Arabs Fight Vatican on Jewish Schema
(Continued from Page 1)
of state. A Catholic of the Maron-
ite rite, he served in 1958 as Le-
banon's Ambassador to the Holy
See.
(Israel's Catholic prelates took
a strong stand in support of the
action taken in Rome in the
schema on the Jews. negating the
attiude of anti-Jewish and anti-
Israeli Catholics and Moslems in
A Tab countries.)
Cardinal Bea Refutes
Arab Interpretation of
Vatican Statement on Jews
ROME (JTA) — Augustin Car-
dinal Bea, who had guided the re-
cent Ecumenical Council's declara-
tion on the Catholic Church's re-
lations with the• Jewish people to
successful approval by an over-
whelming vote, declared that any
political interpretation of the
document would be "arbitrary and
distorted" and constitute "a tra-
vesty of the Council's intention."
Cardinal Bea made his statement
in a front-page article in Osser-
vatore Romano, official organ of
the Vatican. The Bea article fol-
lowed Arab attacks against the
declaration, and was apparently
provoked by those political re-
criminations.
Recalling that the declaration.
which dealt with the Church's re-
lations with all non-Christian reli-
gions, not only with Jews but also
with Hindus, Moslems and Budd-
hists, to which "obviously no poli-
tical meaning" can be attached. he
said the section on the Jewish
people also excludes any political
interpretation. The section, he
noted, treated, in fact, only the
relation existing between the reli-
gion of the Old Testament and the
Christian religion, as well as the
religious future of the Jewish
people according to doctrine.
Neither, he continued, is the
question of the guilt of those
who took active part in the con-
demnation of Jesus touched ex-
plicitly, and it is only affirmed
that such condemnation cannot
be attributed to the 4.000,000
Jews who, in that time. lived out-
side Palestine, and so much less
to the Jews of our time. The
pastoral consequences of these
facts concern exclusively the
religious field, he maintained.
"After all these cautious and
objective measures and declara-
tions, one can reasonably hope
that the declaration will be right-
ly interpreted and serenely evalu-
ated, and that all echoes regard-
ing political aims and intentions
would disappear," Cardinal Bea
wrote. He emphasized that "the
Council's intentions, and the coun-
ciliary document inspired by mo-
tives of truth, justice and Chris-
tian charity are obviously in full
accord with the Gospel, and
should not be misrepresented. It
is a religious question through
which the Council intended only
to advance peace everywhere and
further hopes that religion will
not be abused in order to justify
political diicrimination and pre-
judice."
The Catholic world has re-
and "almost
acted favorably
unanimously" to the recent Ecu-
menical Council's adoption of
the declaration absovling Jewry
of deicide and condemning anti-
Semitism, according to the re-
sults of a survey made public
by Civilta Cattolica. The periodi-
cal, issued by the Jesuit fathers,
is one of the most authoritative
publications in the Catholic
world.
Civilta Cattolica also attached
great significance to the reactions
to the Council declaration by
Jews, emphasizing especially the
fact that 13 American Jewish or-
ganizations — cutting across the
Orthodox. Conservative and Re-
form branches of U.S. Judaism —
had joined in endorsing the Ecu-
menical Council declaration in
spite of "the diverse tendencies
among these organizations, which
at times are opposed one to an-
other."
The large Ecumenical Council
vote in favor of the declaration,
exceeding more than two-thirds of
all who voted, the journal pointed
out, "confuted some of the imme-
diate Arab reactions" to Augustin
Cardinal Bea's presentation of the
declaration. Civilta Cattolica noted
that some of the Arab bishops had
claimed that "only Cardinal Bea
sponsors this cause, unsupported
by any other Council members."
That view, the Jesuit organ stress-
ed, was "an obvious alteration of
the truth."
In 20 pages of texts, Civilta Cat-
tolica analyzed many of the 35 in-
terventions on this question by
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prominent bishops, and laid spe-
cial emphasis on the fact that the
majority of the American car-
dinals and other bishops "were
almost unanimous in their deci-
sion to support the declarations on
Jews and on religious liberty."
