Jews Mourn Passing of Cardinal Meyer; Liberal Prelate Was 62

Chicago Jewry joined the general community today in mourning the passing of Albert Cardinal Meyer, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese here, who died this weekend at the age of 62.

Cardinal Meyer, it was recalled, was one of the most forceful of American prelates who had insisted at the last session of the Ecumenical Council, in the Vatican, on the adoption of the declaration on the relations between Jews and Christians, which removed from the Jewish people the stigma of deicide and urged Catholics to oppose anti-Semitism.

When it was feared, during the closing days of the Council’s last session, that the Declaration on Jewish Relations might not be voted or might be watered down, Cardinal Meyer joined Joseph Cardinal Ritter, of St. Louis, in circulating a petition to Pope Paul VI, requesting action on the issue. The strong declaration was adopted preliminarily, and will come up before the Ecumenical Council’s next session for final action.

The American Jewish Committee, in the name of its president, Morris B. Abram, sent a message recording its “profound” sorrow on the death of “the saintly and wise” Cardinal Meyer.

“His kindliness and unstinting devotion to human dignity,” declared the AJC, “endeared him to all who had the good fortune to be associated with him in his many humanitarian tasks. His was one of the great liberal spirits of our time, and we of the American Jewish Committee have long cherished his dedication to the principles of human dignity. His guidance and wisdom will be sorely missed in the days ahead, as we struggle to bring to greater fruition his hopes and ours for interreligious understanding. May his soul be bound up with the bond of eternal life.”