Archbishop Gauthier, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Rontreal, has received at the Bishop’s Palace Rabbi J. H. Stern, of Temple Emanu-El, who brought to his attention the antisemitc agitation which is being conducted in the Province of Quebec, and assured him that he does not sympathise with antisemitism, and promised that he would take action to remedy the situation.
In reporting on his interview with the Archbishop to the Board of Jewish Deputies here, Rabbi Stern said that he had pointed out the harm that is being done by the local antisemitic weeklies, and that the Archbishop kept for reference a copy of the Daily Bulletin of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in New York which contained a report of an inflammatory article by Abbe La Vergne which had appeared recently in “L’Action Catholique”.
The article by Abbe Edouard V. La Vergne was published at the end of November, as a leading article in “L’Action Catholique”, the chief Catholic organ in the Province of Quebec.
Writing under the heading “Jewish Domination of the Cinema”, the Abbe cited various Christians theologians and a proselyte Jew, by the name of Levy, purporting to show that the Jews, however small their number may be, seek to dominate the Christians wherever they are found.
The Abbe went on to express alarm that two local cinemas are about to come under Jewish control, declaring that this is another proof of a “general Jewish conspiracy to corrupt Christian morals and undermine Christianity”. The moving picture industry in America, he alleged, is controlled by Jews, who make it their duty to see that each picture should weaken the morals of the theatre-goers and disrupt the sanctity of family life.
Summing up his list of accusations against the Jews, Abbe La Vergne concluded with a statement that the Freemasons are in league with the Jews and the great Masonic Order has under Jewish influence been acting on the following doctrine – Let us spread sin among the masses. Let us corrupt their hearts and then we will see the end of Christianity”.
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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.
