Pope Paul VI was reported here today to have decided to make the proposed Catholic Church declaration on relations with Jews into a separate document, unrelated to any of the other schemas under consideration by the Ecumenical Council. Vatican sources saw such separation of the declaration on relations with Jews as a move strengthening the importance of the document. They believe that the new declaration may be promulgated by the Council before it closes its current session on November 21.
The new draft of the declaration, it is understood, will state clearly that the Jewish people as a whole are absolved from the ancient charge of deicide. To placate bishops from Moslem countries, who feared that a declaration of that kind might have an adverse effect in their areas, the new version will emphasize the fact that the Catholic Church statement is entirely nonpolitical, and is directed against blind anti-Semitism.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
