The official organ of the Catholic Diocese of Camden called today for an “unequivocal” declaration by the Ecumenical Council, firmly absolving the Jewish people “of the monstrous crime of deicide.”
An editorial in the Catholic Star-Herald here urged “speedy passage by the current session of Vatican Council II of a councilar statement on the Jews, stating in unequivocal language, once and for all, that the Church recognizes our bond of heritage with God’s chosen people and specifically denies that the Jews were in any way to be judged guilty of the monstrous crime of deicide.”
“American Catholics,” the editorial continued, “look for such a statement for several reasons. Because it is a crying need in a world that can not yet forget the horror that anti-Semitism, fed by the charge of deicide, brought to pass in the living memory of this generation. Because there is now statistical evidence to show that there is a significant minority of Catholics and Protestants, even in this land of freedom and tolerance, who have strongly anti-Semitic leanings. Because an unequivocal statement would make clear to that significant minority of Catholics who are anti-Semitic in their thinking that they are in error.”
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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.
