bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Spectre of Evacuation
Authors: McNabb Vincent 
Published: July 2007

Two recent facts without precedent in the history of the world are worthy of being considered by the readers of Blackfriars.1. By Order of his Majesty’s Government Millions of Gas-Masks Were Distributed to Citizens.2. By Order of his Majesty’s Government Plans Were Made (And Effectively Begun) For Evacuating Many of The Citizens from the Towns to the Country.From London Alone 2,000,000 (Including 500,000 Children) Were to be Evacuated.
Rite of Braga
Authors: King Archdale A. 
Published: July 2007

Of all the rites of Catholic Christendom, that used in the Archdiocese of Braga in the North of Portugal is probably the least known. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Braga is remote and an end in itself, since it is not passed en-route for anywhere else, such as Lyons or Milan, and few books have been written on the subject.Of late years the retention of this venerable rite has been made the subject of two decrees of the Holy See. In 1919, since a section of the clergy had forsaken its distinctive Liturgy, Pope Benedict XV declared (”Sedis hujus Apostolicæ”) the Rite of Braga to be obligatory throughout the Archdiocese for both Mass and Office, a decree specifically endorsed by the present Pontiff in 1924 (“Inter multiplices gravesque curas”). This last decree finds a place in the preface of the latest addition of the Missal (1924), where the rite is referred to as a “Portuguese glory” (“Lusitania nitidum velut speculum”).The ecclesiastical importance of Braga dates from the fifth century, when its bishop was advanced to metropolitical rank, as the town, after the destruction of Astorga by the Visigoths (433), had become the capital of the Suevic kingdom.A distinctive liturgy appears to have been formed— Roman in foundation, with Mozarabic, Gallican and local additions—for in the sixth century we find Bishop Profuturus appealing to the Apostolic See for liturgical guidance. Thus, in 538, Pope Vigilius sent the Church of Braga the Roman Baptismal service, the Canon of the Mass and the proper of Easter to serve as a specimen for the formation of other Masses.
Faith in the Church of England
Authors: White Victor 
Published: July 2007

In considering first the Second Part of the Report on Doctrine in the Church of England, we have deliberately postponed consideration of those sections which have aroused most discussion and which would seem to indicate trends and tendencies very different from those in the section on The Church and Sacraments. Before trying to form an estimate of the significance of the whole from the standpoint of those concerned with the fidelity of the Christian witness and with the prospects of Christian unity, we may, without attempting a full analysis, draw attention to some salient points raised in these other sections.The first of the three main divisions of the Report covers The Doctrines of God and of Redemption. Herein the doctrine of the Triune God is confined within a page and a half, not of dogmatic or theological exposition, but of pure history of dogma. The question What do we mean by the word “God”? is answered exclusively in terms of purely natural theology without reference to Revelation; but it is found subsequently that the “Biblical conception [of the ‘Living God’] is greatly to be preferred,” for purely pragmatic reasons, to “the leading conceptions entertained by Greek philosophers and Indian sages.”
Education in An Abnormal Society
Authors: Shewring Walter 
Published: July 2007

In a recent essay on education in a Catholic review, the writer was concerned to show how “vocational education” (i.e., school training in manual work for particular occupations) might be accompanied by “cultural and religious” training so that pupils should have the advantages of all three. He was anxious that clerical attainments should not make for contempt of manual work, but thought that all would be well if teachers would “blend but not confuse” in those whom they taught the “three streams of education, the religious, the cultural and the economic.” So taught (he concluded hopefully) “the individual will be content to earn his living at the job, whatever it may be, that he is best fitted to perform.”The writer was a man of great experience in education, but it is to be regretted that words like “culture” and “vocation” should have been used without apology as they are used by secular sentimental thought; that almost no reference should have been made to Christian principles and tradition; and that any idea of integration should, seemingly, have been dismissed from the writer’s mind. Doubtless he thought some truths too plain to need repeating; I differ, and shall repeat them here.
On Criticism
Authors: Williamson Claude 
Published: July 2007

The life of the spirit is the life of freedom, the life that responds to nature’s charms, to her colour, her cadences, her music: the poetry that sums these up and calls them evanescent and calls them also beauty. Spirit is not created art. Spirit is the poised brush; it is gazing; it is listening. Spirit is sensitivity that asks not why nor whether, that simply enjoys and through enjoyment may give rise to creativity.What is the Imagination? That it is a very important thing, or an essential human faculty, we can all agree; but after that the trouble begins. And, as generally happens, those who have spoken of it with most seriousness and authority are the hardest to understand. “Imagination is the Human existence itself,” said Blake, who had plenty of of it. It is “the esemplastic power”—that is, the power of shaping diversity into unity—said Coleridge. “It may be compared to Adam’s dream.” A. C. Bradley, elucidating this, yet speaking with his own authority, said: “Wherever the imagination is satisfied, there, if we had a knowledge we had not, we should discover no idle fancy, but an image of a truth. “ That brings us back to Blake again, in his dictum: “Everything possible to be believed is an image of truth.”
Medicine and Religion
Authors: Newsholme H. P. 
Published: July 2007

