Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 36, 3 September 1924, Page 18

Current Topics

As Others See Us .!'"' We have before us a copy of La Tribuna (an Italian secularist paper) of the date, June 27, 1924., On the front page it has a picture representing the English Prime Minister trying to hide from view a placard containing the names of the Irish patriots shot down by English soldiers. Curious to know where Ireland came in, we looked through the journal and discovered the key to the picture in the leading article. It seems that Italy is rather impatient with the good advice and the criticisms of other nations, including England. She knows well that recent occurrences within her borders have not been altogether creditable. But she asks some of her critics what right have they to read her homilies, and suggests that they have sins enough of their own to keep them humble. Thus, La Tribuna, while not denying the regrettable incidents which happened recently, goes on to say that Italy has not the advantage of having a magnificent tradition such as England owes to the centuries of misrule and crime in Ireland, just as she cannot boast of the proud record of a policy of, defaming her enemies before slaughtering them —a hint which reminds one strongly of General Butler's charge that proud Britain never fought a foe that she did not try to blacken and calumniate. One is also reminded that when the Terrible Turk was reproved for his crimes, his retort to England was: "What are you people doing in Ireland?" It will be a good day for the Empire when patriots learn to face facts squarely and to see themselves as others see them. At present, senseless and hypocritical lip-service and noisy blaring of "God Save the King" are the means chosen by our Jingoes to stifle the warning voices, so applicable to them: Qui sine peccato est, primus mittat lapidem. '• Peace Prospects Brighter According to the latest reports to hand the prospects of establishing a just and friendly peace in Europe are becoming brighter. It has taken the politicians a long time to discover that permanent peace among the nations is impossible so long as rulers seek to secure it by humiliating and plundering a fallen foe. When the War came to an end, those who wished to prevent a repetition of wholesale butchery counselled the politicians to establish peace upon friendship and goodwill. The Pope, in his first Genoa letter, wrote that, "International animosities, the melancholy legacy of war, work to the detriment of the victors since they prepare for all a future fraught with fear. It should not be forgotten that the. best guarantee of security is not a hedge of bayonets but mutual trust /friendship." His words fell upon deaf 'ears European; states-. men like Lloyd George and Clemenceau Were .too preoccupied with vengeance to bother much about charity." They saw security for themselves' in "Imperial Preference" : ' and in keeping alive the fear and distrust of Germany. ' M. : Herriot, the new Premier of France, appears desirous of profiting by the blunders of his predecessors. He sees in" Germany not a nation subdued by fear or crushed by force, but a wolf held by the ears. He understands. that she. cannot be coerced indefinitely, and that the sooner real peace is made With her the better for-French security "and prosperity. The efforts of Mr. Ramsay MacDonald to. reconcile . the conflicting elements in international affairs.: stand high in the esteem of those who are in a position ; to . estimate their worth. Since he has moved, to Downing Street abetter feeling prevails in diplomatic circles, and he has done much to restore the confidence which the trickery of Lloyd George had dissipated. He is said to. be looking at Europe through Christian spectacles and he appears to be getting a pretty clear view. A cardinal point of. both French and British policies is the full, use of the League of - Nations as a' guarantee of Europe's common interests, chief, aznoiigst which- is peace,,. .w.-:-,- ....;-: '.'■■"■

