Page Seventeen THE JEWISH NEWS Friday, July 5, 1946 Clergy Preach Anti-Semitism In Hungary BUDAPEST, (JTA)—A violently anti-Semitic sermon delivered from the pulpit of the Franciscan Church in Buda, largest Roman Catholic parish in Hungary, spotlights the role of some of the clergy in the rising tide of anti-Semit- ism in this country. In the sermon it was charged that the Jews are responsible for the deplorable economic situ- ation here; that Jews hold most of the important government jobs; that Jews are profiteering from the peoples' misery and that reports of Jewish sufferings dur- ing the war have been exagger- ated. Reports that similar sermons are being preached throughout Hungary by Catholic priests are disturbing both government of- ficials and Jewish circles. Catholic sources decline to be quoted, but by and large many of them seem to sincerely believe the charges against the Jews Although some members of the Catholic hierarchy, such as the Bishop of Szeged, are attempting to combat this trend, other high Church circles are leanding en- couragement to anti-Semitic ele- ments among the clergy, reports indicate. The basis of this clerical anti- Semitism is the Church's hatred for the government. The Church has made no secret of the fact that it resents the land reform laws which have deprived it of vast holdings. In the struggle to retain its wealth and its power, the Church is striking back by attacking what it considers the govern- ment's vulnerable spot—the fact that a number of Hungarian Communist leaders are Jews. Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty stubbornly believes that these Jewish Communists are solely responsible for the Church's dif- ficulties. Actually the official Jewish community, which is largely non-Communist, h a s 'absolutely no influence on the Jewish Communists and it is somewhat frightened to find it- self once again being • made a scapegoat. • 11,.< Firci a CA, anh a ri di e Contract As.sures Plen A.X2 •PitE' , Iletnit 2 CAN, TSt3dS1220, as Gas to Be ncler groutici in De 1. fVit-2