Catholics in Palestine

New Zealand Tablet, 27 October 1921, Page 11

Catholics in Palestine

UNJUST PRESS CENSORSHIP. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Monsignor Barlassina, has published a Pastoral Letter, printed in Italian, French, English, and Arabic, dealing with the recent events hi Palestine. After having referred to the Pope's protest in the Consistorial Allocution of June 13, he adds: "The word of the Pope, Beloved Children in Christ, is clear, explicit, and, as usual, faultlessly precise. Yes! a great change has overtaken Palestine. It cannot escape the notice of the most casual observer. Unbecoming modes of dress, unseemly behaviour, amusements that offend against morals, the absence of restraint in many ways, objectionable cinema films, etc., inevitably tend to efface that noble aspect of morality, modesty, and lovable simplicity which was a notable characteristic both of the. Christian and Moslem women of Palestine. "If they whose duty it is to arrest the continuance of such irregularities seem by their inaction to tolerate them, then it belongs to you, Beloved Children in Christ, and to all other upright persons, to stand firm against the wave of a sensual, sceptic, and disastrous modernism. . . "When we see that candid, fair-minded men acknowledge and appreciate the paternal interest of the Pope in the welfare of the poor people of Palestine, not less than his earnest solicitude for the preservation of their inalienable rights, around which is woven a long, edifying history of fervent piety, virtuous life, and forbearance, we are amazed that there should be found malevolent critics who indulge in abusive language against his declarations. As faithful children of the Vicar of Christ, we will not fail to raise Our voice in solemn and emphatic protest, trusting that the English nation, which has the loftiest traditions of liberty and justice, will never allow the religious and civil rights of a whole people to be trampled under foot by the intrigues of the few. Our sorrow is rendered all the more bitter by what seems discrimination as against Catholics. With arbitrary and unaccountable procedure, the censor has refused to allow us to publish the text of the Holy Father's Allocution, which we desired to do, without, however, adding any comment. This attitude on the part of the censorship is all the more inexplicable when it is rememberd that other newspapers published the. same text of the Pope's Allocution. Furthermore, we have in Our possession unquestionable proof that certain Zionist organs were even permitted to level against the Pope epithets of the most injurious and grossly slanderous character, with a view, doubtless, to lessen his prestige and authority. This is an insult which we Catholics feel deeply and keenly resent, and, as it has been circulated unhindered in the public press of Palestine, we deem it our duty to protest. And you, Beloved Children in Christ, will certainly join in that protest, not, indeed/ by unbecoming methods of retaliation, but in a way eminently worthy of the sublime faith you profess, namely, by strengthening your attachment to the Holy See, and intensifying your filial love towards -our Holy Father the Pope, to. whom we offer the sincere homage of our unconditional submission." The facts about which the Patriarch complains in this passage of his Pastoral Letter are the following: While the Catholic periodicals were forbidden to publish even the title "The Pope and Palestine," this was allowed to the Jewish paper Aarez, which on June 20 gave quite an arbitrary interpretation of the Pope's words. That same paper on June 28 denied the words of Benedict XV. on the moral state of Palestine. And worse, the Pin-hay Jewish paper of Jaffa on June 30 was allowed or authorised to write: "The word Justice has become of common use on the lips of Popes, who use it to hide the shame of their actions, and as an efficacious means of deceiving

the populations. . . The Saints of God preached in the churches, creating a national movement inciting to slaughter and to looting, and'conspiring with the devil and With tho Pope!" Now the Patriarch formally declares that nosiest has ever preached anything of the kind, either in church or out of church.