RELIGIOUS WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 15882, 14 August 1915, Page 4

RELIGIOUS WORLD

PAPAL INTERVIEWS. ITie London ‘Times’ of June 26 publishes the ; following Press comments on the Libejti (Paris) papal interview: The ‘ Tablet/ the chief organ of the Roman; Catholic Church in this country, makes some interesting comment® on the interview: —“ There seems to be a. conspiracy on the part of a section of the Continental Press to make the Pop© appear ridiculous—as if So obsessed by a, sense of the importance of neutrality that ho is unable, any longer to distinguish between. right and wrong. His position is likened to ivhat would have been that of Adam if, suddenly peeping round l a hedge itv the neighborhood of the Garden of Eden, and seeing Gain in tihe act of mur-. dering Abel, h© had discreetly retired, and afterwards explained to Eve'that it was ■impossible for him to intervene because, as the loving father of both boys, he could not think of departing from a position of strict neutrality between the murderer and Ms victim.”

The ‘Tablet’ goes on to analyse examples of what, following Cai'dlnal Bourne, it describes as journalistic “ embroidery ” in the interview. On the subject of the Lusitania and the British blockade of Germany it says:—“ Here again, we can trace the process of the ‘embroidery’ without much difficulty. The German wickedness in the case of the Lusitania, is admitted-, but it is added that the German apologists urge that the British Government are attempting murder on a yet vaster scale. As a statement of what tho Germans are .in. fact, driven to contend, tho words put into tho mouth of the Pope are quite correct. As expressing the considered judgment of the Holy Father, tho ‘statement may lie. dismissed as grotesque. To cut oft supplies from a beleaguered town or State, is the oldest of th© operations of war. Ite object is to bring about not starvation, but, surrender. When Paris was besieged in 1871, hundreds of thousands of non-combatants, including women and cMidren, were subjected to privation but tho city had always the opportunity of surrender, an opportunity which was at last accepted—and. it v. as this opportunity of saving their lives wliich the Germans denied to the victims of the Lusitania ”

Quite different are the comments of the ‘ Guardian,’ the leading Church of England journal;—“ It is pitiful to see one whose position imposes upon him the obligation of being a great religious leader paltering in this weak and ineffective fashion with events that aro convulsing ■the world. The Pope repeated to M. Latapia the enormous assurance tluit he is ‘ the representative of God upon earth,’ yet in the same breath h© admitted that his action has ben prompted by consideration for ‘ th© interests of the' Holy See.’ The war, he says, ‘ places these interests in danger. We are at the present moment in. an uncertain situation.’ That is to say, in plain English, ‘ the representative of God upon earth ’ is afraid of the Germans. The confession is enough to rob tho Vatican of the last shred of its credit and influence—a, credit and influence which had already been sorely shaken, by a Pontiff who thinks that some of the worse crimes in history will be sufficiently condemned—when he knows who has won —by issuing a, Code for the Polite Conduct- of War in Future. Roman Catholic patriots -in England will find the Pope’s more than disappointing ; French Catholics will find them beyond measure deplorable.” WHAT A LAYMAN THINKS. The famous traveller and writer, Sir H. H. Johnston, states the common-sense lay view of these irritating alleged papal confessions in the following brief letter; "The opinions expressed by the Pope in an interview with a French"journalist will come ns a disappointment to those observers of the ■ international situation— Catholics and iioii-Catha]icE--wlio hoped -that the present convulsion in human affairs would witness the Vatican takimr a high, position as arbitrator between right and wrong. The maritime blockade of the Allies can only be compared in its worst effects to the low diet enforced on a raviim maniac by his restiuiners. . It is staggerto mv mind that the unprovoked invasion of Belgium, the hideous crimes wieaked on a gallant little people defending it® soil, and the inexpiable wrong done to all humanity by the destruction of Lou\a.in and Yprcs, Rheims and Soissons, could pass imreptoved by the head of a great Church—the Church of, Belgium and of th© mass of the French'and Polish peoples, as well as of the Rhinclands and Austria-Hungary. So far as the principal nations now allied against GermanvAustna were concerned the war was absolutely unprovoked on their part, and they are only defending themselves. The Pope may arguo that they thwarted GcrmanAustnan ambitions and must accept the consequences. Granted, and tliev will render a good account of themselves, and subsequently punish the aggressor. But how any eane, just, impartial human being can leel anything but the profoundest pity for Belgium and white-hot resentment at her treatment and at the loss humanity in general has sustained by the destruction of her historical monuments ajicl -works of art passes xny comprehension. GERMAN MISSIONARIES IN INDIA. From an answer given by Mr Chamberlam in the House of Commons on June 23 it appears that 442 enemy alien missionaries, mostly Germans, are at liberty in India and at their posts on parole on condition of good behaviour; that 70 are compulsorily residing in specified places; and that only 115 are interned. [The cables advised that the others have sine© been interned.—Ed. E.S I .] The unwisdom of such leniency in a country where wild and mischievous rumors gain extraordinary currency among the credulous masses is strongly felt in many quarters. This view is confirmed by a detailed consideration - of- the problem written by the Rev. Hr William Miller, C.1.E., the eminent Scottish Free Church missionary who was so long principal of the Madras Christian College, which has appeared in the ‘ Madras Mail.’ He observes that th© course which would give most pleasure to everyone who looks at the matter from a Christian standpoint wduld be ty allow the German missionaries to remain at their posts. But the path of duty is not always a pleasant path, and the facts jnust be faced. The nobler the character, and, therefore. the greater the Influence of any German IS , the moxe likely is he to share the spirit [of bitter antagonism to Great Britain] which ha® taken possession of his country, and therefore tn© more dangerousqnemy to our freedom and to the work which seem®, at all events to ourselves, to have been divinely entrusted to our care. Regret it a® we may, it appears to follow from considerations like these that every German, and especially those who by intelligence and character have the greatest influence, should bo removed from all places where it is in their power to give aid to our adversaries in this tremendous struggle. , . , _ It is needless to say that; German ladies connected with those missions should be included in the measures which it has become necessary to take. , . . Such removal is the kind-

esb thing that could be done for onr good German friends themselves. It will place them beyond the reach of'strong temptation. .. So long as they remain in the midst of those with whom their native land is warring, they must, bo torn by conflicting duties. However honest they may be, however slow to take unfair advantage of their position, they cannot but feel that they are deaf to the call of patriotism if they fail to ; use, ©very opportunity of weakening the eueiny on whose ruin their country has determined. Moreover, there is nothing harsh or novel in the proposal that missionaries should for a time remove from any country' with which their own nation is at war. , , ,