Evening star., 1949-12-24

UfterS No 10IufI0n
For Church Disunity
The Rt. Rev. Angus Dun, Epis-
copal Bishop of Washington, said
today that the Christmas message
of Pope Plus XII urging all faiths
to unite under the Roman Catholic
Church does not offer solution
to our unhappy separation"
Unity of all Christians against
militant advances of atheism is q
goal in (which all of us must share
in hope and prayer Bishop Dur
declared. But he added that such
unity of Christian faiths could not
be achieved at the cost OF "capitu-
lation."
IT see no likelihood whatever,
he commented, that the solution
of our unhappy separation is likely
to come by the capitulation OF
many of us to what seems to us
to be presumptuous claims.
"It is too evident that Christ
constantly finds men and is found
by men quite across the lines Of
our divisions. The solution must
lie in the bringing together OF our
separate treasures into a greater
and roomier church than we have
yet imagined"
Archbishop Speaks Tonight.
Most leading Protestant and
Jewish spokesmen throughout the
country were silent or expressed
disapproval of the Pope's plea for
unity under the Catholic Church
Some agreed with the Pope that
there is need for reinvigorated
religion in the world.
The Most Rev. Patrick A
O,Boyle. Catholic Archbishop OF
Washington, has made no COM
ment as yet on the Pope's message
in an annual Christmas message
yesterday to the world on the eve
of the 1850 Holy Year. A chan
Gerry Office spokesman said the
Archbishop might comment in the
course of expected discourse at the
midnight mass tonight at St
Matthews Cathedral.
The Very Rev. James E. Cowhig
Chancellor of the Catholic Arch
diocese of Washington, regarded
the Pope's message as "a plea fol
a moral union of all Christians
against Communism"
'"The plea for unity of faith is
the age-old plea that dissident
members of the Christian faith
return to the Catholic church," he
explained.
Pope's craftsmanship Praised.
Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld o1
the Washington Hebrew Congre.
cation hailed the Pope's stand
against atheism as great states
manship" in the face of a com
mon evil' that confronts Jews and
Christians.
THE Pope's message is another
example of his great statesman
ship in recognizing that the prob
lem which forms one phase OF
the Judaic-C Christian tradition is
a challenge to all. We face the
same evils and require the same
spiritual courage if we are to
achieve the kind of world fol-
which we all pray"
DR.. Julius Mark of New York
City, senior rabbi of the country's
largest Jewish congregation. the
Temple Emanuel, indorsed the
Pope's call for a religious re-
newal." but he said this will not
"be achieved by every one joining
the Roman Catholic or any other
one church."
He added that 1--WE do not re-
gard our or any religious COM
munion as the one true church. -
Every church dedicated to the
service of God and man is a true
church, he said.
The Federal Council of Churches
representing q Protestant ano
Eastern orthodox communions
with total of 28,000,000 mem
bers, refused to comment.
Luther's Protest Recalled.
DR.. John w. Behnken, president
of the Lutheran Church. Missouri
Synod, largest body in American
Lutherism, said there can be nc
return to a church which claims
to take the place of Christ, anG
whose leader claims to be the vical
of Christ"
1T saddens us that the Pope
refers to us believing Protestants
as children who abandoned us
offended us. made us and are
making us to suffer-" DR.. Behn.
ken said. 1T saddens us, too
that the Roman Church has
maintained and even augmented
the abuses of Christ's teaching
which forced Martin Luther tt
protest in his day, and forces us
to protest in ours"
The Right Rev. Charles K. Gil.
bert. Protestant Episcopal Bishop
of New York, said he had nc
comment on the Pope's address
as did Bishop G. Bromley OK.
nam of the New York area of tn,
Methodist Church.
In England, a spokesman fol
the Archbishop of Canterbury
who heads the Church of Eng.
land, said that from previous re-
jections of similar appeals by tn,
Pope "our attitude is plain"
will R. Swetnam Dies
After Collapse al LuraY
Spse;oI Dispo,cb 10 The Stor