THE GIBRALTAR DIOCESE AND THE ARMY
SIR,—" Janus's " concluding paragraph in your December toth issue gives encouragement to us of the Gibraltar Diocese because it demon- strates that he—unlike some of our leading publicists—is actually aware of the existence of that Diocese, and of its claims and rights.
His doubts about the irregularity of the Bishop of Southwark's apparent " intrusion" may be set at rest by the knowledge that that prelate sots to Italy at the instance of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Gibraltar himself.
Bishop Buxton, who has visited the war zone once, or even twice, each year, happens -to be engaged at the western end of his diocese shortly, and the Bishop of Southwark is now to help him in Italy, as he recently helped the Bishop in North Africa by confirming soldiers in Algiers.
The Service chaplains who prepge the troops for confirmation are, of course, under the Itnisdiction of their own chaplains-general, but they naturally look to our Bishop for all episcopal functions in the Mediter- ranean area ; and our diocesan relations with the King's Forces have been most cordial all along.
It is to be hoped that after the war some of the Service chaplains may feel a call to come and help us permanently on terrain with which their war experience has made them familiar.—Yours faithfully, LONSDALE RAGG, Archdeacon of Gibraltar. [Janus writes: Archdeacon Ragg puts the word " intrusion " in in- verted commas. It does not occur in my paragraph.]
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