A

TH ;
THE NATION

By TIM ‘BUCK

.

Catholic excommunication order
‘last resort’ against progress

_DECREE of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy
a etipe of the Roman Catholic Church has ordered
Who 1, ecomMUnication from that church of all those
obh nN their politica} activity are guided by the philos-
. y of Marxism. This decree will be popularized em-
; Atically in every Catholic parish. Inasmuch as more
sa 40 percent of all the people in Canada are at least
a Roman Catholics, it will become an important
"e of Canadian politics. Making the Catholic church
a2 evowedly militant spearhead of a drive to destroy
in pian will speed up the changes already started
© Political life of our country.

What is the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Of-
Se Which thus, Subject only to the authority of the

Pe, decides that in today's historic struggle to de-
ne whether mankind shall progress to socialism
higher civilization, all Catholics must be on the
°f monopoly capital and reaction.

fice

tht The Holy Office of the Roman Catholic Church is
tone apartment that was once referred to in hushed
he. as “The Inquisition.” It was first instituted by
dunk, Gregory in 1229 and charged with the ‘discovery,
We Shment and prevention of heresy.” Its activities
oa © justifieq by the argument, still maintained, that
or jhas no right and must be abandoned or up-

ing phe Holy Office reached the peak of its power dur-
is he ferocities of the Spanish Inquisition, The Span-
Sixt Nquisition was set up under the authority of Pope
ni Us IV for the purpose of taking action against the
Deo ‘hae groups of “Maranos.” The Maranos were
Olige € Who were converted from Judaism to the Cath-
Th Church but lapsed back to their original religion.
Nquisition developed a system of interrogations,
rig Tes and horrible executions, accounts of which hor-
€cent people to this day.

Having proceeded against those who admitted hav-
reverted to Judaism, the Holy Office learned that
0 Ne Many who did not admit reverting showed signs
exte esing in observance of the faith, so action was
Step yo to deal with them. From that it was a short
Afte © action against the Christian Moors in Spain.
Pecteg that the Inquisition tackled all who were  sus-

ig Of apostasy (in revolt), Jews, Moors and Span-
Tds alike.

ing
a

ig The Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, which
by ta Congregation in the generally accepted sense
Ministry of a church government, was set up in
Sit Ma reorganization of the Universal Roman Inqui-
int Has Its duties are the judging of heresy, the examina-
Other wt Prohibition of books dangerous to the faith or
Marnie pernicious, to emphasize the impediments to
Pring ees of Catholics to non-Catholics, and so on. The
ig th Ple upon which the Sacred Congregation operates
Cannee , Outside the Catholic Church there is not and
@ tbe any truth.” :

Bitrer he decree issued from the Holy Office last week
Sety from decrees issued in the past in that it openly
Punt elie against established governments of their
Cie. Ss

i that Most of those Catholics have supported. It is
DonitiPrecedented act of interference in the internal

tio of sovereign states, It goes further than dicta-
hot to Catholics in those countries that they must
Prey, ore to Marxism. It sets the pope’s claim to su-
ent, Y against the established supremacy of govern-

in the New Democracies and the USSR.

Rta For & citizen of Poland, Czechoslovakia, - Hungary,
to ae Obey that edict in a literal way he would have
to 5, Sobey ‘the governtnent. He would have to refuse
Woy sed: Many government proclamations. Certainly he
§Dre have to refuse to read or participate in the wide-

discussion of the arguments for and against pro-
Mtryggisolicies and measures to strengthen socialist con-

ing * Vatican press statement suggests that thé sweep-
tiga Character of the decree may be modified in prac-
Wheth,, 8Tanting parish priests authority to decide
&q a) <P individuals should be excommunicated or grant-
the ; lution. Actual result would be to make the priest
Wo Se of the political opinions of every man and
tena In his parish—with power to excommunicate
the ders, No wonder an Italian Communist paper called
® ““cree an act of the policies of hate.

yen? What the Italian paper said we must add that,
of th More than its emphasis upon hate, the significance
the 3, “ecree is to be seen in the fact that it is literally
the last resort of the Vatican in its war to prevent

"nsition to socialism, The threat of excommuni-

and against national economic aims and poli-_

cation is the supreme weapon of the Vatican but the
results of more limited use of the weapon suggest that
it will fail. :

In 1921 the Holy Office forbade any Catholic to
have any contact with the Young Men's Christian As-
sociation. That instruction included the following sweep-
ing injunction: “The Sacred Congregation asks that in
each region an official act of the Hierarchy declare
duly forbidden all the daily organs, periodicals and
other publications of these societies... .”

