Forty Years Ago

Forty years ago, Crisis Magazine launched.

And its founders/editors spoke well of war--for certain causes.

A few excerpts:

...There were many crises in 1941, Niebuhr wrote, but only one the crisis the intention of Hitler’s armies in extinguish Christian civilization in Europe. “Our civilization was built by faith and prayers and hard work,” he wrote “—and it was also built by fighting.”...

... Is there a Christian minister who believes that the rights which he daily enjoys and which he takes for granted, like the air he breathes, would be his to enjoy unless these rights had been fought for by Cromwell, by William of Orange and by Washington? ...

The Church Militant?  You betcha!!

And a word to our priests:

...Third is the aggrandizement of the clergy. Even as the distinction between vocations (manifested even in dress) is being fudged, clergymen are everywhere preempting lay roles. There is a manifest and tangible clericalization of the Catholic church, worse now than before the Council. More and more often, priests and bishops make political, economic and social pronouncements about the temporal order, to which the laity is expected solely to react. This is an inversion of vocations and roles. It thwarts the normal workings of grace and personal vocation. It compounds mutual weaknesses. It invites hubris....

Some 'conservative' priests have been known for this sort of thing, and at least two of them (to our knowledge, here in Wisconsin) have been told to cut it out; one is resisting, the other--thankfully--obeyed.

As to the 'liberal' priest-politicians?  They're doing very well, thanks!!

The editorial is interesting, as is the commentary from today's editor.  Worth the read.