SIR,—Surely Mr. Waugh's assumption that in your leading article, 'Christian
Unity,' your reference to 'the Church' was to the Church of England is erroneous. As I read it, the writer was using 'Church' in the sense of Pro- testant Christians, namely, as an invisible association of Christians of all denominations. Mr. Waugh, on the other hand, thinks of 'the Church' as a visible organisation founded by Christ Himself, and with us today in the form of the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Waugh and your leader-writer arc not in disagree- ment they are talking about different things. The dispute about religious dogmas 'bursting the bounds'of propositions' also appears a ver- bal one, since presumably Mr. Waugh would agree that theological definitions, however learned, do not exhaust dogmatic truths. Every such definition is bound to be inadequate since it attempts to express the infinite in terms of the finite.
Mr. Waugh is, however, too mild when he describes the tone of your article, 'Medicine and Miracle,' as 'formally polite.' Calcu- latedly offensive would be a better description. Your correspondent ignores the principal fac- tor in an admittedly unfortunate situation: the desire of the Pope to keep the news of his vision secret. When this was no longer possible owing to an irresponsible journalist, the Osser- vwore Romano was forced to make an official statement. The implication that the Vatican approved of the journalist's action is simply false. The notion that anybody in the Vatican is in a position to control the sensation- mongers and gossips of the Roman press merely shows how little your correspondent knows about life in the eternal city.—Yours faithfully,
NORMAN ST. IOHN-STEVAS
Grace Dieu Manor House, Whit wick, Leicestershire •
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