American Clergy Condemns Persecution of Jews; Congressional Record Publishes Texts

Statements of the American Christian clergy condemning the persecution of Jews in Europe are published in the Congressional Record, inserted by Samuel Dickstein, member of the House of representatives.

The Most Rev. Robert E. Lucey, Archbishop of San Antonio, is quoted as follows: “As the fields of Europe run red with the blood of our Jewish brethren, every American is shocked and horrified at this awful slaughter of innocent people. Not since the pagan explorers of Rome loosed their fury on the early Christians has the world witnessed anything so terrible as the organized frenzy of the German Government which now strikes down our Jewish brothers with ruthless barbaric cruelty. But God is not mocked. Justice and peace will return to this tired world. On your day of grief and mourning, we join with you in profound sympathy and earnest prayer. May our common Father in Heaven give consolation to our Jewish brethren in their hour of bitter suffering. May the satanic madness that now scourges Europe be cast from the earth. May peace and justice and charity soon return to the hearts of men.”

Bishop Edwin V. O’Hara, of Kansas City, in his statement says: “Our profound sympathy goes out to the Jewish people for the terrible slaughter of so many thousands of their race by the savagery of the Nazis. The blood of the innocent victims cries to Our Father in Heaven against the perpetrators of these outrages against human brotherhood and brands them with the brand of Cain. In these tragic days of grief and mourning of the Jewish people, may we all understand that we are our brothers’ keepers. May all who profess the Christian faith especially understand the declaration of Pope Pius XI that “all Christians are spiritually Semites.”

Dr. Everett R. Clinchy, president of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, in his statement declared: “This war is a struggle between sets of values. The fact that the churches and synagogues refuse to give up their claim to the inherent rights of man because of his divine origin is the one promising hope for civilization today. Christians and Jews must stand firm together for the values of the Judaea-Christian tradition.”