The Catholic times. [volume], October 03, 1952, Image 4

About The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current

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4
THE
CATHOLIC TIMES
Published Every Week by
The Catholic Times, Inc.
Columbus, Ohio
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The Crime Record
Director Edgar Hoover of the Federal Bureau,
of Investigation has released a statement indicating
the steady increase of crime in the United States. It
is expected that the number of major crimes in the
nation during the next year will reach the as
tounding total of over two million. This would
mean that one out of about every seventy-five per
sons would he guilty of some serious offense
against the law.
Possibly the growth in population would some
what reduce Mr. Hoover's announced ratio of in
crease in crime Nevertheless, the situation is still
alarmingly bad and getting worse The solution?
Increased and better methods of detection and law
enforcement, some may say. No doubt this will
help Others may say that some psychiatric and
educational treatment of criminals to prevent repeti
tion of their crimes may help. It is admittedly
not easy to turn criminals into honest men. and es
pecially so in overcrowded prisons with wardens
uho do not and will not understand the men.
Of course, there is the remedy of education, and
the homes, churches and schools arc appealed to.
Parental delinquency is probably one of the great
factors. Broken homes, permitted to become so
by lax and easy divorce laws, is one important con
tributing force. The lack of discipline in the homes
and schools is another. Young people must he
taught to control the emotions if not. the emotions
will carry them away into crime But this is the mod
ern era when children must he cajoled into doing
things which they should do One must not discip
line them With confused parents, a confused world
about them, it is no wonder that the young people
are confused.
It is about time that more and more people come
♦n see that love of God and His abounding grace
is the answer to all crime. If one floes not love God
he cannot love his neighbor. Without the help of
Hu sustaining grace there is no possibility of keep
ing on the path of virtue. Anri there is no true fol
lowing of Christ without taking up His cross and
carrying it in other words, progress in goodness
comes with practice of self denial, with self control
and proper discipline A more sincere return to hum
hie belief in God and a loving obedience to His
law will alone solve the crime problem.
Anti-Bingo Campaign
Mera io Ohio we have seen and experienced the
Miti-brngo campaign to the fullest. Of course, it was
labeled an anti gambling crusade, but the result
desired seemed to be the church bingo parlies The
drive against bingo has been on a nationwide basis
For some years I he forces against it haxe been w ell
organized But it was only recently that the New
York police force took up the cry against bingo.
There too. it is failed gambling with the infer
ence that any and all gambling is sinful.
The anti bingo crusaders in New York aid like
they are in Ohio. The.Nrir York Times said editor
ially "We hope Commissioner Monaghan makes
himself so obnoxious enforcing the gambling laws
that the public opinion finally wakes up to the fact
that these laws need changing. It is a curious cir
cumstance that a citizen can go to the track and,
within that fenced enclo.sure place a bet on a horse
race legally and with the blessing of the state, hut
that same citizen is taking part in an illegal pastime
if he goes to a church hall and indulges in a social
flutter with a drawn card that cost him, perhaps,
a dollar with a good share of the proceeds going
to charity or church purposes 'Hie inconsistency
that permits the slate to take S279.595.472 in rev
enues in eleven years fron pari-mutuel gambling at
the tracks, while at the same time forbidding bingo,
is ridiculously apparent.”
That same can he s*id in Ohio, and around Co
lumbus. Perhaps some of Mayor Rhodes’ people
who went so far as to infiltrate a private church
hingo game and then bring the offenders before the
law could he induced to see the inconsistency of the
situation At any rale, one cannot help but wonder
what has happened to all the crusaders against
church bingo now that it has been stopped Aren’t
they interested in the real high slake camblmg
at the race tracks of Ohio'* Of course this latter
brings in taxes to the powers that he, while church
hingo parties did not 'The situation is most curious.
For World Peace
month the Diocese of olumbus joins with
throughout the world in a mighty prayer
to Our Blessed Mother. Foremost in the
nd hearts of all will be petitions for prate
o whom might these
,ed than to the Virgin
•d by Catholics for
rly history bears out
it is in the hands of
demoted child of Mary in the interests of peace.
I rariition has it that the Rosary was the vic
torious moans used by St
the Albigensian heretics, bringin
mate defeat the battle of Murel in 1213
feast of the Holy Rosary was established by Pope
St. Pius V because oi the signal victory won by
Don John oi Austria over the Turkish fleet at Lc
par to Again, on the occasion of an important vic
lory for Christianity ovei the lurks in Hungary,
the feast of the Holy Rosary was extended to the
Universal Church
Rosary wa
Dominic tn (•inbating
bout their ulti
1 he
In our present time, the world is again iaied
with a crisis. The Church is suffering a more wide
spread persecution than ever before. Free coun
tries are engaged in localized wars which daily
threaten to spread and become a general coni lid.
