. CATHOLIC PERSECUTION IN SPAIN SIR,—Although I do not agree
with most of the state- ments in the letters appearing in your issue of June 17 under the heading 'Catholic Persecution in Spain,' I shall only confine myself to one point.
In Spain it can be said that over 99 per cent. of the population is born in the Catholic faith, and conse- quently it seems reasonable to assume that in principle the majority of those in prison in Spain are, at least nominally, Catholics and, naturally, they arc there not because of their faith, but for the offences they have committed. This would also apply to persons who have conspired against the security of the State, or to those who, being public servants, have abused the trust placed in them as such. In the same way, persons in Great Britain undergoing a prison sentence are not there because they belong to any particular denomination, but because they have com- mitted some crime.
I fully endorse the remark made by Mr. Bruce M. Cooper when he says that 'sometimes it happens that a false or distorted picture has been presented and then one looks a goon for having responded to every appeal submitted.' In the circumstances, do you not think it would be advisable if your correspondents— whether Catholic or Protestant—were to go to Spain to ascertain the true facts about this so-called 'persecution of Catholics'?—Yours faithfully,
Previous page
