The Vatican document on the attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Jewish people will definitely make it clear that Jesus died for the sins of all mankind and the Jews of his time, or of any time later, are not to be blamed for his crucifixion, it was learned here today. The draft of the document–to be titled “Declaration on the Relations of Catholics to non-Christian Religims”–may be presented tomorrow to the more than 2,500 prelates attending the Ecumenical Council which will have to vote on it.
The drafted document reaffirms that Christianity’s roots are in the words of the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament and that Jesus, Mary and the Apostles were all of Abraham’s stock. The document also stresses the brotherhood of men and exhorts all Christians to reject anti-Semitism.
Members of the Secretariat for Christian Unity, which prepared the document, today doubted whether the final vote on the document will be taken by the Ecumenical Council before Saturday, when the Council’s session ends. They said that while preliminary voting on the declaration may take place this week, it would be impossible to do the editing and printing involved in amendments in time to bring it to a final vote on Saturday. The next session of the Ecumenical Council is scheduled to convene in 1966.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
