Catholic cardinal condemns antisemitic attack on rabbi in Vienna

Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was also quick to condemn the attack • "A Europe without Jews is no longer Europe.”

People take pictures of a light symbol, marking the place where Viennese synagogues once stood before they were destroyed, after a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, also known as Night of Broken Glass, in front of a then destroyed Synagogue in Vienna, Austria November 8, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS)
People take pictures of a light symbol, marking the place where Viennese synagogues once stood before they were destroyed, after a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, also known as Night of Broken Glass, in front of a then destroyed Synagogue in Vienna, Austria November 8, 2018.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn condemned on Friday the antisemitic attack on a rabbi in the Austrian capital of Vienna, as reported by the Catholic News Agency.
In a statement on his Twitter account in German, the cardinal said: “I am dismayed by yesterday’s attack on a rabbi in the middle of Vienna. I assure our fellow Jewish citizens of my complete solidarity. [Antisemitism] must have no place among us. It endangers the peaceful coexistence of us all.”
A woman in her 50s confronted a rabbi on Thursday afternoon with a knife, kicking him in the leg and taking his kippah before running away.
Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was also quick to condemn the antisemitic attack, saying on Twitter a few days earlier that “We must fight [antisemitism] with all determination. Jewish life in Austria must be possible in safety. For a Europe without Jews is no longer Europe.”
The antisemitic attack occurred nearly a month after a terror attack near Vienna's central synagogue, when gunmen opened fire in the city, killing four people and injuring 23 others.