The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-04

ises, which he exaotsd from the wiley Mir. Litvinov, stated that American citizens should have the liberty Of Church In Moscow where they could worship. The Com- missar agreed to this just as glibly ag he did Co the other conditions, and tho agreement was signed. How well was the promise fulfillede
 MT. Vincent Fitzpatrick Of the Baltimore Catholic Review sought out tbs church when he was In Rus. sia end tells the following story.
 "When arrived at the church and had an opportunity to examine it, \ found it was surrounded by an iron wall. It was closed. An old woe man on the sidewalk eyed me cur- iously. I made known Co her that wanted to go into the church. She disappeared and returned with e large bunch of keys. She opened s back door and after passing through several other doors we reached the inside of the church proper. There were no statues or pictures. There was something that was supposed Co be an altar but it was hardly more than a shelf. This was what they called the Cathode Church. l learns cd that the church he'd been bosn- barded with stones on several oc- casions by Russian boys. This was the church where Americans were allowed to practice religious freedom in Moscow"
 So the hoasted tolerance hes a concrete example and as all other conditions of Mir. Roosevelt's recog- milton, this too was honored only in the signing.
 A VOTE FOR AMERICA
 The recent anti-forelgn.war bal- lot of the American Catholic clergy hsS drawn widespread comment. The Chicago Tribune,s comment reads as follows within the last few days we have had declarations from the heads of the peace cona- mission of the Methodist church, the Youth commission Of the Meths odist church. the Lutheran Synodal conference, and the Ministers No War Committee. We have seen the result of 6 ballot conducted among the Catholic clergymen throughout the United States. All of these join the Spokesmen of almost every other creed and sect in telling the nation that both morality and Interest will be advanced by keeping the peace.
 ro single out but one of the ex- preSsions, 9i.5 per cent of more than lS,000 Catholic clergynien voted against . shooting war outside che western hemisphere, while o0,i per cent opposed the extension of Amer lean aid to the communicate RuS- sian government. The Catholic cler. gy represents universal church, with interests in all lands and among all peoples. The Church knows what 1t can expect from athe. tsttc bolshevism, but it knows, too, that its clergy and it's followers have been oppressed in Nazi Germany, Both there and elsewhere its land and properties have been confiscat- cd, or have run the risk of conflsca- ton, and its clergy and pariShonerS are subject to maltreatment or mar- tyrdom.
 But the Catholic clergy in the United States have shown that their temporal allegiance iS to their native country.
 Their vote was c vote for Amer. ica,"
 THE RECORD
 As A WITNESS
 The editor of the Commonweal weighing the merits of the stand oi the clergy, comments with fore. sight; "LAter, when the period oi war psychology iS over, that record may roughly and crudely serve as a witness to attract new respect and love. At least no materialistic, rev- olutionary humanitarianism will be able to hint that the priests laShed the people of the United States in. 10 . new World War,