Pope John XXIII today completed the procedure started by the late Pope Pius of removing from a Good Friday prayer an offensive reference to Jews.
An ancient liturgical text, in a reference to the crucifixion included the phrase, in Latin, “Let us pray for the perfidious Jews.” The late Pope Pius ordered that the phrase be translated as “Let us pray for the unbelieving Jews.”
Pope John, deciding that he adjective should be eliminated, yesterday ordered that the Good Friday liturgy should from now on read “Remus pro Ileitis.” (Let us pray for the Jews.)
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