An umbrella Jewish group dealing with Jewish-Catholic relations told the Vatican that 19th-century Pope Pius IX doesn’t deserve to be a saint. The protest came in a letter Wednesday from Seymour Reich, chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations. Pius IX, who became infamous for ordering the 1858 kidnap of Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy who had been forcibly baptized as a baby, will be beatified next month, the last step before sainthood.
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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.