Catholic Universities, Aj Committee Plan Study on Christianity and Anti-semitism

Two research studies which will seek to determine whether Christianity promotes respect and friendship between Christians and Jews or whether it fosters hostility and oppression will be started soon in Catholic universities in Louvain, Belgium, and Rome in cooperation with the American Jewish Committee. Plans for the studies were outlined at the 62nd annual meeting of the AJ Committee by Philip E. Hoffman, outgoing chairman of its executive board. One study will deal with persons in France and the French-speaking sections of Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. It will be started shortly by the Socio-Religious Research Center of the Catholic University of Louvain, Mr. Hoffman said. A similar study, focusing on Italy, will be made by the Leonard M. Sperry Center for Intergroup Cooperation at the Pro University in Rome.

Mr. Hoffman noted that the connection between anti-Semitism and specific religious beliefs had been studied previously in the United States but added that this was the first time that the whole range of people’s attitudes and expectations about religion would be examined in that context. Subjects of the research will include high school students, adults, priests and others concerned with teaching of religion. Mr. Hoffman also announced completion of earlier AJCommittee-sponsored research programs in which scholars at the two universities studied Catholic school textbooks used in Italy, Spain and French-speaking countries for teachings likely to evoke hostility toward Jews. Both will be published soon. The Sperry Center textbook study contains an introduction by Augustin Cardinal Bea, who steered the Declaration on Relations with Jews through the Second Vatican Council. The Cardinal wrote that he hoped the study would “attract willing collaborators eager to continue the work” and “thus help to promote mutual understanding, respect and love among men and turn human society into a true family of brothers.”

STUDY EXAMINES APOSTASY AMONG STUDENTS IN COLLEGE

The preliminary findings of the first large-scale nation-wide study of apostasy among college students, undertaken for the AJCommittee by three Columbia University sociologists, were disclosed at the conference. They showed that 13 percent of Jewish students in American colleges reject their ties to the Jewish community by their senior year, but almost half of them return to the Jewish fold within three years after their graduation. The study showed that among the three major faiths, Jewish college students have the highest percentage of apostasy: 13 percent compared to 12 percent for Protestants and seven percent for Catholics. The study was made by David Caplovitz, Paul Ritterband and Fred Sherrow of Columbia’s Bureau of Applied Social Research.

At another conference session, two Negroes and two Jews agreed that strained relations between the two groups might in time be restored but they offered different approaches. The social critics were Bayard Rustin, executive director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute; Charles E. Silberman of the Carnegie Institute; Dr. Kenneth Clark, Negro educator; and Prof. Leonard Fein of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Rustin argued that anti-Jewish attitudes by black militants reflected “a total alienation” from all American institutions. He said the proposed Freedom Budget to provide Jobs for all Americans was the answer to the problem and urged that Jews and Jewish organizations remain in the liberal coalition to fight for such a budget. Mr. Silberman said a gulf was developing between Jewish leaders and the Jewish rank-and-file on the race crisis and he urged an effort to find means of reducing Jewish prejudice.

Dr. Clark suggested a research and action program to determine the extent of Jewish involvement among merchants in the Negro ghettoes to recommend how Negroes and Jews could work together. He said that if a large Jewish representation was found among ghetto merchants, the Jewish merchants should organize an association to monitor members for unfair practices and develop programs for better consumer relations. Prof. Fein said Jews should stop “over-reacting” to the Negro backlash against them and listen to what Negroes have to say.

In addition to re-electing Brandeis University president-designate Morris B. Abram, of New York, as president, the AJCommittee elected Max M. Fisher, of Detroit, as chairman of the Executive Board, succeeding Philip E. Hoffman of West Orange, N.J., and re-elected Nathan Appleman, of New York, as chairman of the Board of Trustees. Bertram H. Gold, executive director of the organization, was elected executive vice-president.

A resolution supporting the June 19 Mobilization of Concerned Americans, in Washington, under direction of Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, sponsor of the Poor People’s March, was endorsed at the closing session today. Delegates also urged the United States to help curb the Middle East arms race and to encourage Arab-Israel negotiations for peace. In another resolution, they called on the Polish Government to facilitate the emigration of Jews who have indicated they wish to go to the U.S., or other countries, and to end “the manipulation of anti-Semitism.” The delegates also appealed to the Soviet Union to end the “current virulent propaganda campaign against Jews” and to establish the Jewish community “as an equal among equals” within the spirit of Soviet law.