"I have not said one word of hate. I do not hate Jewish people. Not one that is with me has ever committed a crime against the Jewish people, black people, white people. As long as you don't attack us, we won't bother you."
Fr. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Church, invited Farrakhan in response to Facebook's decision May 2 to ban him from its platforms, due to Farrakhan's violations of the site's policies regarding "hate speech." St. Sabina is a predominantly African American parish in Chicago's South Side.
The Archdiocese had released a statement May 9 reiterating that the event was not sponsored by the archdiocese.
"Minister Farrakhan could have taken the opportunity to deliver a unifying message of God's love for all his children. Instead, he repeatedly smeared the Jewish people, using a combination of thinly veiled discriminatory rhetoric and outright slander," Cupich said.
"He referred to Jewish people as 'satanic,' asserting that he was sent by God to separate the 'good Jews' from the 'satanic Jews,'" Cupich noted.
"Such statements shock the conscience. People of faith are called to live as signs of God's love for the whole human family, not to demonize any of its members...I apologize to my Jewish brothers and sisters, whose friendship I treasure, from whom I learn so much, and whose covenant with God remains eternal."