Columbia University conferred degrees of sacred theology on representatives of the Catholic, Jewish and Protestant faiths in a ceremony yesterday, at which Dr. Nicholas Murray president of the university, presided.
The recipients were Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America; the Rev. Dr. George Arthur Buttrick, pastor of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, and the Right Rev. Monsignor John Augustine Ryan, professor emeritus of the Catholic University of America.
After conferring the degrees, Dr. Butler told the audience of several hundred persons that they were given in recognition of the growing spirit of co-operation among religious faiths. He pointed out that the occasion came during the eleventh annual observance of Brotherhood Week under auspices of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
“When we can make sure that the brotherhood of man is really understood and practiced,” Dr. Butler observed, “the world’s troubles will be approaching their end.” Rabbi Finkelstein, eulogized by Dr. Butler as an “outstanding interpreter of the Jewish faith and ideals,” said that America has been able to develop its resources and utilize its national genius “because of the spiritual and moral fellowship which is the basic characteristic of this country.”
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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.
