•er."4.;;;44, 24 Friday, March 2, 1919 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS ge wirwrommei til, Revision of Italy's Religious Concordat Faces Problems If the present government, crisis degenerates into a call for premature general elec- ROME (JTA) — The 50th tions, the evening-out of dif- anniversary of the signing ferences will take even of the Italian Church-State longer than now expected. Concordat (incorporated Several of the controversies into the Constitution in directly or indirectly in- Highest dollars paid 1947) was greeted last week volve the interests of Italian for your diamonds, with as much contention as Jewry. One is the recogni- gold or antique celebration. tion of Roman Catholicism jewelry!!! The fourth draft of the as the official state religion Licensed by Concordat's revision, re- St.tte of Michi.tn in Italy as decreed by the leased late last week, drawn CALL FOR 1929 Concordat. up by a special committee of APPOINTMENT The Italian Senate experts designated by the 851-7333 suggested the elimina- Italian Parliament, shows tion of this concept. But evidence of Catholic forces while the third draft of retreating back into self- protective positions that - the revision stated, "The principle of Catholicism have already mobilized sec- being the state religion of ular political groups. Italy is no longer to be considered binding," the fourth draft softened the statement into, "The recognition of-the princi- ple ... is no longer to be considered binding." Lost Weight? Requests in the "note" to Gained Weight? the special committee for the Concordat by the Union If it cloesri't of Italian Jewish Com- fit, We'll take care of it. munities, are aimed mostly at attaining a new demo- HARRY THOMAS cratic equality of all reli- FINE MEN'S CLOTHING FOR 43 YEARS gions before Italian law. 24750 Telegraph at 10 Mlle The special status of Roman Next to Dunkin' Donuts Catholicism in Italy has Daily to 6 Thurs. to 8 Sun. 11-4 created many situations of uneven treatment. For example: At present, crimes against Catholicism and its institutions are Sheldon Kay Productions Presents punishable by law while similar crimes against Judaism and its institutions are not. Another bone of contention is the teaching of Friday, March 16 8:00 p.m. religion in the school sys- tem. The 1929 Concordat BAY POINT COUNTRY CLUB considered the inculcation 4001 Haggerty Rd., West Bloomfield of Catholic doctrine to be "the crowning aim" of pub- Admission Price INCLUDES BUDDY'S PIZZA lic educaticin. CASH BAR 21 & UP Contesting this notion, the Italian Senate re- Take Northwestern to Orchard lake Rd. Make a quested the Concordat rigid — go to Maple Rd. (15 Mile) and make a committee to change the L. PV.Pd'ZIGd. : lett. Go past Jewish Cuter to Haggerty Rd. -- status of religion in the pub- rP.'1"1 make a right. Go will on Haggerty past 3GG lic school curriculum from 4 Podiac Trail to the ad where oar HAES a) "compulsory" to "volun- driveway begin tary." But again, the fourth FOR FURTHER INFOR CALL 355-1500 draft of the revision falls EASH 111 FOR dEWELS By LISA PALMIERI BILLIG MI . , • Voitatoit• • , ALTERATION HEADQUARTERS SPRING FEVER DISCO • NAP, (/3,1tE THE, CULTURAL COMMISSION OF CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM Presents the first American sour of The Number One "Religious Rock" Band In Israel "THE DIASPORA YESHIVA BAND" 8 P.M. Sun., Mar. 11th at Congregation Beth Shalom 14601 W. Lincoln Rd., Oak Park $3.00 charge for students through High School & Senior Citizens. $ 5.00 charge for all others (general admission). Tickets may be obtained at the synagogue — phone 547..7970 back to the position of reli- gion as a "required" subject, offering the possibility, however, of students being excused on request, as in the past. A third matter bearing directly on the future of,. Jewish institutions in Italy is the effect of a law passed in 1975 aimed at the transferral of all reli- gious public welfare in- stitutions to the local regional governments in Italy. This law was amended in 1977 to exclude institutions sponsoring "activity inher- ent to the religious- educationaLsphere." The 27 Jewish institutions spread throughout Italy (schools, nurseries, hospitals, social work agencies, orphanages, Old age homes and social centers) caring for the needs of Italy's 40,000 Jews, and 35 percent of the much more numerous Catholic institu- tions received exemption from a hand-over to the state, on this basis. But in the present politi- cal climate, sections of the Socialist and Communist parties have objected to these exemptions. The regional administration of Piedmont has filed a law- suit against Jewish welfare institutions in the cities of the region (Turin, Vercelli, Casale and Aless. andria), and the Jewish nursery school of Rome, challenging the qualifications that entitle them to remain under Jewish management. To illustrate the "Re- ligious-educationsl func- tion of its institutions, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities originally pointed out the special Jewish requirements for kosher food, Sabbath and Jewish holiday observance, the teaching and obser- vance of Jewish history, law and tradition. Reminded of this, Socialist Party leaders replied by assuring Ita- lian Jewry that the case will not be officially