The Basis of European Peace '-." Sir lan Hamilton, at the unveiling of a war memorial at Ore we, spoke the mind, of many when he expressed doubt whether we should have entered the war at all if we had foreseen the whole issuethe destruction of human life and treasure on an unparalleled scale to end militarism once and -for ever; yet militarism in one form or another is as potent a force as ever in the counsels of the world. He warned his hearers that a generation was growing up who knew nothing ; of war save its licence and excitement, and that v unless the public mind is systematically taught the evil and futility of the doctrine of force there will be no adequate reaction to .the prospect of another war. He emphasised the responsibility of those who have the training of the young and of those who have the guidance of public opinion. ; \" Mr. Winston Churchill is also impressed with the belief that a complete and whole-hearted reconciliation between .France and Germany is necessary for the survival of civilisation. .An article which he wrote for the Weekly Despatch shows that he has lost whatever faith he' had in the power of the mailed fist to. establish a just and durable peace. He says: ']■'*, ; : : , V-' •'.."■-. '.■'..- Unless this deadly antagonism can in some way or • another bo laid to rest or merged in a larger, wider, -... and nobler consciousness, a future generation will assuredly see Europe laid .in dust and ashes, as it has been in this same quarrel more than once before. What is the policy of Britain "in the face of these vast and appalling potentialities?' There can surely be only .one policy which is even conceivable—to use her whole influence and resources consistently over a long period of years to weave France >and Germany so closely together economically, socially, and morally as to prevent the occasion of quarrels and make their causes die in a realisation of mutual prosperity and interdependence. The supreme interest of Britain is in the assuagement of the great feud, and she has no other interest, commercial, financial, national, or Imperial that is comparable or contrary to it. We agree entirely with the statesmanlike utterance of the late member for Dundee. But isn't it a pity that he didn't try a dose of his own medicine when he was in office? Charity First When the great catastrophe came upon the world in 1914, the then reigning Pontiff pleaded with the belligerent Powers to make peace. Almost the last words he spoke were expressions of pity for the flower of the nations so soon to be sacrificed to the gods of War and Mammon. His illustrious successor spared no effort, left no avenue unexplored to find a means of saving humanity from itself. He provided a basis of peace, but the madmen of Europe would not receive it from his .hands, though later they accepted the self-same document from .the hands of President Wilson. Their bad faith, however, made it useless, and the experience gained then shows the wisdom of Pope Pius XI who, in proclaiming the "Holy Year of Jubilee," announces that his intention— object for which he wishes the faithful to pray—is Peace, "not so much the -peace written in Treaties as that impressed on souls, "that which must be restored amongst peoples." The Holy Father, like his predecessors, knows that Charity must precede Justice in the making of peace, and that it is futile to expect justice if charity.is absent. "Never," says his Holiness, "can this habit of brotherly love amongst the peoples be restored, never, can there be lasting peace, unless Charity— long extinguished, indeed entirely forgotten, as a result of the last war—be once more taken to heart by the peoples and welcomed as. an inspiration by Governments." "There is a common feeling," writes a London contemporary, "that justice alone need be cultivated by individuals and by nations, that charity /is something supererogatory, to be neg-. lected at will and : without blame, a counsel not a cdmmand. Christ " put charity ? n the forefront . of the. law, : aa

Obligatory 6n all, singly and, collectively. We do not begin '::l to practise Christianity unless we love the" brethren. 'We ' cannot claim any exemption from this rule, since we are. bidden even to love our enemies. Yet Catholics, no less than others, have frequently fallen below this Christian., level in their attitude towards other nations, using the plea of patriotism to cloak their selfishness." We. must not expect to cultivate a "collective charity that will4ii|ble us to maintain peace and friendship with neighboring "nations and leave us free to injure the people next door. .'As the nation is built up of individuals the goodwill it shows to other States is but a reflection of the charity which its members show to one another. It is a true saying that charity begins at home. Cardinal Logue to Young Priests "One thing I would say to you young priests, keep out of politics until you ( look around and have more experience." .This sage advice was given by Cardinal Logue in the course of an address recently delivered at Maynooth College; and though it is brief it is rich in wisdom. There is no period more critical or momentous ■in the life of a nation than that of transition. Everything is in a state of flux, restraint is thrown off, lives are unsettled, new factions arise, new animosities are created, new problems demand solution by new methods. It is a time of special dangers to faith and morals, and the Church has ever directed her policy, when occasions have arisen, to overcome the dangers inseparable from the rebirth of a nation. Therefore, the Cardinal delivers a timely warning, for the future of the Church in Ireland is to a very great extent in the hands of the young priests now entering on the mission. He points out that the young priests would have to meet conditions they who entered on the mission years ago had not to meet. They would have to meet a divided people, people who had lost— not the faith; thank God—but much of their reverence for the Church and religion. Straws in the' water indicate the direction in which it is flowing, and Cardinal Logue sees in the habits of a great body of the Irish people signs which show that they are drifting into dangerous waters. When we remember all that Ireland has endured in the recent past we can thank God that things are not worse and that the faith of the main body of the people is solid and sound. What the condition of the country would be without that faith we dare not contemplate. It would no doubt be similar to that of other war-stricken areas where the tide of materialism and unbelief had previously swept down the dykes of faith and coursed like a flood over the land. As long as the faith is burning brightly in Ireland the zeal and prudence of a devoted clergy will serve to correct the loose habits for which political disturbances are mainly responsible. There is a vast difference between the loss of that delicacy of conscience in Ireland (which Cardinal Logue rightly attributes to unsettled conditions of life) and those 'fixed habits'of evil which in other countries are the result of the loss of faith. Still, while we have full confidence in the loyalty and good sense of the Irish people, we must not seek to minimise the difficulties in front of young priests," not the least of which is centred around the political differences 'between the people. At one time the whole country was united in opposition to the dictatorship of the British Government and there was then no danger of political differences shattering religious unity. The political and social problems of, a ' new day wjll undoubtedly create in the sociah order enmities which might easily extend to the sphere of religion. We all are acquainted with the individual who refuses to go * to Mass because he has quarreled with the priest about a horse or a dog, and it is because Cardinal Logue is experienced enough to know that humanity is weak 'and illogical that he counsels the young priests to refrain from rushing at once into the quarrels between a great number • of their people and putting forward ideas and opinions that . . might aggravate those differences. "Sometimes," said his " Eminence, "young.priests going out are very patrioiicr very zealous, and anxious to be in the thick of the fight going on, but ; that is a very rash feeling. : They rush in " ;

