, g CAN THE POPE SPEAK ?"
Sit,—" Can the Pope Speak? " by Christopher Hollis, is a yen interesting and valuable article. But how can a writer of such keen intelligence believe and maintain (as he appears to do) that the present conflict is simply or primarily one of nation against nation? Someone (his name escapes me at the moment) has described it with a great measure of truth as an international civil war. In every country enslaved by Hitler, beginning, of course, with Germany her- self, there are those who have kept their minds free of his poison- who are silent partisans of Truth against Falsehood and of the Rif:hi against the Wrong. Whether these people are few or many is nothr.g to the present purpose. They cannot be numbered among t le military "effectives" of the side which they support. But they are there; and in such ways as are open to them are making—never doubt itl—their contribution.
This is not a war of Britain against Germany, but of the whole world's Good against the whole world's Evil. More than that, this dash of guns and 'planes and tanks is not the real conflict, but a shadow of that, cast from the soul of man, where the true battle rages? on the visible surface of the world—for a moment It is the culmination of the secular strife between Antichrist and Christ ; and not only in every nation involved, but in every individual breast the fox ces are divided. This may not be clear to Mr. Hollis, but it must be clear to His Holiness, who cannot still be thinking (if he ever did think) in terms of Right and Left, not Right and Wrong. If he has not spoken yet, I dare swear it is because he has been prevented so far from doing so ; and I hope and believe that the attempt to muzzle turn will suddenly and dramatimlly fail.—Yours faithfully,
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