Cardinal Van Rossum, influential Catholic prelate, sympathetic to the work of rebuilding of the Jewish National Home, died here today.
In an interview with a representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 1926, Cardinal Van Rossum made it known that the Catholic Church has no apprehensions regarding the status of the Holy Places in Palestine as a result of Zionism and that it regards the rebuilding of the Jewish National Homeland “as the fulfilment of God’s promises to His Chosen People.”
“The Church,” he asserted, “condemns anti-Semitism most severely and with the whole force of its authority. Especially does the Church desire that its voice of love to all peoples should be made heard now after the war, when so many prejudices and seeds of hatred and persecution are spread against the Jews.”
“I want to emphasize,” he stated, “that any attempt to disturb the peace, the dignity and security of existence of the Jewish people, will never be supported by the Church, because it is contrary to its spirit and mission.
The Catholic religion, he said, has three principles in common with the Jewish religion and cited them as “belief in one God; in the immortality of the soul and in purification by punishment for sin.”
“Christians,” the Cardinal stated, “have to thank the Jews for their greatest spirits, for their apostles, for St. Paul, St. Peter and Christ himself. This alone is sufficient reason why Christians should respect and appreciate the people of Israel for what they have done and deserved.”
Discussing the rehabilitation of Palestine, the Cardinal stated: “The efforts of the Jewish people to revive its land which has been neglected for generations are being watched by the Church with benevolence as the fulfilment of God’s promises to His Chosen People.
“Naturally, other religions, and especially the Catholic religion which has in Palestine its Holy Places and traditions must be properly respected. Many of the apprehensions which were felt of late years in this respect have now disappeared and the Catholic Church looks with full sureness upon the development of common relations for the future,” was the viewpoint expressed by Cardinal Van Rossum.
Max Rubin, president of the Jacksonville Jewish Center, has announced that Rabbi Morris Margolis of Detroit, Mich., had accepted the pulpit of that congregation and will start his term of service on September 1st.
Rabbi Margolis is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, class of 1932.
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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.
