Friday, June 17, 2005
Anti-semetic saints?
A brilliant scholar and social activist, Leon Dehon was the founder of the priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus-- now popularly known as the Dehonians. Although he had clashed occasionally with Church authorities during his lifetime, and accusations of anti-Semitism had been lodged against him in the past, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints found, after careful investigation, that he had conducted a life of "heroic virtue," and in April 2004 a miracle attributed to his intercession was approved by Pope John Paul II.
It was only in February of this year that French Church officials discovered a document in which Dehon referred to a Jewish "thirst for gold," and said that the Jewish people "have Christ for an enemy." He went on to charge that Jews control the financial world, the press, and public education. Alarmed by these statements, the French bishops asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to examine Dehon's writings.
Pope Benedict reportedly decided early in June to reopen the investigation. The members of the special commission formed for that project reportedly include two French prelates-- Cardinals Paul Poupard and Roger Etchegaray-- Cardinal Georges Cottier, the theologian of the papal household, and Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
It was only in February of this year that French Church officials discovered a document in which Dehon referred to a Jewish "thirst for gold," and said that the Jewish people "have Christ for an enemy." He went on to charge that Jews control the financial world, the press, and public education. Alarmed by these statements, the French bishops asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to examine Dehon's writings.
Pope Benedict reportedly decided early in June to reopen the investigation. The members of the special commission formed for that project reportedly include two French prelates-- Cardinals Paul Poupard and Roger Etchegaray-- Cardinal Georges Cottier, the theologian of the papal household, and Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
