Paper Scores Canada Clergy on Race Stand

Commenting on Cardinal O’Connell’s recent speech in Boston where he openly condemned racial hatred and Jewish persecutions, the Jewish Daily Eagle draws a parallel between this stand and the attitude of the Catholic clergy in the Province of Quebec who have not identified themselves with any open protest against the anti-semitic propaganda in the province. Some of the clergy, in fact, are known to have given their blessing and support to the movement.

“What is specially noteworthy in the cardinal’s liberal attitude,” states the Eagle, “is the parallel that may be drawn between him and the dignitaries of the Catholic church in Canada. Surely Cardinal O’Connell is as good a Catholic as the Catholics of the Province of Quebec. But here the attitude towards the Jews is somewhat different. Here the representatives of the church remain indifferent to the wild anti-Jewish incitement, carried on under the mantle of Christianity.

ANTI-SEMITIC CLERGY

“Why the solemn stillness on the part of the church dignitaries? Why do they not raise their voices in protest to condemn the wild cannibalistic acts of the local well-poisoners? The reason is unknown. But we do know that there are many clergymen who are very much in sympathy with the anti-Semitic incitement. It is well known that certain church dignitaries have lent a hand to foment this anti-semitic incitement, and the fact that the Catholic church, which is so influential in Quebec, has not done anything to stop this vile propaganda against the Jews, this fact places the leaders of the Catholic church in Quebec in somewhat different light than the churchmen in America.”