National Patriotism in Papal Teaching by John J. Wright (review)

Abstract

322 FRANCISCAN STUDIES decrees of the Biblical Commission concerning the Old Testament, giving the reason for them and their necessity, nature, and purpose. He also deals with historical criticism of the Old Testament and biblical teaching in our sem­ inaries and higher institutes of learning. This chapter is very enlightening and has special interest and utility for the professor of scripture. Throughout the book the bibliography is copious, set in footnotes of smaller type, which do not at all detract from the readableness of the text and are very handy for reference. To this bibliography the author adds bio­ graphical notes which are very helpful in understanding the critical school. An excellent index of names is also appended. The work is not to be considered a direct refutation of Wellhausenism or the critical school. For the greater part the author lets the critics speak for themselves and among themselves, as the title of the book indicates. In­ directly, however, the fallacies and exaggerations of Wellhausenism are brought out in bold relief. In the third chapter the Catholic scholar will find directives for his attitude towards the critics and the work that they have accomplished. An antagonistic attitude should not be taken towards everything that the critics have written; but what good results there may be, should be gleaned and used to strengthen our own position in the defense of Holy Scripture and its explanation, always under the wise guidance of the Church to whom the Scriptures are entrusted. This book is indispensable to the Scripture student and will prove very useful to the Catholic scholar in general. It should be on the shelves of every library. Father Coppens has certainly done a great service for the Catholic student in writing this work. Although at times he complains of the limitations of space imposed upon him, the results are fortuitous, for in the matter of biblical criticism there is often danger of not being able to see the woods for the trees. The author has covered the whole field of critical literature, which is in itself an enormous task, and has clearly and briefly given us the results of his extensive and intensive research. The translators also merit our appre­ ciation for making this work available to English readers. K evin Sm y t h , O. F. M. Ca p . St. Anthony Friary, Marathon, Wis. National Patriotism in Papal Teaching. (A dissertation for the Doctorate in Sacred Theology submitted to the Theological Faculty of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.) By John J. Wright. (Boston, Mass.: The Stratford Company, 1942. Pp. LIII + 358.) This is a very timely study in moral theology, which employs the pro­ nouncements of the Sovereign Pontiffs from Leo XIII to Pius XI as the source from which to draw the Church’s doctrine on modern patriotism. Dividing his subject into three major sections, Dr. Wright first determines the nature and object of the virtue of patriotism; he then sets forth the papal teaching on the principal obligations of modern patriotism, and finally dis­ cusses the relation between national patriotism and International Order. BOOK REVIEWS 323 The book will serve as an excellent reference-work for those who seek information concerning papal teaching on the important virtue of patriotism. The list of papal documents on the subject is well-ordered and includes not only encyclical letters, apostolic constitutions, and apostolic letters but also special messages, homilies, allocutions, and discourses of the popes and sev­ eral documents issued by the Dicasteries of the Holy See. This list alone would make the work extremely valuable. In using these papal declarations the author makes clear the attitude of the Holy See towards such interesting questions as the so-called "right of self-determination” invoked in the organization of the political order of Europe after World War I. The documents also aid in the solution of two "difficult cases” which must be pressing problems in Europe today, namely, the moral duty of collaborating with a vicious government or with a govern­ ment set up by a foreign aggressor. As to the first and more difficult case, Dr. Wright finds that "the condemnation of unjust rebellion and violence is ex­ plicit, categoric...