Oldal 6 [6]
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which the dying French philosopher and writer Smmanuel Mounier put
dow in his last article entitled "Fidelity" (“Esprit~, Febryary 1950,
pp.179-180): Our fight for the human person does not exclude the
duty we have to
avoid, by strong patience and desinterested understanding, tnat
a break should occur between communism and the rest of the
nations Today, just as much as in the past, we have to watch
over this coherence, as communism is still the large majority
of the proletariate ess
Nounier's numeroug disciples -—- all “Christian intellectuals* - follow
this line and even gone farther tha} their master's teachinge
These so-called progressist attitudes of close cooperation
with, the left on social issues are clearly expressed in the utterances
of “Monde Uuvrier", the review of the extreme wing and minority group
within the GPTC, the Christian Labor Union. {hey are contained, in a
more subtle and less persistent way, in certain columms of “Masses
@uyvixuxes Vuvrieres"® and "Terre Humaine“, tvo Christian reviews, of
which the first ip connected with a Catholic workers! liovement, the
second with Etienne Borne's left-wing MRPs ouch publications - whether
press al or intermittently progressist - are a stab in the back directa
Fs those Christian workers and Labor leaders who courageously
oppose marxism in the industrial workd.
French Christians and intellectual Leaders in the pacifist
front: the neutroalistss
The Fajon report of the French Communist rarty sSecretariate,
as summarized above, has expressed self-criticism at its "sectarian"
attitudee It has pledged itself to more dynamic initiative in a great
peace front ke oppo ing American imperialism ani varmongerse
Intensified propaganda, in view of that decisive and immediate goal,
has lead to a strong re-enforcement of the neutralist atmosphere in
France: Christian thinkers and fervent patriots, .ho hd upheld the
ideals of peace and of French independence, found themselves suddenly
to be all-out allies of communists on many vital issues in public life.
This general disconcert appeared Very openly in a press
campaign of which Monsignor Ancel, Auxiliary Bishop of Lyon, had
become the unwilling byt unfortunate hero. In Denember 1951 and
January 1952, he had published in the review "L"Essor" of St.ktienne,
a series of articles presenting the following thesis: total condemmatic
of any preventive war, of any “liberating" invasion or revolution and
of any participation in such action; absolute justification and even
binding duty to lead a defensive war in case of unprovoked agressione
Unfortunately, the practical examples used to explain the theory,
were chosen by its author from the present international situation
and were presented in an extremely simplified, almost naiv ways This
fact opened the door to more confusion and heated debate than to the
clarification which the bishop had hoped forfle Such unexpected
opportunity of creating further confusion among Catholics, was not lost
62,