A resolution expressing sympathy for persecuted Jews, voted unanimously yesterday by the House of Deputies of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, was approved this afternoon by the House of Bishops. Today’s vote was also unanimous.
“Just as recourse to offensive warfare is to be unsparingly condemned,” the resolution states, “so, in the opinion of the general convention, persecution of minorities as an instrument of national policy is likewise to be branded as unworthy of civilized nations and as shocking to the sensibilities of all right-minded persons.
EXTENDS SYMPATHY
“To all Jewish people and to all other minorities who may have been victims of such persecution, the general convention, in behalf of church people everywhere, extends a fraternal greeting and a message of deep sympathy.”
The statement now becomes officially the voice of the fifty-first triennial general convention and, thus, of the more than 3,000,000 communicants of the church.
It was obvious that Nazi Germany was the outstanding offender in mind when the action was taken, with Austria, Latvia, Lithuania and Greece, countries in which anti-Semitism is also currently rampant, also on the list.
As originally worded and subsequently altered following charges that it was “straddling,” the resolution offered “to the people of the Jewish race throughout the world profound sympathy for the sacrifices, impoverishment and suffering that they have endured at the hands of the nationalistic and racially prejudiced groups.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
