Jewish Leaders Join Others Attending Funeral of Augustin Cardinal Bea in Rome

Jewish leaders joined Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox church and lay leaders here today at the funeral of Augustin Cardinal Bea who died last week at the age of 87. Cardinal Bea was the chief Vatican spokesman for Christian unity and was the architect of the Vatican Ecumenical Council’s Declaration absolving the Jewish people of guilt for the Crucifixion of Christ. Zachariah Schuster, European director of the American Jewish Committee, represented that organization at the rites.

In New York, the American Jewish Congress sent a message to the Vatican expressing “profound sorrow” at the death of Cardinal Bea. The message was sent by Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld of Cleveland, president, and Dr. Joachim Prinz of Newark, N.J., chairman of the AJ Congress’ Commission on International Affairs. Addressed to Amleto Cardinal Cicognani, Vatican Secretary of State, the cable said, “Cardinal Bea…over a period of many decades dedicated himself to the promotion of a better relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people and…was one of the main architects of the important pronouncements that were issued by the Vatican Council. To all men of every religious creed, he was a symbol of the true ecumenical spirit and set an example for all of us. His memory will remain honored and blessed amongst the Jewish people all over the world.”

(In Buenos Aires, the Latin American Executive of the World Jewish Congress sent a letter of condolence today to the Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Umberto Mozzoni, on the death of Cardinal Bea. The WJ Congress also cabled a message of sympathy to the Royal Spanish Academy on the death of its life president, Ramon Menendez Pidal, long friendly to the Jewish people. Senor Pidal had contributed to the elimination of many idioms and terms offensive to Jews from Spanish dictionaries.)