pur- sued by the party. But to date the lawsuit has not been withdrawn. If it is not activated within two years, however, it auto- matically expires. Other demands of Italian Jewry's "note" to the Con- cordat committee, which will be up for discussion, in- chide the possibility (now lacking) for rabbis to offer religious assistance in hos- pitals, prisons and in the army. Presently only Catholic priests may of- ficiate in these public places. _ Italian Jews have also re- quested the transferral of the Jewish catacombs in Italy from Catholic jurisdic- tion to the Italian govern- ment as a first step for sub- sequent management by an international Jewish body such as the Heritage Corn- mittee of the World Jewish Congress which recently made a preliminary survey of the situation. Italian Jews are asking further that marriage legis- lation be revised to validate Jewish wedding ceremonies and place them on a par with Catholic weddings. At present, the rites of Catholic priests are legally binding while weddings officiated over by rabbis are consid- ered incomplete, requiring additional authorization by the Italian government. Sadat Seeks U.S. Armaments for Policeman's Role in M.E. WASHINGTON (JTA) — - President Carter reacted favorably last week to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's expressed aspira- tion to serve as the guardian of Western -interests in North Africa and the Mid- dle East. Although he said he was not immediately endorsing those ambitions, he observed that Egypt "can be a legitimate stabilizing force." Carter made his remarks in response to question's during a surprise appear- ance before the annual Na- tional Foreign Policy Con- ference for editors and broadcasters at the State Department. They followed Sadat's as- sertions to Defense Secre- tary Harold Brown in Cairo that he needed American military equipment in vast quantities to fill the role of the area's keeper of the peace. The President pointed out that Egypt has five divisions in Sinai, east of 'the Suez Canal, which, if withdrawn as the result of a settlement with Is- rael, "would mean these divisions would be avail- able" to protect Arab countries. He said that "any nation that would threaten to attack an-. other Middle Eastern nation would face, the threat that these (Egyp- tian) forces would be used to protect the peace." "Egypt is very powerful in the Arab world. They can be a legitimate stabilizing force," Carter said. "The potential is there for Egypt to help to protect other rela- tively defenseless Arab countries and preserve the peace in the Middle East." Ifowever, the President.. said he would not, at least immediately, endorse Sadat's request for the vast arms program he outlined to Brown or Sadat's vision as a "policeman" in the area within Egypt's sphere of influence. "I can't comment, of course, on any nation being a policeman. That would be a very serious mis- take," Carter said. The President said that the U.S. receives many re- quests for economic and military assistance "in ex- cess of what our nation can provide." He noted that Is- rael and Egypt are the two largest recipients of Ameri- can assistance and in that respect Sadat's requests would not be "unique." Carter praised Sadat for demonstrating in a very dramatic way his peaceful intentions toward Israel. In this connection, he noted the Egyptian President's trip to Jerusalem in Novem- ber, 1977 and his partici- pation in the Camp David summit conference last September as proof of his good intentions. Asked if the U.S. was suf- ficiently pressing Jordan and Saudi Arabia to support the Camp David formulas, Carter said "We have ap- proached the limits of legitimate influence and pressure — probably — on countries in that region in support of Camp David." He referred to Brown's visits to Saudi Arabia and Jordan to seek support for the Camp David negotia- tions. He observed that the Camp David formulas "are a very firm and well advised foundation" for the peace process in the Middle East. According to the Penta- gon officials, Egypt requires billions of dollars of modern weaponry, including up to 300 F-16 warplanes, hun- dreds of tanks, short range tactical missiles and other artillery, and thousands of armed personnel carriers and other vehicles. Meanwhile, the White House disclosed that the United States is sending a military mission to Egypt to survey "in detail" Egypt's requirements for improve- ments in her armaments. Greek Orthodox Body Hits Sharon TEL AVIV (JTA) — A Nazareth-based Greek Or- thodox newspaper has strongly' attacked Agricul- ture Minister Ariel Sharon, the first such attack by-that community on an Israeli minister. In an article on the prob- lem of Ikrit and Biram, the Arab-language newspaper, El Rabita, called Sharon an ardent Arab hater and re- ferred to Jewish settlers as foreign settlers. Sharon is head of a ministerial committee which has recommended against allowing the former residents of Ikrit and Biram to return to the two villages near the Lebanese border from which they were evicted in 1948. El Rabita declared that allowing Sharon to head the committee was shameful. Arabs Detained TEL AVIV (JTA) — Four Arabs from Idna village near Hebron have been de- tained by police as suspects in the vandalizing of tombstones at the Kiryat Gat Cemetery.