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"We are unable to favor this movement [of Zionism]. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we could never sanction it. The ground of Jerusalem, if it were not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot answer you otherwise. The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people."

January 26, 1904 diary entry of Theodor Herzl (founder of political Zionism), who had managed to obtain an audience with Pope Pius X the previous day. Herzl made a 5 year (unsuccessful) tour of European courts/leaders - in an effort to gain support for his cause. In 1904, after years of illness, the Jew Herzl died a broken and disappointed man at the age of forty-four. His wife died three years later. Two of his 3 children committed suicide. His only grandchild committed suicide.

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