Evening star., 1947-08-21
'Churchman Sponsor
Resigns in Row Over
Report on YueosIavia
By the Associated Press

BY the Associated Press
NEW YORK, Aug. 21.-Mrs. .Nata :
lie Wales Paine. former president of
Bundles for Britain, has resigned as
a sponsor Of the Churchman, edited
by the Rev. Guy Emery Shipler, in
protest against Mr.. SHIPPERS report
that he and six other Protestant
clergymen who recently visited
Yugoslavia had found complete
freedom of worship there.
Her action followed by a day a
denunciation of the report as i'm
famous and monstrous" by Arch
bishop Richard J. Cushing of Boston.
Both Mr.. Shipler and the Rev.
William Howard Melish, associate
rector of the Church OF the Holy
Trinity in Brooklyn and chairman
Of the National Council of Ameri-
can-Soyiet Friendship, defended the
report in public statements yester-
day
The Churchman was described by
Its editors as an independent Epis-
copalian publication which trans
cends denominational lines and was
founded in 1904. The Episcopal
church has no oflicial publication.
Recently Realized Trend.
Mrs. Paine said she had joined
the Churchman Associates, sponsors
of the magazine, several years ago,
but only recently became aware Of
its editorial trend"
L have been shocked to discover" :"
she wrote Mr.. Shipler, that the
Churchman has used its position,
gained in the mind of the public
largely by reputation earned in the
past, to launch repeated attacks on
the Roman Catholic Church on the
one hand, while on the other to serve
as somewhat personal medium for
extreme left-wing support.
Now, upon your return from
brief trip to Communist Yugoslavia,
in the company of carefully Sc
lected group of guests of Marshal
Tito, I find that you are openly de-
Tending the character and motives
of the Tito regime by making state
ments to the effect that there is no
interference with freedom of wor-
ship In this satellite state of a
philosophy which denies all the
freedoms.
Saw Churches Open.
"You~ based your denial on the
ground that you saw many
churches still open in Yugoslavia
where religious services were con-
Quoted. But you forget that the
same thing was true In Nazi Ger
many and even In Soviet Russia. y
Archbishop Gushing had told a
Knights of Columbus convention at
Boston Tuesday night that the re-
port by the Protestant group that
Archbishop Stepinac was impris-
oned with good cause" by Marshal
Tito's government was 'an infa-
nous action"
Mr.. Simpler, calling Mrs. Paine's
letter "a tissue of lies said: Il
have made no defense whatsoever
of the Tito regime. 1 reported
faithfully our observations. No.
where did we see any religious sup
preston"
OF Archbishop Cushing's criti-
cism, MIR. Shipler said, in part:
Il am fully aware that the facts
in the case of Archbishop Stepinatz
(Stepinac). the Quisling collabo-
rator with Hitler. for example, are
the last things the Roman heir
archy wants reported in this coun-
try or elsewhere.
Hits Political Clericalism.
eff the Roman Catholic Church
| in America wishes to be free from
criticism, let it become only
church and not a political state
Every decent Protestant respects
the constitutional religious rights
of Roman Catholics. but increasing
numbers are determined to fight the
type of political clericalism which
has been SO disastrous TO other
countries"
/ Archbishop Stepinac is serving a
l7-year prison term tor alleged
collaboration with the Nazis
MI. Shipler denied that the list
of clergymen who made the trip wss
hand picked" as the Boston arch
bishop had contended. and said the
original list submitted to YugoslaV
authorities was approved.
Mr.. Melish, saying he was reply
ing to questions raised by the Rev.
Edward Lodge Curran, president of
the International Catholic Truth
Society. said the group made the
trip because it suspected that state
ments about Yugoslavia in the
Catholic press were not true.
Doubted Official Line.
when we left the United States
we we're sharply condemned for sc
much as doubling the ofiicial line,
Mr.. MeliSh said. I'VE are not now
surprised at the sharpness of our re-
ception when we report that our
suspicious, which gave rise to the
trip, were more than correct"
OF Mr.. Curran's inquiry as to
whether church criticism of gov
ernment figures is permitted in
Yugoslavia, Mr.. Melish said:
Il would point out that while ]
have the right to criticize policies
and personalities in the United
States, I do not possess the right to