HOLY SEE AND THE WAR.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1499, 20 January 1916, Page 2

HOLY SEE AND THE WAR.

“Thk position of the Holy See in regard to the war,” said Monsignor Cerretti, Papal Delegate, who was welcomed at Wellington on Monday, ‘‘is one of the strictest neutrality. The Holy Father is the Father of all Catholics in all nations and of all peoples, and consequently cannot favour one nation against another. In all his official publications the Holy Father has made it perfectly clear that this attitude will be maintained. This does not mean that the Holy Father approves or does not approve oi the systems and methods employed by one nation or another in carrying on the war, or that he approves in any acts of obvious injustice. In fact, he has already protested against some of those acts, but that is not a breach of neutrality.” Of the services rendered to the Allies by soldier priests at the front his Excellency spoke with ready enthusiasm. Italy has about 20,000 priests at the front. Some are chaplains, some are in the hospitals, and some are in the firing line; but all of military age have to serve. Some have been killed, and in both Italy and France many fighting priests have received decorations for valour. In Germany and Austria priests were not compelled to serve.,

In all the forces, added bis Excellency, Catholics are playing a pro mineut part, and it was likely that the ‘esults of the war, as far as the Catholicity was concerned, would be very considerable. Already there had been a marked religious revival in France and Italy, and in Australia the number ot Catholics who had enlisted with the Expeditionary Forces was so large as to require the services ot a quite exceptional number of chaplains.