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American Catholic Bishops Condemn Inhuman Treatment of Jews

November 21, 1941
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Condemnation of the inhuman treatment of Jews in many countries is contained in the pronouncement issued in behalf of the Catholic Bishops of the United States following their annual conclave which met here. The statement was issued by the administrative board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference which was authorized by the annual meeting of the Bishops “to express their mind on the crisis of Christianity.”

“Our sympathy,” the pronouncement reads, “goes out again to the people of those countries who have been crushed under the heel of the invader, and indeed, to all upon whom war has imposed so heavy a burden of suffering and sacrifice. We cannot too strongly condemn the inhuman treatment to which the Jewish people have been subjected in many countries. In this hour of cruel torture, we are mindful, daily of God’s altar, of all the innocent victims of the war, of the homeless, the exiled, the imprisoned, and all who are suffering because of hunger or disease. We ask the faithful to unite with us in offering daily prayers and sacrifice in their behalf.”

The pronouncement states that Nazism and communism are to be considered “the two greatest evils of today which would destroy all spiritual values.” It condemns the Nazi system and offers fervent prayers for the “freedom from the slavery of tyranny” for all oppressed.

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