Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, was on record today as believing that the Ecumenical Council promulgation on Catholic Jewish relations was “only a beginning” for Catholics “to go gurther and to take out of Christian literature all that reflects upon the Jewish people.”
The Cardinal’s view was contained in a letter he sent in reply to one from Charles H. Silver, former president of the New York Board of Education and a personal friend of the prelate. Mr. Silver had written to the Cardinal to thank him for seeking Mr. Silver’s advice before going to Rome for the final session of the Council this fall and for “the valiant and uncompromising stand” the Cardinal took in battling for a strong draft declaration on Jews. The final approved version, which is now formal Catholic doctrine, repudiated the charge of collective guilt of the Jewish people in the crucifixion of Jesus and deplores anti-Semitism.
The Cardinal wrote also that the declaration was “not perfect” but that “it is a good start.” People will forget this declaration as years go on but we must not forget to follow it up to the end that all terrible things said about the Jews in Christian literature or all the evil insinuations against them must be eradicated,” Cardinal Cushing stressed.
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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.
