Newspaper Page Text
T"he Southern Israelite
Page 5
Restricting The Jewish Faith In Italy
By G. SACERDOTI
;<• effect of the concordat be-
„ the ratican and the Italian
v has had some rather strik-
iituf comparatively unknown
;ults for the Jexvs of Italy,
motion, religion and social
<• for the Italian Jews have all
■red a change, a significant
tuic as a result of the new
tus of the Vatican. This
hie explains what these
noes have been and hoiv they
come about.—Editor.
( days when there was a Dem-
(lovcrnment in Italy it never oc-
<1 tu anyone to think what the other
religion might be. The student in
the soldier in the barracks and
n and maid about to marry were
a»ked what their religious convic-
The Church was entirely
e from the State. For that reason
rriage ceremony performed in
h had no civil validity, and for that
u no religious instruction was ever
n the State schools. Religion was
>rivate concern, and no one ever thought
j*>king his nose into it.
t was why the Italian Government
days never bothered about the
of the Jewish Communities, or the
labbi'. or the Jewish schools and their
(1 means of existence. Some Jew-
innuinities in certain provinces like
out and Tuscany obtained permis-
om the Government in 1857 to im-
mmunal taxation upon all the Jews
n their locality. Rut when a Jew-
imunity in the north of Italy once
"f the time, di Freitis, that this privilege
ted to the Liberal Prime Minister
apply also to the other Jewish
unties in Italy, the Prime Minis-
' r * P1 y was that it would be advisable
>e Jews to drop the subject, because
>e he would be compelled to abol-
existing privilege enjoyed by those
,n >lar Jewish communities,
h the conclusion of the Concordat
i Mussolini’s Government and the
n. a complete change has come over
nation. As soon as the Concordat
ncluded in February 1929, it be-
!<ar that the Italian Government
have to make an alteration in its
1,1 >t only towards the Catholic
hut also towards the other faiths.
y great distinction, between the
<-nt of the various religious com-
of the country, could last for
And, indeed, on June 24th, 1929,
nate enacted a law regulating the
:1 ot those religious communities
are recognized by the State and
validity to the religious marriage
"nies performed by the clergymen
respective faiths. The complete
x - : this law has only just been pub-
i so there is a Special Committee
"uig which is engaged in complet-
' Ira ft of a specific law regulating
e -ition of the Jewish Communities.
~ die members of this Commission
)r Sacerdoti, the Chief Rabbi of
Advocate Sereni, the President of
tion of Jewish Communities in
, and Dr. di Falco, Professor of
Law at Milan University. The
decree which has now been pub
lished, embraces all the non-Catholic
faiths, and, of course, also the Jewish
faith. A study of the decree shows that
while in certain respects the non-Catholic
faiths are being better treated than pre
viously', in other respects, however, cer
tain restrictions are introduced in their
case, which do not apply in the case of
the Catholic faith.
T he Constitution which was promul
gated by King Charles Albert of Pied
mont in 1848 and which is still valid in
Italy', says that “the Catholic Apostolic
Roman Faith is tolerated.” The first
Article of the new law states: Faiths
other than the Catholic Apostolic Roman
Faith are permitted in the Kingdom of
Italy, in so far as they do not pursue
principles or customs which arc contrary
to public order or good conduct.
In its style, too, the new law makes
an advance in comparison with the old.
The Jewish faith is no longer “tolerated,”
but “permitted”—that is to say, recog
nized. Without going into any lengthy
examination of the reasons prompting the
change, one feels that there is a more
sympathetic ring about the new phrasing.
But the new decree also introduces a
number of restrictions in respect of the
Jewish Communities. There is an unpleas
ant surprise, for instance, in the very
first Article of the I^aw. Before a syn
agogue or Beth Hamidrash may be built,
the Rabbi, whose appointment must have
This sketchy survey of the
Jexvs of Irealnd, (there arc
nearly 10,000 of them there) is
by a former Irish newspaper
man, himself a non-Jew, now
resident in the United States.
Mr. Bruen traces briefly the
origin of the Irish Jexvs ami
shows Xi'hat their progressive
business tendencies are doing
for the ancient home of St.
Patrick and his traditional
snakes.—Editor.
A recent political upheaval in Ire
land caused far more anxiety to Irish
men thousands of miles from the Em
erald Isle than to those in Dublin or
Cork. Irish-Jewry in particular, inter
ested mainly in the educational, com
mercial and industrial progress of the
nation, suffered no twinges of uncer
tainty and things moved along with it
smoothly until Cosgrave was re-elected.
The explanation for this placidity at
home is to be found in the fact that
the great majority of the people of
Ireland have deserted political myths
for the substantial industrial and com
mercial growth promised by the com
pletion of the Shannon power scheme.