That decree was still in force during the recent war
but thousands of Catholic servicemen ,used YMCA fa-
cilities, The same thing happened when the Vatican
sought to prevent Catholics from joining non-Catholic
service clubs such as Rotary, etc.

Within countries in which socialism is being built
under the leadership of the working class this reckless
attempt to use the Vatican's power of excommunication
in SuQoort of the landlords, the bankers and foreign im-
perialists will fail. In countries where capitalism is
still strong the most important efect of the edict will
be to bring vividly to the attention of thousands of think-
ing Catholic workers the fact that the Vatican is allying
itself more and more definitely with Wall Street—
against the people and their strivings to make the world
freer and better for all.

MLA’‘s STATEMENT

‘Expulsion no cure

for CCF illness’

Following is the text of two statements, one is-
sued by Fred Tipping, newly elected chairman of the
Manitoba CCF, who resigtied his post after the recent
convention endorsed the Atlantic pact, the other by
two expelled CCF MLAs, Berry Richards and Wilbert
Doneleyko.

“Tipping’s statement to the CCF provincial council
read in part:

“The Yeasons for my refusal are simple. Through-
out all my life I have been a loyal member of the
democratic labor movement. On several occasions, and
this is true of many of my colleagues, I have been in
opposition to the majority.... ~ :

“I happen to disagree with the overwhelming ma-
jority on the matter of the Atlantic pact. The attempt
of anyone to construe my opposition to the pact as
springing from sympathy with the Communists,
Communist views would be both: untrue and vicious,
I have fought communism too long and too openly for
such @ perversion of the truth to hurt me. (

“Discussion which took place after my election to
office revealed how great was the difference in the
views held by myself and those held by a great majority
of the party. The party has in spite of this cifference

asked me to reconsider my resignation. This I have
declined to do.

“This is democracy in action: Democracy which has
regard for honest differences of opinion, democracy
which refuses to be stampeded by labelling as ‘Com-

munist’ all those with whom we disagree.”

The statement released by Richards and Doneleyko
declared: :

“The decision of the convention was no surprise
to us. For some time it has been evident that the OCF
leadership has decided that the progressive section of
th CCF was to be eliminated. This will not cure the
illness that besets the CCF.

: “Until the CCF re-dedicates itself to the socialist
principles of the Regina manifesto it will serve no use-
ful purpose in Canadian politics,

“As long as the CCF blindly follows the foreign
policy of the Liberal government and the capitalist
forces of the United States, it is harming the interests
of Canadian farmers and workers.

“Capitalist interests in this country and the United
States are taking us into a period of misery, unemploy-
ment and fascism. Their strongest weapon is that of
accusing all their opponents of being Communists. It
has reached the stage now where all who disagree with
the policies of big business are branded Communists
' “This poison has, unfortunately, infected the CCF,
thus makjng-it unable to render any useful’ sérvice to
the people. It is to be hoped that the CCF will correct
these errors and put itself in a position to Wage an
effective fight against capitalism.

“Our efforts in attempting to change CCF policy
regarding the Marshall plan and the Atlantic pact were
sincere, designed to save the party from compromising
its basic principles.”

or pro- |

IN MANITOBA By JOHN MARHALL

CCF right wing
deepens split

(ete eae by the recent Manitoba CCF convention

of Berry Richards and Wilbert Doneleyko, CCF
MLAs who opposed the Atlantic pact and the Marshall
plan, was a foregone conclusion. But. it turned out to
be far from the cut-and-dried affair the right-wing
leadership had planned. It was only after 3 hours and
45 minutes of heated debate, in closed session, that
the expulsion was finally passed. Despite Pressure from
above, 18 delegates voted against the motion, as against
56 who supported it.