There can be no compromise between the well de
fined forces ot the free world and Communism
With this in mind. Bishop Ready noted in his
letter to the Diocese last week that “the urgency
of establishing peace among nations and within the
boundaries ot individual states grows daily stronger.
There is no denying, my beloved Brethren that
mere human efforts have proved incapable of
accomplishing this cherished dream of people ev
erywhere. There is one powei that can bring peace
in our time
In these times of stress and dire need the Bishop
would have us remember that the battle is in a
particular way our battle He would have us be
aware of our obligation to the "Body of Christ on
earth,” and be "unceasing in our prayers through
Mary the Queen of Peace
Catholics everywhere are dedicating themselvea
In the daily recitation of the Rosary. They are keep
ing in mind the power of this simple and beautiful
devotion to bring the peace of Christ to the world
through the intercession of His Blessed Mother.
As the Bishop wrote, prayer is the only means
which will insure a victorious peace in the present
world conflict. What better prayer can we offer than
Mary’s own prayer, the prayer of the Queen of
Peace?
United Appeals
This week marks the beginning of the United
Appeals drive which will benefit some. 70 organi
zations in the community. This is the second year
these organizations have agreed to combine forces
and make just one general appeal for funds during
the year.
The community should need no added incentive
beyond the words of Christ, "Whatsoever you do
unto one of these. My least brethren, you do unto
Me,” to insure a hearty and adequate response
to this appeal for funds. To this intent it is well to
recall the real meaning of the word "charity”—
love, and ultimately, love of Christ.
It is the love of Christ as seen in the person
nf our suffering fellow man which should motivate
our generosity in this campaign As Bishop Sheen
said recently: "We need the poor, more than the
poor need us!”
This United Appeal is a unique appeal and it
demands a unique response. Used to a number of
single appeals fnr funds throughout the year, we
must keep in mind that this campaign is taking the
place of all of them and that we have only this
one chance to contribute to their worthy causes.
Jusl Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or Inconsiderate
God makes known truths to us in two ways: by
natural revelation through the justified use of our
thinking mind, and by Supernatural Revelation in
Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition imparted to
us through the living and active teaching office of
His Church. The truths about God that we may
know by thinking things out, that is, by the use of
our reasoning power, constitute natural religion.
The truths of natural religion imply laws for
our conduct. By clear and steady reasoning, even
without Supernatural Revelation, a man can know
that God exists that there is only one God that
God is all holy, ad perfect, all-good, all powerful
that God is infinite, necessary, spiritual that He is
the First Cause and Last Goal of all things. Further,
we can know that we ourselves are special creatures
of God, dowered with understanding and will Out
of such truths comes th knowledge that wp are
meant for God. and that we are therefore to serve
Him in all our thoughts, words, and deeds.
4
Thus natural religion gives us truths, and law s
for our conduct that it may square up to these
truths. '1'he Ten Commandments can he reasoned
out even if they were not snpernaturally revealed,
they could bo l.nov n as the ult of careful thought
and study. That is what St. Paul meant when he said
the pagans were not to he excused for ignoring God,
because they had the law of Gori written "in their
hearts” (i.e., in their understanding).
Natural religion is not enough for man he needs
supernatural religion which comes through Super
natural Revelation Supernatural Revelation, in turn,
presupposes natural revelation, and perfects it and
builds upon it. Even the most wondrous truths of
Supernatural Revelation (such as the truth of the
Holy Trinity, of the Incarnation, of the Real Pres
ence) are in no wise in conflict with natural revela
tion, or with reason which is the human source of
niUural revelation.
Many of the (ruths oi natural religion are also
snpernaturally revealed. For instance, the Ten Coin
rnandments arc the requirements of natural relig
ion. and they are also snpernaturally revealed
God gave them to Moses written upon tablets of
stone, and they are recorded in Holy Scripture The
unity of God. and other divine attributes which man
could know by studious reasoning. are also divenely
revealed. How is this’’ Is it needless duplication of
teaching? No it is not Gori does nothing in vain.