Only some Catholic circles,
"among limited sectors," stated
the periodical, failed to approve
purging mankind of deep-lodged
hatred which brought upon the
Jewish people renewed oppres-
sion. abasement and fiery furnaces
of death and, at the same time,
caused great numbers of men pro-
fessing to be Christians to lose
the image of God."
The bishops also visited the
"holocaust cellar," atop Mount
Zion, where graphic exhibits il-
lustrate the manner in which
millions of Jews were annihi-
lated during World War H. The
prelates participated in candle
lighting rites commemorating
the Jewish martyrs of the holo-
caust. Later they visited the
Hebrew University, and paid
their respects to Dr. Zorach
Warhaftig, Israel's Minister of
Religious Affairs.
olic Church declaration absolving
the Jews of the charge of deicide
—and lauding "the dedicated lead-
ership" at the Council of Paul-
Emile Cardinal Leger, archbishop
of Montreal—was issued by the
executive committee of the Cana-
dian Jewish Congress.
The CJC noted that Cardinal
Leger's "spirit of liberalism, in
concert with like-minded collea-
gues from other parts of the
world," had influenced the Coun-
cil's adoption of the declaration.
"Jews of the world," the CJC exe-
cutive stated, "note with satisfac-
tion the action of the Ecumenical
Council. Upon promulgation of the
the declaration on Jews.
These were called by the jour-
nal "isolated expressions of cer-
tain extremist groups whose libels
and pamphlets repeat stale anti-
Semitic arguments with exasperat-
ing monotony, distributed to the
counciliary fathers without any
declaration, the Catholic Church
respect for their intelligence and
will have made an historic contri-
common sense." A footnote identi-
bution to the advancement of har-
fied some of the sources of this
monious . relations among the
hate material as "discordant voices
The group of visiting bishops peoples of the great faiths, will
in Orthodox Syrian quarters,
whose reasons are well under- also brought to Shazar a souvenir mark the continuation of a process
stood."
album illustrating Pope Paul's that will contribute to the effec-
visit to the Holy Land last Janu- tive elimination of anti-Semitism,
Shazar Receives Visiting
ary. The album, autographed by and will lead to better under-
Bishops; Lauds Vatican
Declaration on Jews
the Pontiff, contains the Hebrew standing among all peoples."
JERUSALEM (JTA)—President texts of two addresses made on Austrian Jewish Community
Zalman Shazar told a group of that occasion by President Sha- Lands Ecumenical Council
VIENNA (JTA) — Ernst Felds-
Catholic prelates at his home here zar, as well as the farewell address
that the Ecumenical Council's to Israel delivered by Pope Paul berg, president of the Austrian
Jewish community, said the vote
adoption of the declaration on re- VI.
of the Ecumenical Council for the
lations with the Jewish people Canadian Jewish Congress
declaration against anti-Semitism
constituted "a daring and purify- Hails Vatican Statement
MONTREAL (JTA) — A state- ' had eliminated one of the key
ing pronouncement." Thirty-four
bishops. all of them coming here ment hailing "with satisfaction" bases for aggressive anti-Semitism.
for a visit after the conclusion of he adoption on first reading at
the last session of the Ecumenical • the recently concluded Ecumenical! THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Council in the Vatican, visited Council in the Vatican of the Cath- 6—Friday, December 4, 1964
President Shazar at his home for
a reception by Israel's Chief of
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State.
Hailing the Council's adoption
of the declaration, which would
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clear the Jewish people of the
Members New York Stock Exchange
charge of deicide, and at the same
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time condemn anti-Semitism. Sha-
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zar told the prelates that the Cath-
olic Church statement "explicitly
forbids hatred of Jews and abro-
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gates the ancient accusation for I
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but which drenched my people's
history with blood."
EARL ORR'S
Noting that the Church docu-
ment is yet to receive final ap-
proval at the next session of the
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Ecumenical Council, after which
it is to be promulgated as formal
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