The War and the Churches | Page 9

in Rome, pass some grave
censure on the outrages committed by Catholic Bavarians in Belgium
or Catholic Magyars in Serbia. Not one syllable either on the
responsibility for the war or the appalling outrages which have
characterised it has come from him. The only event which drew from
him a protest--a restrained and inoffensive remonstrance--was the
confinement to his palace for some days of my old friend and teacher,
Cardinal Mercier! To the stories of fearful and widespread outrage,
even when they were sternly authenticated, he was deaf. One knows
why. If Germany and Austria fail in this war, as they will fail, the
Catholic bodies of Germany and Austria, the strongest Catholic
political parties in Europe, will be broken. Millions of the Catholic
subjects of Germany and Austria will pass under the rule of
unbelieving France or schismatical Russia. So the supreme head of the

Roman Church wraps himself nervously in a mantle of political
neutrality and disclaims the duty of assigning moral guilt.
On us in England was laid only the task of defending our homes and
our honour. It is in those other countries that we most clearly see
Christianity put to the test, and failing deplorably under the test. I do
not mean that there was no opportunity here for the Churches to display
their effectiveness as the moral guides of nations. In those fateful years
between 1908 and 1914, during which we now see so plainly the
preparation for this world-tragedy, they might have done much. They
did nothing. They might have seen, at least at the eleventh hour, the
iniquity of sustaining the military system, and have cast the whole of
their massive influence on the side of the promoters of arbitration. I do
not mean that any man should advocate disarmament, or less effective
armament, in England while the rest of the world remains armed. As
long as we retain the military system instead of an international court,
the soldier's profession is honourable, and the man who voluntarily
faces the horrors of the field is entitled to respect and gratitude. But in
every country there was an agitation for the general abandonment of
militarism and the substitution of lawyers for soldiers in the settlement
of international quarrels. Had the Churches in every country given their
whole support to this agitation, and insisted that it is morally criminal
for the race as a whole to prolong the military system, we might not
have witnessed this great catastrophe.
Before, however, I press this charge against the Christian bodies, let me
discuss the third plea that may be urged in defence of the Churches. It
is the plea of those who are so eager to disclaim responsibility that they
are willing to allow an enormous decay of religious influence in the
modern world. You have repeatedly told us, they say to the Rationalist,
that Christianity has lost its hold on Europe. You speak of millions who
no longer hear the word of Christian ministers, but who do read
Rationalist literature in enormous quantities. Very well, you cannot
have it both ways. Let us admit that the nations of Europe have become
non-Christian, and we cast on your non-Christian influence the burden
of responsibility for the war.

This language has been used more than once in England. It leaves the
speaker free to assume that in England, whose action in the war we do
not criticise, the nation remains substantially Christian, while in
Germany and Austria the Churches have lost more ground. Indeed, one
may almost confine attention to Germany. Profoundly corrupt as
political life has been in Austria-Hungary for years, there is no little
evidence in the official publications of diplomatic documents that at the
last moment, when the spectre of a general war definitely arose, Austria
hesitated and entered upon a hopeful negotiation with Russia. It was
Germany's criminal ultimatum to Russia which set the avalanche on its
terrible path. Now Germany is notoriously a land of religious criticism
and Rationalism. Church-going in Berlin is far lower even than in
London, where six out of seven millions do not attend places of
worship. It is almost as low as at Paris, where hardly a tenth of the
population attend church on Sundays. In other large towns of Germany
the condition is, as in England, proportionate. Almost in proportion to
the size of the town is the aversion of the people from the Churches.
It is absolutely impossible in the case of Germany to determine, even in
very round numbers, how many have abandoned their allegiance to
Christianity, though, when one remembers the enormous rural
population and the high proportion of believers in the smaller towns, it
seems preposterous to suggest that the country has, even to the extent
of one half, become non-Christian. But I am anxious