The fact is that while man edw reason out the
truths of natural religion without the aid of Super
natural Revelation, actually he will nol do so. If
these naturally knowable truths arc to serve man,
they must be known quickly, dearly, and accurately
by everyone, for they arc the most important of
truths and must serve Io enlighten and guide man
from the dawn of his reason clear through his life.
Rut all men do not as a tact, know all these truths
clearly, quickly, and accurately from early youth.
Therefore, it is needful that these truths be super
naturally revealed, even though, in themselves, they
are discoverable by human reason alone.
St. Thomas analyses this matter neatly. lie says
that, without Supernatural Revelation, “Not all incn,
in a short time, and without intermingled errors,
would know the truths of the natural religion
Nnt all iiieti, for some men have not the talent for
the serious and sustained study necessary to mam
fest these truths some men have not the taste for
such study, even if they have the talent, and some
men are so completely occupied with the business
of hr* ad w inning that they actually have not the
time to devote to such study.
Not all men would know these truths, nor would
those who devote time and effort to their study
know them in n short time. Yet, as has been said
above, man needs to know these truths from early
youth he needs them as the light and guide of his
life from the dawn of reason onward. But even a
capable and serious mind would require a very long
time to think out the truths of the natural religion
and recognize them as certainly true It would take
years for the work, years during which the truths
studied should be known and followed in the con
duct o( life
Nor would the men who gave long and devoted
study to the discovery of the truths of natural
religion escape all errors in their conclusions How
do we know this'’ The best minds have actually
made such errors and when the best minds have
achieved only partial success in their best efforts,
we can certainly not expect complete success from
ordinary or average minds
Therefore, it man were loll to his own resources
in discovering the truths of natural religion, very
few persons would know' these truths, and they
would know them only after long and involved
studv. and even then the results of that study would
be far from perfect Hence, Supernatural Revela
tion even of truths of natural religion, is far from
unnecessary, far from a needless duplication of
teaching Supernatural Revelation of these truths
is a work of God s great mercy to mankind
It is well for us to realize two things. First, that
the supernaturally revealed truths of our holy Faith
are in harmony with reason, but not dependent upon
its efforts or subjected to its arbitrary decisions.
Second, that we are honored and dignified beyond
measure in having our natural thirst for truth satis
fied by the divinely bestowed gift of Supernatural
Revelation. and our reason glorified by a sure and
certain recognition nf all necessary truths, whether
these lie within reason's own domain or beyond
and above it.
THE CATHOLIC TIMES. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3. 1952
WASHINGTON LETTER
WASHINGTON The stories
of persecution coming from
China indicate that the commun
ists have been particularly reck
less in subjugating that country.
China presented Moscow with
a different problem from the
rest of the countries it has drag
ged behind the iron curtain. Un
like Poland, Hungary, Czecho
slovakia, etc., it is a vast land,
enormously populous and a nus
sionary'territory, from the stand
point of Christianity. There was
no single, or dominant religion,
but many creeds, and the minis
ters w'ere not all natives but
came from many different coun
tries. However, Moscow did not
regard this as an obstacle so
much as an opportunity.
The Reds began to pressure
the people, to rob them of their
liberties, and at the same time
to divert their attention with
cries of "An end to imperialism,”
"Send Hie foreigners home" and
‘‘China for the Chinese.” Il
wasn't long before the coininiin
ists had deprived the Chinese
people of some of their most loy
al and helpful friends—the mis
sionaries.
Thus a political and ideologi
cal system totally foreign to
China communism was forci
bly imposed on the people while
iTIIER HIGGINS
The final
volume of ex
President Her
bert Hoover’s
Mem oils
published on
September 3
under the title
of "The real
De press io n,”—
is being rira
matized by the
publisher as
five hundred pages of ‘po
litical dynamite." The adjec
tive would seem to be more ac
curate than the .ioun Here is a
book dedicated unashamedly to
the familiar proposition that
the so-called New Deal was “an
attempt to crossbreed Socialism,
Fascism, and Free Enterprise
So much for (he presidential
campaign. We have no desire,
nor do we have the right, to be
come involved in this column in
a discussion of partisan politics
Partisan polities is the exclusive
prerogative—and the sacred re
spnnsibility—of the laity. Polit
ical neutrality, on the other
hand, is not synonymous with
neutrality about the basic prin
ciples of Catholic social philos
ophy—principles that will be
just as valid the day after the
forthcoming election, regardless
of who is elected, as they were
the day before.
