One of France’s leading Catholic prelates urged today that Christians cleanse themselves of anti-Semitism and work for “the important concept of Jewish-Christian friendship.”
The appeal was made by Cardinal Gerlier, Archbishop of Lyons, in an introduction written for a book by a priest, Jean Toulat, dealing with the Jewish problem. “The Ecumenical spirit and not less the Biblical revival must engage all Christians to revise the position of Israel’s sins and lead them to discover in Judaism the roots from which all Christian cults stem,” the Cardinal asserted.
Cardinal Gerlier, who was one of the leaders of the “liberal” movement in the first phase of the Ecumenical Council in Rome, recalled “Paul’s belief that a day would come when Israel and the Church would form “a single nation before God.” He added that such “perspectives” have been “crushed by centuries of anti-Semitism.”
Declaring that “it is not certain that all traces of anti-Semitism have disappeared” even in some who call themselves disciples of Christianity, he called for Jewish-Christian understanding and urged all Christians to further this “sincerely and wholeheartedly.”
Jewish sources read the statement with satisfaction. Some observers suggested that coming just after the Cardinal’s return from Rome, his statement might fore shadow a major move in support of his stand on Jewish-Christian relations.
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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.
