Episcopate Document Termed Religious, Not Political Statement

The Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Francois Marty, told newsmen that the new French Catholic Church document on revising attitudes toward Judaism was a religious and not a political statement.

“This document does not take a position in the Middle East conflict,” Archbishop Marty said at a news conference several days ago after the Episcopate issued the two-year study which urged an end to anti-Semitism, recognition of the “political existence” of Israel and also recognition of the rights of those whom the document termed the victims of an unjust situation in the Middle East.

“This religious statement was issued during the Jewish Passover holiday and is founded entirely on religious grounds,” Archbishop Marry said. “We must recognize that Jews have suffered in the past. They are men who must be given our respect. A Jew is a man. An Arab is a man. The Palestinians have the right to life and territory too.”

OPPOSITION TO DOCUMENT

Not all Catholics in France agreed with the Episcopate document. Georges Montaron, director of the review, Temoignage Chretien (Christian Observer), said that “since French Bishops are behind events and since they do not know what is news, they will not be listened to as they had hoped because of the situation around them.”

The World Conference of Christians for Palestine, of which Montaron is also a leader, issued a negative response to the church study. “This document, written by a limited group, without consulting Arabs and Moslems who are directly concerned by the problem of the Promised Land, cannot be approved, as it stands, by the whole of the French Episcopate and by the church.” The World Conference is a group of left-wing Catholics who support the Palestinians.