One of the last acts of George Cardinal Mundelein was to give approval to a Catholic layman leaving for New York to address a Jewish meeting in denunciation of race hatred, it was disclosed as many Jewish leaders and organizations joined in condolences on his death.
The revelation regarding Cardinal Mundelein was made last night at a conference sponsored by the American Jewish Congress. Dr. Stephen S. Wise, president of the congress, asked the delegates to rise while he lauded the prelate and declared that “the Jewish people will never forget him.”
Anthony Czarnecki, Chicago Polish-American leader and member of the Chicago Daily News staff, a guest speaker, apparently had not known before of the Cardinal’s death. Deeply moved, he rose and told the audience that before leaving Chicago he had shown Cardinal Mundelein the telegram he had received from Dr. Wise inviting him to come to New York.
The prelate told Czarnecki: “Go and tell them what is in your heart.”
In a separate statement, Dr. Wise recalled the Cardinal’s denunciation of Hitler and his disavowal of Charles E. Coughlin’s remarks as expressions of the Church. “We of the House of Israel join with all mankind in paying tribute and grateful remembrance at the bier of Cardinal Mundelein,” Dr. Wise added.
In an inter-faith broadcast over the Columbia Broadcasting System network, Rabbi Louis Mann said that “not only our Catholic brethren, but the whole world is poorer for his passing.” Edgar H. Burman, national commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States, stated: “To those of the Jewish faith he always represented the true spirit of Christianity, tolerance and brotherhood.”
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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.
