THE Rome correspondent of the Tablet takes us to task for our suggestion that the Vatican has supported Signor Mussolini, and that it must now regret its action. We are told that, at the beginning, the Church pointed out the danger of a regime founded on violence, though it welcomed Signor Mussolini’s recognition of Catholic claims. That is true, but the Fascisti diplomatic conciliation of the Church appears to have caused the Vatican to ignore the essentially anti-Christian methods by which Signor Mussolini attained power. That is what we regret. We do not think that it can be seriously denied that the Christian Popular Party would now dominate Italian politics if it had been backed by Rome, and it seems to us that the temporary eclipse of a Catholic peasant party, pledged to Catholic principles and democratic progress, is a calamity not only for Italy but for the whole of Europe. In this connexion we are extremely glad to note that the Tablet warmly welcomes the increasing influence in France of M. Goyau, the leader of the Liberal Catholics, and the determination of influential French ecclesiastics to have no dealings with the irresponsible reactionaries led by M. Léon Daudet, whose Catholicism is little more than a cloak for political intrigue.

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