THE TABLET Aniil 20tb, 1957. VOL. 209, No. 6100

Published as d Newspaper

T I I E 1A B L . I A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER & REVIEW

FOUNDED IN 840 Pro Ecclesia Dei, Pro Regina et Patria APRIL 20th, 1957

N I N E P E N C E

Hope and 1'earl New Proposals Before the Disarmament Conference

The Victory of Christ: A Meditation for Easter. By Leonard Johnston

Poems for Easter: By Robert Nowell, j. A. Alcock, Hugh Farnash and J. W. G. Heaven Critics' Columns : Notebook : Book Reviews : Letters : Chess

TASKS FOR THE LAITY

“ 1 17ILL April, 1957, mark a decisive date in the. history of

” the Church in France in the twentieth century? ” M. Daniel-Rops asks the question in Carrefour; and he answers: “ Certain signs seem to indicate so —- signs to which one cannot attach too great an importance.” At first sight the question may cause surprise, for all the rumours have concerned the significance of May, when the President of the Republic is to call upon the Pope, so becoming not only the first French President to do so but the first Head of the French State, so it is said, since Charles VIII called on Alexander VI at the end of the fifteenth century, when he was marching against Naples. The rumours have said that a new Concordat, to replace that repudiated half a century ago, may be in prospect; but such speculation we believe to be without foundation. The opinion of M. Daniel-Rops rests upon the indications that the Hierarchy’s plans for filling the gap left by the dispersal of the “ priest-workers,” and indeed for extending the vast work of carrying the faith to a generation of the French workingclass that has so largely lost it, is about to be made public, at least in general outline.

A communiqué drawn up at the spring meeting of the Cardinals and Archbishops of France says that a report from Canon Bonnet, on the problems of the apostolate of the working-class, was considered at that meeting. Canon Bonnet is the first Chaplain-General of the Action catholique ouvrière and, writes M. Daniel-Rops, is “ without doubt the person best placed to know the problem thoroughly and to speak of it pertinently. It was known that his report had made a great impression.” M. Daniel-Rops goes on to say that Cardinal Liénart, Bishop of Lille, who is Ordinary to the Mission de France, is believed to have submitted the plans of the French Hierarchy to the Holy Father during his recent visit to Rome.

Since the end of the “ priest-workers ” experiment—and we still follow M. Daniel-Rops—“ various experiments have been given a trial.” One has been made by Mgr. Ancel, an Auxiliary Bishop of Lyons, long known for his special interest in this field. Another has been made in the “ loop ” of the Seine, near Paris, by a group of parish priests. “ It was obvious that the French Hierarchy, faithful to the promise which it had made three years ago, to consider fundamentally the question of the Mission ouvrière, was studying it carefully.”

M. Daniel-Rops then quotes “ an essential text, hitherto i kept secret ” which has now been published by the Assembly of Cardinals and Archbishops:

“ After hearing the report by le Chanoine Bonnet, the Assembly of Cardinals and Archbishops wishes to express to him their lively satisfaction and profound gratitude for the efforts which he has already made to co-ordinate apostolic projects which affect the Mission ouvrière. The priests in charge of the missionary sectors are meeting regularly. Working commissions have been set up; they have had a first meeting with the Action catholique ouvrière.

“ Hence the Assembly of Cardinals and Archbishops feel that the time has come to create a central organisation of the Mission ouvrière, which will be situated in Paris under Cardinal Feltin, and will assume the name of the National Secretariat of the Mission ouvrière."

Action catholique ouvrière is, like all Catholic Action, essentially a movement of the laity; and M. Daniel-Rops draws special attention, therefore, to the way the Cardinals and Archbishops are closely associating the laity with the task of “ working out new solutions,” following the principles of Canon Cardijn in founding the Jociste movement, which are also, broadly speaking, the princples of Action catholique ouvrière. M. Daniel-Rops goes on: “ It is certainly not by chance that the communiqué of the Cardinals and Archbishops was published a few days before the bi-annual meeting of the leaders and militants of Action catholique ouvrière at Issy-les-Moulineaux on April 12th, 13th and 14th. Hence it is probable that the formula of the workers’ mission which will be sought, and to which the new Secretariat will devote itself, will associate priests and laymen together as intimately as possible in the new scheme of reconquest.”

The formula is evidently a simple one: that while priests and workers cannot be combined in the same persons, there must be the closest possible relationship between them, an active participation by the laity in the work of the Church. Nor, stated like this, is it a new formula. The main difficulty is an obvious one : that the laity, in the nature of the case, are strongest, and most likely to produce the greatest numbers of “ militants,” in the regions which are least “ dechristianised,” and are least likely to be effective in the areas where they are most needed, whereas the clergy can be moved about by their Bishops to the places where they are most needed. But just as the problem of the “ priestworkers ” aroused the keenest interest in many countries outside France, and among many people who are not Catholics, so the new approach to a large part of the French nation will be watched with interest far afield.

But let no English reader of the News Chronicle talk too