Honour—and Honours

Extract

The exclusion of secular political questions from the subject matter of our Catholic Reviews, which obtained very largely before the war, was a weakness inherent in the mentality of the Catholic body at that time. It existed because Catholics, as a body, had never emerged from the atmosphere of sufferance; they felt their numerical weakness so strongly that it seemed a dangerous thing to discuss things on which they disagreed. It was a weakness because it hindered the development of political thought among Catholics, who, even if they have absorbed nothing more than the penny Catechism, are better equipped for it than those who have never had the advantage of that training in logic and philosophy. No Catholic should be capable of the mental confusion that so heavily overlays the political discussions of our secular press.

There is, and has been now for some time, every indication that this attitude of timid reserve has broken down. The Church in this country emerged from the war with a very much enhanced prestige, despite misrepresentation of the Papal neutrality. The historic Pastoral Letter of Cardinal Mercier made a deep and abiding impression on the non-Catholic mind. The returning troops brought back memories and impressions which scattered the mists of ignorant Victorian prejudice, and while the social teachings of Pope Leo XIII are slowly reaching the minds of the people, the striking Pastoral Letter of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster on social questions, and the courageous intervention of some of the bishops in particular matters,