When I received your Secretary’s invitation to address the Midland Catholic Medical Society, I was moved to accept by the fact that the very title of your Society showed that you expressly associate medicine and religion, or rather medicine and a particular outlook on religion; and I felt that, if it could be done without impertinence, it might be helpful to trace some of the consequences of such an association.While you are medical men and women engaged in medicine, but so engaged with a definite theological and religious outlook, I would open my remarks by referring to the converse case of a theologian who approaches his theological work from a standpoint fixed towards science. At the time when your invitation reached me, I had just come across a passage in a Protestant theological work which I had had occasion to consult, in which the writer shows how certain of his convictions in the sphere of modern medical science have patently affected his theology. Discussing Christ’s reference to the possession of individuals by evil spirits, this theologian assumes that Christ was accepting beliefs now outworn, the general beliefs of His time in regard to demon-possession, that ‘in fact, in matters of human science, our Lord’s information did not extend beyond what a man, born and educated as He was, might naturally have acquired.’ The theologian has drawn that conclusion through his acceptance of modern medical views of disease. He is regarding Christ’s interpretation of the origin of particular types of disease as unsound on the assumption that the modern medical interpretation of such disease is sound. Granted that either Christ or modern medicine must be right, the theologian whom I am quoting comes down on the side of modern medicine. Now I assume that Catholics would conclude, on the contrary, that if one of these two must be wrong, then modern medicine must be that one.
Christian Liberty and Obligations
Authors: Chenu M. D. 
Published: July 2007

(I)Now in those days Marcus Aurelius was Emperor and it seemed as if Wisdom herself in the person of this adopted son of Antoninus Pius, this disciple of Epictetus, ruled the Roman world . . . Nevertheless the Philosopher Justin, accused of being a Christian, was brought with several companions before Rusticus the Prefect of Rome, the very man who had placed in the hands of the young Emperor the Discourses of Epictetus.‘What is your branch of study?’ Rusticus enquired of Justin.‘I have studied all the sciences in turn and I have come to find rest in the teachings of the Christians, unacceptable though they may seem to those led astray by error.’‘Miserable man, is that your chosen study?’‘Yes, for the Christians possess the true doctrine.’ Rusticus turning to one of Justin’s companions, asked: ‘And you, what are you?’‘I am Caesar’s slave, but Christ has given me freedom.’ But the accused men refused to obey Caesar and sacrifice to the Gods and the Prefect passed sentence upon them. Justin and his companions were beheaded.‘I am Caesar’s slave but Christ has given me freedom.’ My whole discourse is based on this clear, this dazzling reply. My one object will be to make you conscious of its deep meaning. For to me falls the honour of bringing before you during these discussions on the subject of liberty in social life the testimony of the Christian, or, to be more precise, of the theologian; that is to say, of the Christian whose task it is to justify his religion to himself, to examine its structure and its inside workings.
The Missions—Yesterday and Tomorrow
Authors: Keldany Herbert 
Published: July 2007

‘L’Eglise, c’est Jésus-Christ, mais Jésus-Christ répandu el communiqué.’ Bossuet’s words were quoted by Père Clérissac to reinforce his argument that the purpose of the Redemption embraces mankind as a whole before it affects the individual. This dynamic aspect of the life of the Church springs to mind as the new pontificate opens fresh vistas so soon after our reading of the several attempts to assess the achievements of the previous one. In spiritual as well as temporal affairs the stage would seem to be set for a new epoch. The two troubled decades which followed the Armistice of 1918 appear to be leading to a more realistic because less treaty-bound polity, while the conclusion of the pontificate which spanned that anxious period, and alone among reigns survived it with enhanced prestige, has left the new Pope a simpler if no less heavy task.Before attempting to trace one aspect of this in the special field of the missions abroad, it will perhaps not be out of place to dwell upon the paradoxical fact that more profound progress has been made within it during the past seventeen years than in as many preceding centuries. Today the Church is indeed universal, there is a Chinese, Indian, and African Catholicity as distinct as the English or the American; and this remarkable achievement, because it has taken place while the Church has been subject to considerable difficulties in lands older in the faith, has passed almost unnoticed, even in well-informed circles. But the fact remains that no Pope has been mourned by so numerous or so varied a Church as was Pius XI, rightly surnamed the Pope of the Missions.
Mr. Teeling on the German Church
Authors: Quinn Edward 
Published: July 2007

