Referendum in Spain Today Certain to Give Jews Religious Freedom

Max Mazin, leader of Spain’s growing Jewish community, predicted here today that the population of Spain will ratify the constitutional change proposed by the Spanish Government guaranteeing religious freedom for non-Catholic religions when it comes before a popular national referendum tomorrow.

“However,” Mr. Mazin pointed out, “whether this constitutional amendment is to be promulgated in a liberal or a narrow way will depend on the implementation laws that are submitted to the Cortes — our Parliament. We are confident that despite conservative opposition, the future legislation will take into account the interest of the Spanish Government in providing equal rights to non-Catholics.”

Mr. Mazin, 43-year-old industrialist who is president of the Jewish Community of Madrid, made his predictions at a news conference at the national headquarters of the American Jewish Committee. “The Catholic Church itself is forced, by its liberal and progressive members, to change its traditional attitudes toward other religions,” he said. “As a result of the decisions of the Ecumenical Council and of its Declaration on Non-Christian Religions, a new atmosphere of better understanding and greater respect has been noticed among wide circles of the Spanish population.”

As an example of this new atmosphere, Mr. Mazin pointed to the Jewish-Christian Friendship Association, created five years ago with the approval and support of the then Bishop of Madrid, and with the assistance of the American Jewish Committee. “This movement has developed intensive activity during the years since, with truly spectacular results in the field of human relation,” he added. Mr. Mazin is the Jewish president of the association, with a high-ranking Catholic priest, Father Serrano, its Christian head.

Mr. Mazin noted that a new temple was being built in Madrid — the first since the 14th Century — and that this historic event was a direct result of “the new liberal outlook toward other religions.” He added that the Jewish population in Spain today numbers 8,000 with 2,500 Jews in Madrid and almost 3,000 in Barcelona.

Mr. Mazin, who was born in Poland and came to Spain in 1950, was introduced at the press conference by Morris B. Abram, president of the American Jewish Committee, who outlined to the news conference some of the activities in which his organization has engaged in cooperation with the Jewish community in Spain. They included a survey of Spanish religious textbooks to determine the manner in which members of minority groups, especially Jews, are depicted and services to the struggling Jewish community in Madrid, carried out by AJC’s Community Service program for Jewish communities in Western Europe. These services have covered administrative assistance, development of programs, and Jewish educational materials.