Every attempt was made to convince delegates that
the issue was the conduct and loyalty of elected rep-
resentatives—not policy; and that the two MLAs had
deliberately sacrificed the 800d of the party by their
public pronouncements, thus acting “in a way calcu-
lated to injuré the CCF.” But the resolution also state@
that whereas ERP and the North Atlantic pact “have
become part of the basic policy of the CCF,” and
whereas Richards and Doneleyko have acted “in op-
position to the above policy,” they should be expelled.

If some delegates ' were confused or intimidated by
such arguments, considerably more than 18 delegates
must have been in fundamental] agreement with the
two MLAs on policy. As it was, there was no opportun-
ity to debate foreign policy until after the expulsion
move, and ithen only -in a closed session from which
the two membérs were excluded, even as visitors. Hence
at least 25 percent of CCF’ members must be in sym-
pathy with the socialist position of Richards and Donel-
eyko, expulsion or no expulsion,

The xight-wingers, far from having ‘solved their
problem, have deepened a basic split within the party.
And they have further weakened the COF as a party
which at one time might have provided an alternative
to the old-line parties of monopoly capital.

e

That the expulsion had been Planned for weeks
was made evident by statements of the provincial ex-
ecutive and leading spokesmen. Donovan Swailes, pro-
vincial secretary, said weeks ago that this time the
executive “meant business.’”’ On July 6 the Winnipeg
Free Press heralded the anticipated: “moderate-leftist
showdown.” It quoted the Saskatchewan Commonwealth
as forecasting “expulsion of the leaders of the group”
of 11 CCF members in Manitoba who signed the April
16 letter raising doubts as to official policy on the pact
and the plan. j

Winnipeg North Center MP Stanley Knowles stated:
“It is evident that certain persons, including Berry
Richards, are in the CCF only to harm it. There is
no room in the party for this kind of mischief-making,
which is an attempt to deflect the CCF from its main
job.” In such a context, the convention had every ap-
pearance of being carefully rigged to ensure the as-
cendancy of the right wing.

Debates on foreign policy came only after the ex-
pulsion, Its holding in closed session Was severely criti-
cized by Richards. “It is positive proof,” he said, “that
the ruling circles of the CCF are determined to per-
petuate the myth ‘that the CCF is solidly behind the
Marshall plan and the Atlantic pact.’ It is well known
that a large section of the CCF is strongly opposed to
the party’s foreign policy. There are many at this con-,
vention, including the vice-chairman of the party (Fred
Tipping). These people will be opposing Party policy
on the floor, but their voices wil] be muzzled. The
public is left with the impression that Richards and
Doneleyko are the only ‘dissidents.’ It is regrettable
that a party aspiring to gain the support of the people
is afraid to expose its deliberations to public scrutiny.”

First decision of this closed session was to rescind
the motion of the 1948 convention in opposing the Mar-
Shall plan as a capitalist scheme of economic interfer-
€nce in the internal affairs of Europe and to “endorse
the stand of the 1948 national convention with respect
to the European Recovery Program.”

Next step was to give the convention’s “support to
the national council and Manitoba provincial council
and executive in the stand they have taken with respect
to the Atlantic security pact.” The pact, it said, “is
necessary to give a feeling of security to the democratic
nations of Europe.”

Officials claimed “overwhelming” support for the
pact. But by this fime delegates, under threat of being
branded “disloyal,” were voting to present a united
front, for the “good of the party.”

Convention then voted down a résolution from the
Flin Flon CCF unit that would rededicate the CCF to
the anti-iniperialist stand of the 1933 Regina manifesto,
basic party document,

Here is the resolution voted down:

“Whereas, in the Regina manifesto the CCF dedi-
cated itself to work for ‘a foreign policy désigned to
obtain international economic cooperation and to proe-
mote disarmament and world peace’ and further
stated, ‘we believe that genuine international coopera-
tion is incompatible with the capitalist regime that
is in force in most countries, and

“Whereas, present trends to rearmament in the
world are due to the attempt of capitalism to extend
its area of exploitation and at the same time to dis-
guise effects of the pending depression in the cap-
italist world, therefore

“This convention reaffirms its faith in disarma-
ment and econemic coaperation among nations, and
States that until the world rids itself of the capitalist
system, we will never be free from the threat of war.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 29, 1949—PAGE 9