AH of which brings us back,
with impunity, to Mr Hoover’s
very disappointing autobiography
in which some of these basic
principles of Catholic social phil
osophy are openly contradicted
Anathema to Hoover
Ex-President Hoover seems to
believe that old-style free com
petition should be the guiding
principle of economic life—no
tfs. anris, nr huts about it As
Time magazine says, in a rather
Key To Peace
Reckless Reds In China
they were being distracted with
cries against “foreign cultural
imperialism”—Christianity, The
foreigners from the Kremlin had
taken ovei China with a cam
paign against "foreigners”.
The recklessness of the com
munist campaign was evident in
the indiscriminate way they hurl
ed the charges “imperialist’’. Not
only the American business man,
but the American missionary
was an “imperialist,” The Vat
ican, it was said, ‘‘favored” the
West, and therefore was "imperi
alist.” It continued ridiculous
when they expelled Irish and
Swiss missionaries as part of the
campaign. Soviet Russia more
imperialist than Czarist Russia
ever dreamed of being—certain
ly looked silly accusing the Irish
—arch enemies of imperialism—
with being “imperialist.” It
didn’t look any better reflecting
on Switzerland’s democracy.
Possibly the Chinese commun
ists were conscious of this anom
aly, when they recently ousted
a Swiss Vincentian, the Rev.
Jules Meyrat. The' told the
priest that he was not being
"expelled”, but that he would
have to leave the country in 24
hours.
OI course, the Reds accused
the missionaries of other things.
Contra Catholic Social Thought
friendly review, Mr. Hoover is
a rugged individualist and proud
of it.
This means, among other
things, that the program of social
reconstruction advocated in the
papal encyclicals—the so called
Industry Council Plan—is ana
thema to Mr Hoover, While he
does not specifically mention the
Industry Council Plan, he makes
it abundantly clear that, in his
opinion, any organized system of
regulating economic competition
in the interest of the common
good is by definitior a deadly
form of socialism or fascism.
There is no middle ground, he
says, between the old-style eco
nomic individualism and collecti
vism.
Mr. Homer is entitled Io his
opinion, hut Catholic readers of
his autobiography will vfant to
remember the old style free
competition as this term is un
derstood by Hoover is explicitly
condemned in the social encyclic
als of recent popes. They will
also want to remember that
Pope Pius XII recently charac
terized the Catholic philosophy
of social reconstruction as “a
position midway between the er
rors of liberalism (rugged indi
vidualism) and socialism (collec
tism.j”
Mr. Hoover’s painstaking de
fense of his own presidential ad
ministration would have been
more convincing, to this review
er at least, if his criticism of
succeeding administrations and
his unfriendly references to the
American labor movement were
loss superficial in content, less
partisan in tone
From Poisoned Spring
To say that the NRS was “sheer
fascism” is to do a great dis
service to the cause of truth
To characterize the New Deal u
too “anti-state” activities be
cause they opposed the schis
matic “national church,” and
“reactionary" efforts to establish
units of the Legion of Mary. By
buttressing the charge of “im
perialism” with these added ac
cusations, the Reds admitted that
the former was a phoney.
This all leads to the conclusion
that the communists felt that
they could afford to look incon
sistent, even ridiculous, to the
outside world. It would indicate,
too. that they feel they have
China itself well in hand.
Catholic sources in Hong Kong
say there are about 50 Amer
ican Catholic missionaries in
China. Probably half of these
are in prison or under house
arrest.
There are more than 500 Cath
olic missionaries of various na
tionalities still in China. Many
are in prison and some are un
der house detention. All are
hampered in their missionary
work. The missionaries, particu
larly the Catholics, are among
the last to leave.
There is every indication the
Chinese people are loathe to see
the missionaries leave. The com
munist “foreigners” recklessly
disregard their feelings in tak
ing over their country.
“collectivistic” (a generaliza
tion repeated to the point of
sheer monotony) is to indulge
second rate political rhetoric. To
characterize the Tennessee Val
ley Authority as an “introduction
to socialism" is to insult the in
telligance of anybody who is
even superficially acquainted
with the basic principles of
Christian social philosophy.
To imply that the National La
bor relations Act was unneces
sary because “few people con
tested the right of labor to or
ganize is to fly in the face of
literally thousands of pages of
evidence to the contrary in the
official proceedings of the so
called LaFollette Committee.
To refer to the fact that some
IO unions were once commun
ist dominated, and to terminate
the discussion of this problem
without indicating that these un
ions have long since been ex
pelled from the CIO. is to sug
gest that even an elder states
man will sometimes stoop to con
quer.
