In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

.£:!,tters tn Canada: I949 PART II VI. FRENCH-CANADIAN LETTERS w. E. COLLIN The intellectuals of French Canada are chiefly concerned with two problems: peace and the progressive industrialization of the province. Regarding the first problem the consensus of opinion is that peace, real Christian peace, does not exist in the world today; and the general conviction is that peace is necessary to men in their pursuit of happiness and that peace is the safeguard of human values. During the 1948 session of the Semaines Sociales the subject of. peace was treated in all its aspects: the nature and necessity of peace, peace in the individual, peace in the family, social peace, peace between nations, the international organization of peace. The Oblate Father Arthur Caron analysed the situation and presented the Christian solution. Peace, in the Christian acceptation of the word, is essentially an act, a fruit of charity. The Christian humanist interpretation of present conditions was expounded with admirable lucidity by Mgr Vandry in his sermon on "Peace and Social Reform." "In frightful chaos the world today is struggling to find its way without Christ; it will certainly not find it, cannot find it, no more than it will ·find the peace it lost when it lost Christ. 'I am the way,' said Christ. There is no other way that leads to happiness and salvation. . . . Peace is the fruit of the Redemption which came to us through Christ. In that is embodied all the theology of the salvation of the nations." The articles, by various authors, first published in L'Action Nationale and now collected under the title of Pour. gagner la paix are more practical but the morality they preach is identical. They speak of two old enemies: imperialism and communism. Imperialism, though it has changed countenance and shows itself as an economic rather than a political problem, has come dangerously near to us, since its occidental cen_tre, they say, is at ..,, Washington. The third world war will have the character of a holy war against communism. The Dominican Father Louis La· chance, with his mind on "the morality of war," notes that "on 394 LETTERS IN CANADA: 1949 395 the mechanical and scientific plane· human effort has registered considerable advances. The certitude of cosmic unity is an acquired fact. Unfortunately the state of affairs is quite different in· the human universe.... Never have spiritual forces known such regression, such complete resignation." Many other works are concerned with the application of Catholic doctrine to modern conditions. Father Richard Ares's new book is entitled L'Eglise catholique et l'organization de la societe internati·onale contemporaine. M. Marcel Clement's "essay on the economic doctrine of the Church" asks the question: Les Encycliques sont-elles applicables? Madame M.P. Vinay's opinion, expressed in Le Service .sociat is that "social service is efficacious in the degree to which it conforms to Catholic principles." In other works we sense a desire to remind the FrenchCanadian people of the religious bases of their unity, to warn .them of religious or intellectual enemies, or to give them prophetic vision. Father Fernand Porter's book on L'institution catechistique au Canada is ostensibly a study of the catechisms used in Quebec from 1633 to 1833; but the author's n1ain purpose is to mark the religious mentality, the unity of mind and conscience, of the· French~Canadian people. The formation of the religious mentality of the people was the work of parents under the direction of the priests; and the manual of instruction was the catechism which ensured unity of faith and thought. In their collection "Philosophie et problemes contempo.rains," Fides have published a work by Father Julien Peghaire, Regards sur le connaitre) which has all the appearances of a philosophical treatise; but on page 129 we come upon a clue to another purpose . The author reflects: The war cut us off from France. No more French books, no more reviews, no more lecturers from France for six years. Cultivated minds on the banks of the St. Lawrence felt a sudden hunger for French books: philosophy, history, literature. Father Peghaire fears and wants to arm his students against the impact of...

pdf

Share