Amici Israel
It was true that Pius XI had spoken out against anti-Semitism in 1928, but he had done so after banning a group in the Church that worked for improved relations between Catholics and Jews . (John Connelly writes (pp.96-97):
This group, formed in 1925 by two Dutch priests and the Dutch convert Maria Francesca Van Leer, called itself “Amici Israel,” and demanded an end to affronts to Jews, such as the Good Friday prayer that called them “perfidious.” By 1928, this association counted as members several thousand priests around the globe, including nineteen cardinals. Its strength alarmed members of the Holy Office, and the recommended suppression. Pius XI followed the recommendation, but then appended a condemnation of anti-Semitism in order not to seem anti-Semitic. The public was told only that the group had “adopted a manner of acting and thinking that is contrary to the sense and spirit of…
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