Page 29 Advertisement 1

New Zealand Tablet, 20 February 1919, Page 29

; FRANCE AND CHRISTIANITY. The Catholics of France have had a very large share in the great work of winning the victory that has ended the - war. . They have proved in the fiery furnace in which they have been tried that they are free from dross. Other sections of the population have produced men who have been convicted of traitorism, but the fidelity of the Catholics to their country is undisfigured, entire. They have therefore displayed whole-hearted joy in the triumph of the Allies. . But at present they are in an anxious mood (says the Catholic Times). Though the British and American forces have had much intercourse with the French troops, and both Great Britain and the United States have publicly acknowledged the debt of gratitude they owe to God for success in the war, the French Government has not officially recognised that duty, and now the Catholics of France are afraid that, with its approval, the old attacks on the faith and the crusade for the secularisation of education will be resumed. The remedy—and no other remedy seems possibleis to organise the electoral forces and make sure that they are on their side. The date of the general election cannot be far off, and the impression created by the self-sacrifices of the Catholic clergy and laity during the past four years ought to render hopeful the prospect ■ of inducing the voters to choose representatives favorable to the Catholic creed.