Mr. William Teeling has now replied to the many critics of his book The Pope in Politics, which was published in 1937. His reply takes the form of a study of the conditions and prospects of the Catholic Church in Germany, a subject with which he is undoubtedly familiar and about which he can speak with considerable authority. He knows the language and the people well, and has taken pains to interview all kinds of personalities to ascertain the real state of feeling in the country. And though conversations, even with the most varied authorities, are not the most certain way of getting at the real truth, it is scarcely possible to adopt any other method in Germany. The Nazi press is inspired to tell just what the party leaders wish to have announced and the foreign press is often biassed.The method has its drawbacks, so serious that one has to read the book with some caution. For it is undoubtedly true that it is a very dangerous thing to speak to foreigners about the faults of the system, and it is questionable whether even Mr. Teeling’s interviewing ability would elicit the whole truth about these from any responsible German. It is also a fact that the more highly placed ecclesiastics are rightly unwilling to grant interviews of the type that the author needed for the purposes of publication. Every spokesman, of course, is made anonymous in this book, but even this security would not encourage many to speak quite openly about politics.
St. Catherine, The Papacy, and England
Authors: S.M.F.  
Published: July 2007

As an instance of the work done by the Friars Preachers for the good of England, it is interesting to remark the part Dominicans played in keeping the country faithful to the true Pope during the Great Schism. This has not been sufficiently noticed in the history of that sad time.On March 27th, 1378, Gregory XI died at Rome, whither he had returned from Avignon in 1376. The chief instrument used by God to persuade the Pope to take this step was that great daughter of St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena. She it was who reminded him of the secret vow he had made to return to Rome; and when innumerable obstacles were put in his way by the Cardinals, who were loth to leave the peace and luxury of Avignon for the grass-grown streets of turbulant Rome, it was Catherine who cried with holy boldness: ‘Be a man, Babbo miol’
War and the Catholic
Authors: McDermott Francis 
Published: July 2007

War is on every horizon to-day—a black cloud that, coming nearer, resolves itself into a swarm of enemy aircraft bringing death from the skies.Fear of that black swarm is hypnotising half the civilised world, and there is no decent man or woman but detests the new horror it has brought into warfare, the Massacre of the Innocents. A dead or dying soldier on the battlefield is an ugly sickening fact, but it is possible to cover it with the decent cloak of duty or even to dress it with glory. The woman or the young child dying in torment amidst the ruins of a home is plain, unvarnished, abominable evil, beyond palliation, beyond glorification. Yet it is an inescapable part of war to-day. Spain has seen it; China has seen it; and where will modern war be waged without it?The Catholic feels the utmost aversion from taking part in warfare that involves such horrors. If it be a necessity, it is a most evil one. But is it a necessity? There are Catholics who say it is no longer so, that modern warfare can never be justified. ‘War has become impossible,’ says Eric Gill, Catholic artist, writer and craftsman; ‘a just modern war is unthinkable,’ writes Father Gerald Vann, O.P.; and Father F. Stratmann, O.P., in a book, The Church and War considers that ‘modern warfare with the all-round ruin it brings must be immoral.’ The Catholic hating the barbaric methods of war to-day reads these and similar denunciations with sympathy but in growing perplexity of mind.
Christian Liberty and Obligations
Authors: Chenu M. D. 
Published: July 2007

We have seen that the liberty of the Christian is, by definition, something super-human, absolute, inviolable. But if all this be so, how are we to set any limits to it? What room does it leave for rules and law? Are we not being so carried away with our idea of Christian freedom that we are being led to an anti-social anarchy, an anarchy all the more dangerous for being an anarchy of the Spirit? And in point of historic fact, do we not find throughout the history of the Church an abiding suspicion of such an exaltation of the liberty of the Spirit? How can we reconcile such claims with the demands of social law and order, with the well-being of the human community?All liberty has both a personal and a social aspect, because liberty and the common good are bound up with one another. But does not this present a serious difficulty so soon as liberty be considered, not on the natural but on the theological plane? And is not this only to be expected when one passes from the order of the natural philosophy to that of faith? Is not the Christian, who measures his standards by God alone, free from the clutches—in his most intimate liberties at least—of every social obligation? Are we not to expect here a sort of supurnatural logic in direct opposition to the logic of nature?
British Foreign Policy Since The War (I)
Authors: Beales A. C. F. 
Published: July 2007

‘England is an international burglar turned householder, and now wanting a strong police-force to protect his house full of swag.’(Mr. Aneurin Bevan.)‘One of the most serious counts against British statesmanship in the post-war years is that it failed to accept whatever risk there might have been, and that it used the prospective neutrality of the United States as a cloak for British reluctance to bear the responsibility of leading the nations towards the effective outlawry of war.’(Mr. Wickham Steed.)A war to end war. So they said in 1918, and at Versailles was planned a new settlement and a new start. This, they said, would involve a peace based on forbearance and sacrifice all round. But the peoples, said the statesmen, were not ready for such an enlightened peace. And so the pips had to be made to squeak, and in England there was a khaki election.
Léon Bloy
Authors: Raybould A.N. 
Published: July 2007

