Evening star., 1938-12-05
Activities Of Franco
Deplored by Editor
Declares Rebel Leader Has
Clearly Demonstrated His
Hatred Of Religion

To the Editor OF The Star:
In his ardent special pleading for Gen.
Franco in your journal recently DR.. Jo-
seph r. Thorning gets himself more than
slightly involved.
Father Thorning Gin letter in your
issue OF November I'D takes DR.. Ephraim
Cross to task for appearing Ito be pes
simistic about the future of Catholicism
in Spain because the sentiment Of the
church seems to favor the cause Of
Generalissimo Francisco Franco" and
complains that DR.. Cross does not "en-
tighten us as to the feeling Of his COL
leagues when they saw the ruined
churches, the desecrated shrines, the
gutted seminaries which testify to the
activity of the Marxist elements whose
hatred of religion draws its inspiration
from Moscow"
He sees this "hatred of religion" ex-
pressed in the bombs which the Re-
publicans. during the days when they
enjoyed supremacy of the air, dropped
on the Cathedral of Our Lady of Pillar"
in Saragossa.
Let me say in this respect:
First, that the damage as reported in
the press at the time was very slight.
Second, that the Cathedral of Sara
gossa bulks very large from the air and
might, it seems, have been destroyed had
the "Marxists so intended.
Third, that supremacy in the air" has
hnor, inI,od To oil
pert observers, by the Republicans since
the first weeks of the war, when German
and italian planes reached Franco
months before the first Russian planes
appeared on the Loyalist side.
Fourth, that the Republican govern
ment long ago gave formal pledge not
to bomb open towns. sport they had
rarely engaged in before because Of the
natural dislike of Spanish aviators for
bombing Spanish towns; they have kept
their pledge.
Fifth, that since the Virgin of the
Pillar was made commander in chief of
the Rebel armies in the early weeks of
the war, as she had been commander in
chief of the Spanish armies in the Span
ishAmerican War, her cathedral might
have been considered a military objec-
tive had the reds" been as free with
that definition as Father Thorning.
Sixth, that If hitting cathedral proves
a hatred of religion, what about the
bombing of the Cathedral of Barcelona
on July 10 of this year by the foreign
forces at the disposal of Father Thorn
ing's Christian gentleman" Generals
simo Franco? Logically wouldn't that
show hatred of religion" on somebody's
part? On the part of the generalissimos
Nazi allies such hatred needs no proof
Interesting, though possibly without
significance is the fact that while the
Barcelona Cathedral was being bombed,
ceremonies were being held in Rheims to
celebrate the restoration of a cathedral
whose destruction by the Germans
aroused great fury in the World War
years.
Father Thorning has lately been in
Nationalist" Spain. Those of us to whom
the defense of Christianity is as dear as
it is to him would like very much to
hear how he interprets the execution Of
Basque priests Gas described in a report
by the Basque delegation in London of
recent date and in books by Basque
priests of uncontested credibility) by his
Christian gentleman and crusader This
kind of thing seems to me of far greater
moment than the excesses of a mob
driven to fury by savage rebellion,
especially since there is reliable evidence
that in Republican Spain order, of
kind never known in Spanish history,
has been achieved by a devoted govern
ment laboring under fearful difficulties.
GUY EMERY SIMPLER,
Editor, the Churchman,
New York City.