Mr. Hoover started out tn
write the definitive apologia for
his own presidential administra
tion This was a very worthy ob
ective tn view «f the fact that
his political enemies have not
always been objective in their
criticism Unfortunately, Mr.
Hoover ends us by writing an
apologia for the philosophy of
unlimited economic competition
from which source, as Pope Pius
XI reminds us. “as from a pois
oned spring, have originated and
spread all the errors of individ
ualistic economic teaching.”
Eor the sake of Mr. Hoover’s
reputation in the annuals of
American history, it were prob
ably better that "The Great De
pression,'’ had never been pub
lished.
INQUIRY CORNER
GRETTA PALMER
Can Divine Tradition
Contradict The Bible?
What is Tradition? What
if it contradicts the Bible
which is right?
A Divine tradition is the
name given to the body of
truths, revealed and taught by
Christ and the Apostles, but not
contained in the Bible Before
our four Gospels and the other
hooks of the New’ Testament
were written, a whole genera
tion of Christians knew the
teachings of Christ through the
preaching of the Apostles. Much
of this teaching was not commit
ted to writing, for it is evident
from the Scriptures that neither
the Evangelists nor St. Paul
meant to write an exhaustive
account of the Faith. Since Tra
dition is revealed truth, clarify
ing and applying the truths of
the Bible, there can be no con
tradiction. The change of the
Lord’s Day to Sunday, infant
baptism, and the contents of the
New Testament were all deter
mined by Tradition Most of this
oral tradition was committed to
writing by the Father of the
Church, and it is this written
record which is meant when the
ologians refer to Tradition.
Q. U heaven is eternal why
does Christ say, ‘‘Heaven and
earth shall pass away
Matthew 24:35)?
A. “but My word shall not pass
away.” Christ continues. From
the whole teaching of Christ we
know that heaven and hell are
eternal. Here he is referring to
the heavens, indicating the disso
lution of heavenly bodies along
with the earth on the Last Day.
The new heaven and new earth
to which He refers has been in
terpreted by many to indicate
that there will be a restoration
of our world after Judgment.
Q. What is the Offertory Pro
cession?
A. This is an ancient custom
in the Church wherein the peo
ple bring gifts to God. including
the bread and wine for the Mass.
As the Offertory Psalm was sung
the procession came to the Offer
tory table and presented the
gifts. During the Middle Ages it
was gradually abandoned, but it
is preserved in the Mass of Can
onization by the Pope and in
some places in Europe In some
few places the people bring the
hosts in procession, but gener
ally it is a symbolic offering of
money or other gifts. The Offer
tory collection at Mass has the
The Earth Story
It the Fly
ing Sau e s
have deposit
ed in our midst
the long ex
pected man
from Mars, he
must have tak
cn some start
ling notes for
the scries of
articles he will
write when, as
Special Correspondent to the
World, he returns to his Mart
ian city room One of the conclu
sions he can hardly escape, after
a little jaunt around this planet,
is the fact that modern man has
fallen intn the habit of demand
ing effects separated from their
causes of expecting political
and economic benefits for which
he will not pay the price, of
(even more wryly) believing in
miracles without a correspond
ing belief in God.
There are a hundred ways in
v,’uch we demand effects with
out causes, rewards without ef
fort. liberty without vigilance,
peace without prayer, love with
out sacrifice. But the most ludi
crous of all our childish clamors,
as it appears to the Martian cov
ering the Earth Story, may well
be this: that we expect to ac
complish the peaceful unifica
tion of all countries without
persuading them to share a com
mon spiritual and moral her
itage.
Now Two World*
There are two philosophies,
violently opposed, now sunder
ing our world. Christopher Daw
son in his new and stimulating
book, "Understanding Europe,”
points out the enormity of the
problem that this fact presents:
“The new system of intercontin
tal power blocs cuts Europe
asunder like a knife—and not
Europe alone, for the division
runs through the middle of Ger
many and Austria, so that East
ern Germany belongs to the same
political bloc as North China,
and Western Germany goes with
North America, Australia and
Japan.”
Our world is now two worlds.
It is only realistic to recognize
that fact, and to see what history
or philosophy can teach us about
repairing the damage If we do
that, we see at once that mere
pleas for mere compromises be
tween the two systems—mere
vodka drinking banquets in Mos
cow on the part of this or that
American politician will not
turn the two worlds into one.
For unification demands a single
answer to the fundamental ques
tions of government and man’s
morality.
