudice. It's also an unconvincing work on its own terms. Despite himself, the author repeatedly has to document how popes, councils, and theologians condemned any violence against the Jews. The fact that some individual Catholics did engage in anti-Semitic violence---despite the Church's centuries-old condemnation of this---only proves the sinfulness and disobedence of Church members. One searches in vain to find any Church statment calling for the extermination of the Jews. The Nazi genocide of the Jews (like the genocide of the Gypsies) had nothing to do with a Christianity they despised. It is rooted in a racist eugenicism hostile to all religion. The Church's centuries-old tolerance of Judaism, and its insistence that the Hebrew Scriptures are divinely inspired, explains why millions of Christians fought on the Allied side against the Nazis---with the full blessing of their churches. It explains why Churchill and Roosevelt repeatedly and accurately described the Allies' crusade as a fight to save "Christian civilization," a civilization which has extended religious tolerance to all.
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Summary: Me! Me! Me!
Review: The book deals with a serious topic, but the author is so pre-occupied with his own autobiography that he never gets around to serious historical analysis. Most of the book is the author's own cloying reflections on his last drink, on his recent prayer experience, on his latest conversation. The self-indulgence is insufferable. The entire end of the book is nothing but the author's fantasy of a Church reshaped in the image of his anti-Catholic bosses at The Boston Globe.
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Summary: Raw anger
Review: This book is not an honest effort to document the history of the Catholic Church's attitudes toward Israel. As many reviewers have noted, the book simply exaggerates the apparently anti-Semitic pasages in works written by Catholic dignitaries and then suppresses the many pro-Semitic passages, often in the same work. The treatment of Pius XI is typical. Like most leaders in the 1930's (including many Jewish leaders of the period), he opposed Zionism. His critiques of Zionism are presented as signs of some ethnic prejudice. But this pope's many condemnations of anti-Semitism are ignored: the 1928 Holy Office condemnation of anti-Semitism; the 1937 Mit Brennender Sorge denunciation of Nazi racism; the 1938 speeches condemning anti-Semitic bias. Clearly the author's agenda has nothing to do with Judaism or tolerance.
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Summary: At Last
Review: At last somone has had the courage to correctly describe the relationship Christianity has had with the Jews. Christianity currently exists with a million pound sin on its shoulders. That sin, of course, has been its treatment of the Jews for the last 1600 years. The leaders of the religion have brutally persecuted the Jews with a violence that is overwhelming. They have inflicted the Jews with expulsions, ghettoizations, inquisitioins and finally a hatred that has culminated in a holocaust. Anti semitism is a direct product of all this Christian hatred and finaly a Christian has the courage to tell it as it is and not rationalize, put one's head in the sand, or simply ignore this history as most Christians do. This book is an excellent coverage of this long, painful, and ignored period of history. Congratulations Mr. Carroll for a first step into reality.
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