15 OCTOBER 1954, Page 6

Not Far From Corunna

The Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Abergavenny, has launched in'his Parish Letter a slashing attack upon the modern child, whom he accuses of taking less interest in religious matters than in flying saucers, space-ships, cowboys and Red Indians. His criticisms may be justified, but I am not much Impressed by the evidence with which he supports them. St. James's day,' he is quoted by a local paper as saying, it was surprising that no-one [in the Sunday school] knew where St. James was supposed to be buried. The children knew that St. Peter was burred in Rome, but did not know that St. James was supposed to be buried in Spain at Compostela, not fat from Corunna, a place important in English history.' If this is a fair sample of the kind of religious instruction for which children are expected to be avid, I don't think they can be blamed for preferring science fiction.