Patriot Priests: French Catholic Clergy and National Identity in World War I by Anita Rasi May (review)

Published in the centennial year marking the end of the Great War, Patriot Priests contributes an intriguing new layer to the memory of that devastating conflict—the personal reflections of thirty-three French priests and seminarians drafted in World War I. This exploration, meticulously researched at the Archives nationales, the Archives de l'Armée de la terre, and the Archives historiques de l'Archevêché de Paris, is the first to feature clergymen's own journal entries, letters, and memoirs to recount the extraordinary contributions of these men of peace in a time of war. It might appear incongruent that priests, "schooled for the altar rather than the battlefield" (4), should serve as soldiers. It is all the more remarkable when viewed in the context of the fraught church-state relationship at the time of their conscription. Anita Rasi May provides an enlightening overview of the shifting power struggle between the Catholic Church and the government of the Third Republic that culminated in the expulsion of several religious orders from France and the separation of church and state in 1905. This sets the stage for understanding why, after decades of scorn, suspicion, and exile, clergymen and their superiors viewed the call to arms as a chance to prove their loyalty to France. The absence of any hesitation to sacrifice themselves for their country and for a cause that they felt was noble, just, and righteous is one of the most salient features of the priests' diary entries. While many of these men of the cloth initially hoped their wartime service might win converts to the faith, their writings reveal that over time they were grateful simply to offer their support, whether moral, physical, or spiritual. The Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a stretcher-bearer in the war, wrote: "All this, I hope, will gradually establish me as the priest-comrade to whom a man can turn when things go wrong" (53). Poignant passages elucidate the steadfast dedication of chaplains to provide comfort and solace to the gravely wounded, to assist families in locating their fallen sons, and to ensure that soldiers' sacrifices would not be forgotten, but rather be memorialized after the war. Patriot Priests illustrates how, against the odds, the priests' faithful fight brought them back into French society, earned them a measure of respect, and renewed their sense of connectedness and national identity. Compassionately written with clear prose and careful organization, this text assumes knowledge of the lexicon and hierarchy of the Catholic Church and familiarity with major events in nineteenth and early twentieth-century French history. For educators and students of modern French civilization and culture, the study of World War II is often privileged over that of World War I. Patriot Priests addresses this curricular imbalance by providing readers with personal stories and powerful voices to bring the narrative of that more distant but no less important conflict to life.