The Coptic Church in the Aftermath of the Second Vatican Council: Theological or Tactical Anti‐Judaism?

Abstract Vatican II's declaration on the Jews, absolving them from collective guilt of deicide, marked a significant turning point in Catholic theology. Arab governments tended to perceive this development as evidence that Catholics (or Christians generally) were taking the side of Zionist Jews in the Arab‐Israeli conflict. Christian Arabs, and particularly the Copts, who were nationals of the principal Arab state of Egypt, were caught in the middle. In a clientelist relationship with the Arab‐nationalist Nasserite regime, the Coptic Church found itself needing to address the Jewish question after many centuries of theological silence on the issue. Whether eagerly or reluctantly, the Coptic Church ran opposition to the declaration from within the Vatican Council, and in its aftermath compiled a new Adversus Judaeos literature that stands in contrast to Western Christian trends of the period. This literature, which has remained largely unexplored in scholarly research, brings together Christian anti‐Judaic traditions with arguments for the Arab cause in Palestine. This article engages and analyses that literature from within its political context to argue that although its theological rationale cannot be entirely denied, the Coptic Adversus Judaeos served the primary function of manifesting conformity between Christian theology and the Egyptian regime's political ideology.