In a letter to top Vatican officials released Wednesday, the American Jewish Committee said it was “profoundly” concerned with the Vatican’s decision to move World War II-era Cardinal August Hlond along the path to possible sainthood, saying the Polish primate was “extremely” hostile to Jews and failed to condemn a 1946 pogrom, according to the Associated Press.
AJC’s director of interreligious affairs, Rabbi David Rosen, cited a 1936 pastoral letter Hlond wrote in which he urged Poles to stay away from the “harmful moral influence of Jews” and to boycott Jewish media. Hlond was the highest ranking Church official in Poland from 1926 to 1948, While living in exile during World War II, he used his influence and personal contacts to speak to the world about Poland’s plight under Nazi occupation. When the Germans arrested him, he refused an offer to form a collaborative government.