“This is supposed to contain everything Lincoln ever wrote or said,” McCall turned to the index volume. “Now look for Catholic. Now try Rome. Now try Pope. Now try Papacy.”
Robert looked. There was nothing. There were two short letters in which Lincoln repudiated rumors that he belonged to the Know Nothing party. Nothing about Rome or the Pope or Catholicism.
“If you can find any such statement by Lincoln in any authenticated work in the Chicago Public Library, in any library, or in any original document, I’ll believe you,” said McCall.
“No, that’s unnecessary,” said Robert. “It’s a standard work. It would be of such tremendous importance, any statement like that, that it would undoubtedly appear in any standard collection of letters and addresses. It would be of such importance that it would appear in our histories. No, you’re right, Bill.” There was a lump in his throat. “Can you forgive me? I am——”
“No, you won’t resign yet,” said McCall, “there are certain lies about the Jews. Father Callahan could probably answer most of them, I could answer some, but I am going to take you to Levin’s. Levin’s father is a rabbi.”
“No,” said Robert, “it’s not necessary.”
“Yes, you’re going.”
“Of course, there is one thing,” broke in the priest with a smile, “there is no one body that represents the Jews as the Holy See represents Catholicism. There are Zionist Jews and anti-Zionist Jews, orthodox and reformed, German and Russian and Polish and Hungarian and English. There is no one conference that all the rabbis attend. In other words, the Jews are not a unit as the Catholics are. I could point out what the Baltimore council said, and that meant the official attitude of the Catholic church. There is no such official office of the Jews. There is no Jewish pope, in other words, who could state the position of all Jews about anything. Take the ridiculous charge that they plan the overthrow of all governments. Every Jew would deny it, but there is no central Jewish authority that you could consult.”
“That’s all right, father,” said McCall. “Levin’s father is one of the orthodox rabbis. He still wears a skull cap. He still keeps the old dietary rules. He is a Zionist. He belongs to a lodge that represents the most Jewish of the Jews of Chicago. If he can’t tell you what Jews are thinking about and what their ideas and ideals are, nobody else can.”
The priest shook hands with them, made a passing allusion to the joy that attends the recovery of one sheep that has strayed from the fold, and invited them to come again.