The National Catholic Almanac (review)

BOOK REVIEWS331 original Marxian form and its later developments, with a critical analysis of Dialectical and Historical Materialism, of the economic conceptions and the attitude in regard to religion. Three appendixes deal with: Philosophy and Communism, Religion in Soviet Russia, Communism in Brazil. Obviously written for the general reader, this slender volume summarizes ably the problems and states impressively the objections against communism. The sbort bibliography lists only publications in Portuguese. RUDOLF ALLERS Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. The National Catholic Almanac. Compiled by the Franciscan Clerics of Holy Name College, Washington, D.C. Paterson, N.J.: St. Anthony Guild Press, 1949. Pp. 832. $1.50. The National Catholic Almanac compiled by the Franciscan clerics of Holy Name College, Washington, D.C. has become a fixture among Catholic publications in the United States. Any book that is published yearly for forty-three years must have undoubted merits. If you have ever consulted the Almanac you will know that the sentence on the cover "A Complete Catholic Library in One Volume" is not hyperbole. For both Catholic and non-Catholic citizens there is a wealth of information on topics of current and enduring interest, e.g., Church doctrine, practice, history and organization; religious orders; missions; recent developments in the field of religion; government matters and statistics; scientific information; sports records; general statistics; information on books and periodicals, etc. There is an especially wellwritten and concise digest of the events—secular and religious—of the past year. Perhaps among the most distinctive features of the Almanac are the short historical sketches on subjects such as "The Church- In Latin America". This reviewer happens to know, through personal contact with former editors of the Almanac how much painstaking work goes into these historical articles in an effort to keep them concisely correct. There is a section called "Catholic Ready Reference," however, which 332BOOK REVIEWS could stand a closer scrutiny in future editions. In this section, short definitions of words like "Abbess" "Alma Mater" "Beatitudes" "Tonsure" etc. are given. Some of these definitions are marvels of conciseness and correctness. But a few of them are a trifle ambiguous. For instance, "General Absolution" is called "a blessing of the Church to which a plenary indulgence is attached." In the next sentence, the text continues: "It also is given without confession of sin...to soldiers on the battlefield " (p. 206). Evidently these are not one and the same thing, although one could obtain that impression from the Almanac. On p. 213 under "Burial" the list of those to whom ecclesiastical burial is denied should have been qualified by the inclusion of the restrictive phrase contained in No. 1240 of Canon Law, sc, "unless they (apostates, schismatics, etc.) have given some signs of repentance before death". I hope the editors will take these criticisms in the spirit in which they are given. It is precisely because this "Ready Reference" is such an important and well-written section that even more care and attention should be given to each definition so that exactness and completeness will be evident to all the readers. May the Almanac keep up and even surpass the high standards set by this 1949 edition! MATHIAS KIEMEN, O.F.M. St. Joseph Seminary, Teutopolis, Illinois. La Filosofía de la ley según Domingo de Soto-. By Alfonso Zahar Vergara. Mexico: Editorial Jus, 1946. Pp. 173. The first two chapters of this small volume describe the intellectual and spiritual situation in Spain at the time of the Council of Trent, the leading personalities, especially of Francisco de Vittoria, Melchor Cano, and Juan de Mariana, and briefly, the life of de Soto. The other three chapters summarize de Soto's legal philosophy as laid down in his work De justitia et jure. The treatise follows closely the doctrine of St. ...