A Letter to the Pope

The late William Temple was Archbishop of Canterbury for only 30 months (he died in October 1944). But he was a lifelong influence in his church--and still is. Last week two of his letters, published for the first time, stirred a quick ripple of speculation.

They had been written in wartime to Archbishop William Godfrey, papal Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain, for transmission to the Pope. The first (in October 1943), referring to restrictions imposed on the Pope, by the German occupation of Rome, expressed "to His Holiness my profound sympathy and that of multitudes of Englishmen who are not of his obedience." The second, written on Good Friday, 1944, was another message of sympathy that included a prayer for peace and that "the whole fellowship of Christ's disciples may be so guided by the Holy Spirit that we may together declare the Christian principles for the ordering of human life."

Both letters appeared in the unofficial Anglican weekly Church Times, under a covering letter by Canon John A. Douglas, former secretary of the Church of England's Council on Foreign Relations, who took responsibility for withholding them for so long. He was making them public now, he explained, in view of the Lambeth conference now being held in London (TIME, July 12) and the Amsterdam conference of the World Council of Churches, which will take place in August. Said Canon Douglas:

"Dr. Temple was doing what none of his predecessors since the breach between Canterbury and Rome, had done. Nonetheless ... he was fully convinced that for the cause of the solidarity of all Christians and the good of mankind his imperative duty was to establish contact between himself and the Pope. He was inspired by the eager hope that the action he was taking would open the way for official and effective cooperation between Roman and non-Roman Christians in all matters that did not involve dogmatic principles and historical conflicts which divide Christendom. The way being opened, he felt immediate steps might be taken for such cooperation in defining and proclaiming principles for the ordering of human life which Christ revealed as the Divine Will."

Repercussions started popping almost immediately. From Johannesburg came an excited statement from a group of Anglican churchmen denouncing such "secret negotiations." In London, the Catholic Herald deplored the "rumor" that Anglicans "may be seeking spiritual reunion" with the Roman Catholic Church. If the letters were in fact diplomatic feelers, said the Herald, they were "not regarded in that light by the Vatican."

Editorialized the Manchester Guardian: "Into these two letters one may read as much or as little as one chooses. That it should be front-page news for an Archbishop of Canterbury in modern times to pass the time of day . . . with a Pope of Rome is an interesting commentary upon the Church in present-day Europe."

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