where angels. fear: to "tread. ; They might look upon old . priests as superannuated or of strange, superannuated ideas, but they, should remember that the old men had experience." The Cardinal has sounded the right -note &i tlio riohi, +;««» • and have no doubt that when the future history of Ireland is -written it will (be recorded that the young priests were as"' ; noted for tact and prudence in the dawn of Irish freedom as their older brethren were for heroism and selfsacrifice in the. dark and evil days. A-clericalism in Prance The cold hearts of the French Anti-clericals cannot be warmed by the' fire of gratitude. Their hatred of the Church and religion is surpassed only by fear for their own safety. Therefore it is not surprising to learn that th« enemies of the Church, who appealed (not in vain) for the help of the banished Religious in those days of terror, when the Germans were pouring across the French frontier, have returned to their hobby of persecuting religion. The Embassy to the Vatican has, been withdrawn ; and although this can not be regarded as persecution, it is nevertheless a studied insult to the Pope, an insult that foreshadows oppression under the specious plea of " secular ism." The London Month is of opinion that this insult is a foolish piece of anti-clericalism which can only injure the Government that undertakes it, and that if the French people choose to tolerate rulers capable of a blunder of this sort it is.their own affair. It is the part of every honest and enlightened person, however, to protest against religious persecution; and the crusade against Christian education in France,.which proscribes, Religious Orders engaged in teaching, is persecution aggravated by abominable hypocrisy and ingratitude. To make matters worse, the "secularising" programme of M. Herriot is likely to be extended to the frontier territory which prior to the war was held by Germany. Says the Month : "A State monopoly of education which denies the fourfold rights of God, the Church, the parent, and the child in the matter of religion is_the most monstrous tyranny. It might have been thought that the teachers and pupils of Catholic schools had stood triumphantly the supreme test of war ; it might have been thought that the loyalty of the banished Religious who flocked back to France to serve in her armies and her hospitals had won the respect even of the Grand Orient; it might have been thought that no Government, even though it had not the magnanimity to rescind the penal laws, would, for very shame, revive their operation and exile once more such heroes and heroines. But to think this would be to ignore the hell-inspired hate of the atheistic Freemasons that rule anti-clerical France, and have lately been given a measure of power. Their hypocritical malice is nowhere more clearly shown than in M. Herriot's promise to extend to the 'beloved populations ' of the recovered provinces the blessings of anticlerical legislation, against which M. -Millerand, High Commissioner of the restored regions in 1919, had explicitly guaranteed them. Whatever else the Germans did in the Rhineland, they respected liberty of conscience, and the undoubted desire of its inhabitants to .return to French allegiance -would have been profoundly modified if they even remotely feared anti-clerical tyranny. M. Paul Bourson, a member of , Commissariat General of : the Repuhlic at Strassbourg, Tvrote lately 'as follows: 'ln religious matters the Republican Government has respected the status , quo— that" is, the Concordat-is maintained, also the denominational 5ch0015..... It 4 is abundantly clear that the Government is keeping the solemn promise made during the war -V by French statesmen and generals to the effect that the customs' and beliefs of the people would be respected.' If M. Herriot 1 and his masters have their way, these frontier • departments, the good-will'of which has hitherto- been sedulously and wisely cultivated, will now be exposed to the irreligious tyranny from/which theirusurpationby Germany ~ iniheiast,,.We cannot think that the , sense of . the ~Frenoli nation • wiii stand : that, even in , the sacred", name of secularism/' . , ;.: - 1 •