There were two worlds in the
trme of ancient Rome—the Etern
al City with all the lands her le
gions occupied, and the barbar­
same meaning, representing pri
marily our gift to God and sec
ondarily support of our parish.
What is a Doctor of the
Church?
A. A saint whose writings ex
plain or defend Catholic doctrine
with special brillianc may be
named a Doctor of the Church.
Pope Boniface VIII was the first
to confer the title when in 1295
he declared four Fathers of the
Church (St. Ambrose, St. Augus
tine, St. Jerome. St. Gregory)
Doctors of the Latin Church.
They are taken as authorities in
those branches of theology which
the Pope indicates in his declar
ation e.g. St. Alphonsus Ligouri
in Moral Theology and St. Jer
ome in Sacred Scripture.
Q. Is there anything in the Bi
ble about the difference in sins
—mortal and venial?
A. Just as civil law recognizes
the difference in kind in deal
ing with crimes (e. g. grand and
petty larceny) and persons dis
tinguish between petty offenses
and outrages that destroy friend
ship, so does the Church. In mor
al matters the Old Testament es
tablished the difference (Ecclec
iasticus 19.1), speaking of little
falls and of sins of the just man
(ProverBs 24:16). Christ said that
it would be more tolerable for
Tyre and Sidon in the day of
judgment than for Bethsaida,
clearly indicating degrees in
guilt (Matthew 11:21). *n talk
ing to Pilate He said: “He that
hath delivered me to you hath
the greater sin He clearly made
a difference between the faults
and waverings (such as St. Pet
er’s doubts and boasts) of the
Apostles and the malicious lies
and plots of the Pharisees.
Q. Who is the St. Serge ap
parently so popular in Russia?
A. The saint after whom so
many Russians are named prob
ably is the one whose feast is
October 7th. He was a Roman
army officer, who when called
upon to deny his faith refused
and was beheaded. He was mar
tyred at Rasapa in Syria (be
tween 286 and 305 A. D.) which
city later honored him with a
magnificent church. The Emper
or Justinian I changed the name
of the city to Sergiopolis. There
is another St. Sergius whose
feast is February 24th.
Send questions to the Rev. Ed
ward F. Heal?'-. Inquiry’ Comer,
The Catholic Times, Box 236,
Columbus 16. O.
ians outside the wall. The Roman
Empire grew, from time to time
but it did not grow by its rulers*
sitting down, as equals, with the
barbarian leaders and splitting
the difference between their con
trasting views. It grew’ by their
convincing the Gauls and Celts
(sometimes by force) that the
Roman culture was stronger and
superior. When unification came,
it was based on a single law, the
Roman law.
And there were two worlds,
again, when the period of explor
ation began and whole virgin
continents were found to be in
habited. This time the world of
Christendom confronted the pa
gan outposts but no one in Eu
rope was mad enough to suggest
that a Chief of the Navajos
should confer as an equal with
the Pope or with any Christian
emperor in the hope of compr
mising the differences between
the two Instead, Pope Alexander
VI bisected the new world, giv
ing most of the Americas to
Spain, most of Africa and Asia
to Portugal, to civilize and to
Christianize and to convert.
Earth’* Biggest Story
For conversion is always the
cause when peace is the effect—
as Europeans knew in the hap
py days of a united Christendom.
Dr. Dawson reminds us that
“Europe is not a political crea
tion. It is a society of peoples
who shared the same faith and
the same moral values. The Eu
ropean nations are parts a
wider spiritual society.” The au
thor tells -us, too, that unity
("one world)” can hardly exist
without such a common faith. He
believes that the statesmen at the
Congress of Vienna were “infin
itely superior” to their success
ors at Versailles in 1919 or at
Dumbarton Oaks and San Fran
cisco in 1944-45. For they faced
the problem of European unity
in a sane constructive spirit,
without utopian illusions or na
tionalist prejudices. Nonethe
less, they failed because of the
“lack of any common spiritual
principle strong enough to over
come the centrifugal forces in
European culture These
fundamental issues belong to the
plane of religion rather than to
that of politics or economics.”
If we really want “one world*
the way of getting it is very clear
to see: we must win the modern
barbarians away from their
Marxist paganism to the ways of
Christ. Our weapons will be
prayers and penances and alms.
Our combat soldiers will be mis
sionaries of the Church. It is not
in the United Nations assemblies
that peace in our time is being
made. It is in the poverty-strick
en chapels of Asia and Africa
where souls are painfully w'on by
holy men re-building Christian
unity This is the biggest story
on earth today.