Marchenoir in Le Désespéré is generally taken as the prototype of the writer. In this character Léon Bloy draws the portrait of a man of intense and burning faith, but given to passion and governed not by reason, but by feeling; he gives the picture of an unrecognised and embittered artist, of one who with the vision of a saint could not practise even ordinary virtue, and who, driven to despair by the consequences of his acts, becomes almost insane through his capacity for suffering. This portrait, however, is neither exact nor complete; Léon Bloy himself was far more of a Christian and far less of a lunatic than Marchenoir.Round this saint manqué, this vagabond accompli, this grotesque figure surrounded by poverty and degradation, the prey of passion, and yet dispenser of spiritual gifts, a peculiar interest centres to-day. To deny Léon Bloy’s spiritual influence would be not only injurious but unjust. He was responsible for some of the most remarkable conversions of the last fifty years, those of Jacques Maritain and de la Meer Walcheren among others.
Wars and Rumours of Wars
Authors: White Victor 
Published: July 2007

It is only right and proper in a world which seems to be going rapidly more and more insane that good Christians should make every effort to sound the recall to Reason. It is only our bare duty to reaffirm the elements and applications of the natural law in a world which seems to be becoming more and more insensible to the natural law. For this reason, it is impossible to over-estimate the debt we owe to those Catholic thinkers who have made it their task in recent years to re-state the natural ethics of war and peace and to apply it to modern conditions of international relationships and methods of warfare. It is salutary that the philosophia perennis of ends and means should be reasserted and applied realistically to new sets of facts such as aerial bombardment and bacteriological warfare, to the impending realities of war waged by the sovereign State conditioned by the exigencies of imperialistic capitalist economy.Yet we shall be mistaken if, having done all these things, we imagine that we have done anything specifically Christian. We are perhaps too ready to call a Christian doctrine of war what are in fact only dictates of the natural reason. Grace does not destroy Nature; Revelation is not contrary to Reason. But the fact remains that we cannot give a distinctively Christian witness to the events in the world around us in terms solely of natural reason and natural law. Nor can I answer the burning question, ‘What am I as a Christian to do in the event of war?’ solely in terms of a natural ethic, however rigorous.
The Church and Culture
Authors: Tindal‐Atkinson Ælwin 
Published: July 2007

‘Still unfulfilled is the dream of some little, old house with its garden and tennis-court in the quiet English country, which now recedes before me like the mirages (of the desert) among which I used to picture it for so many years. So much the more must I cling to that highest which need not and must not be resigned while strength is left to perceive it ... in that particular manifestation of immortal power by which each individual spirit is most deeply moved. I believe, and proclaim my faith, that this solace will proceed increasingly from the great classics of the world; both from their own splendour and from their contrast with the limitations of modern life.’The rather long quotation with which this paper opens comes from the pen of a man whose life has been spent in the harassing work, of administration in the near East during the troubled years that followed the last war. The point I wish to fasten on is this: in the thorny and arid task of trying to reconcile Arab and Zionist claims in Palestine he turned again and again for solace to literature, music and architecture. For him, as for so many of us, Science, the achievement of man to-day, can bring some measure of bodily comfort, but no comfort of spirit; and I am afraid, in moments of depression, it may occasion a feeling of acute fear, for the part it seems destined to play in the destruction of our civilization.
‘Flowering Rifle’
Authors: Reviewer Your 
Published: July 2007

To the Editor of Blackfriars.Sir,—I must resolutely disregard the red herrings drawn across my path by the correspondents who give such a sinister reading of my notice of Roy Campbell’s Flowering Rifle. I criticised the book only on literary grounds, and mentioned that works like Auden’s Spain and Spender’s Vienna were also poor art because of their excessive political preoccupations; and because I reject inferior Leftist art along with Rightist work, I apparently suggest that the Rightist writer is Leftist. A remarkable piece of reasoning to come from a great theological college.It is precisely on literary grounds that the critics neglect to base their criticism. The book is lyrical invective at best, and in trying to make an epic of it, the poet has executed a mechanical exercise, which oftenest sounds like a brass band at its brassiest repeating ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ ad nauseam. The language of the less prosy parts is worn-out ‘poetical’ currency like ‘golden,’ ‘scarlet,’ ‘silver,’ ‘storm-red,’ while often the faded literary metaphors of ‘rhyme,’ etc., are used to jolt the poem into life. The author himself says the poem is not meant to emulate people like Claudel, and we can easily agree when we read such bathos as :‘Toledo, here, against the morning sky Like some great battle-cruiser from the fight Returned with Victory (terrific sight I)’—the capitals being used to galvanise the cliche into some shadow of life. But above all, the epic lacks the structure of an epic, and is largely a broken record of literary quarrels.