No little responsibility in bringing
about this condition is shared by the
Jewish industrialists of Ireland, who
been approved by the Government, must
apply to the Minister of Public Worship
and submit documents to prove that the
projected synagogue is really necessary,
and that there are sufficient members and
funds to maintain it. The synagogue
must not be built until permission has
been given in the form of a Royal De
cree. When the Synagogue has already
been built, however, its members, enjoy
the same rights as the Catholics in their
churches.
It has been said that the application
must be made by the Rabbi, whose ap
pointment must have been approved by
the State. The new law provides that the
appointment of a Rabbi must be ap
proved by the Minister of Public Wor
ship. The approval is made dependent on
several conditions, one of which is of con
siderable difficulty. It is that every Rabbi
must be an Italian citizen. It is true
that the same condition applies to the
Catholic clergy, but when we recall the
present condition of Italian Jewry, and
the terrible shortage of Rabbis in Italy,
we realize what a grave situation is
created by this restriction.
One of the greatest gains secured by
the Catholic Church as a result of the
Concordat is in the matter of religious
marriages. Hitherto religious marriages
performed in Italy had no validity in civil
law. Henceforth religious marriages will
be valid in civil law, whether performed
have put this new power to work. In
many a Free State town today, one suf
fering from a calm that was only the
peacefulness of death and desolation,
the dizzy hum of mill and shop spur
ring the people to spread their inter
ests instead of depending entirely on
agrarian possibilities. In addition to
the Jewish industrialists, Jewish work
ers, trained in English manufacturing
centers, arc prominent in the Irish la
bor movement and have accepted the
responsibilities that membership in this
movement entails as well as the bur
dens thrust upon them by their fellow-
workers.
Some people may think it a paradox
to speak of Jews in connection with
Ireland, but there have been Jews in
the Emerald Isle for more than two
centuries. The bulk of the Jews now
living in Ireland are the descendants
of a group of 150 families who settled
in Belfast in 1846 at the suggestion of
Queen Victoria’s Prince consort, who
saw and admired their industry and in
telligence in his native Germany. It is
in Belfast that the largest community
of Jews in Ireland is located. This
prominent textile settlement of the
world boasts of 1,500 Jewish families.
(Continued on Page 16)
by the clergy of the Catholic Church
or of the other faiths, including the Jew
ish. There is a great difference, how
ever, in the rights given to the Catholic
faith and those given to the other faiths
in the matter of divorce. The Catholic
Church notoriously docs not recognize
divorce. But in certain cases it will
declare a marriage null and void. While
the Catholic clergy have the right to de
clare a marriage null and void, the Rabbis
have no right, however, to grant divorce.
Consequently a Jewish husband and wife
who wish to separate must appear before
the civil court, while a Catholic husband
and wife who wish to separate can obtain
their separation from the Catholic
Church.
There are many other privileges in the
new law in favour of the Catholic
Church which destroy the principle of
equality existing hitherto between the va
rious faiths. All clergymen, of whatever
faith, were hitherto required to do their
military service. The Catholic clergy are
now released from military service, but
the Rabbis arc still required to serve. In
case of general mobilization those Rabbis
who have been approved by the State
may be released from military service if
the Attorney-General finds that their re
ligious ministry is essential. But students
at the Rabbinical shools in Florence, Leg
horn, and Padua are exempt from mili
tary service till the age of 26. In this
regard they enjoy the same privilege as
the students of the Catholic theological
seminaries.
Perhaps the most serious and far-reach
ing change, however; has been made in
the matter of education in the schools.
Before the conclusion of the Concordat
the schools in Italy were secular schools,
with a specified number of hours set
apart for religious instruction. Now all
the schools have been brought under the
direct influence of the Catholic Church,
which extends to every branch of the
curriculum. In history and literature, for
example, the Catholic element is always
emphasized in such a way that in practice
the effect is to impregnate the children,
the Jewish children among the rest, with
the spirit of Catholicism. In other words,
Jewish children attending the State
schools are in constant danger of Cath
olic proselytisation. It is true, that
Article 23 of the new law provides that
if there arc a sufficient number of pupils
the Jewish parents may open Jewish
schools of their own, but at their own
expense. Obviously this would not be an
easy matter, and to all practical pur
poses the situation now is such that there
is a grave menace confronting the coming
Jewish generation in Italy.
There is still hope, of course, that the
Special Commission which is now en
gaged in drawing up the Jewish Commu
nity Law will find a way out of this
difficulty, by providing for the establish
ment of Jewish schools, which it will be
possible for the Jews of Italy to main
tain. The members of the Commission
are certainly alive to the danger, and
perhaps the result of their work will be
to remove this menace which at present
looks black for the future of Italian
Jewry.
Copyright 1930 by the J. T. A., Inc.
♦ ♦
The Jews of Ireland
Jewish Industrialists and Business Men of
Ireland Transforming the Emerald Isle Into
Bustling Commercial and Industrial Center
By E. J. BRUEN