THE proposal that the Bishop of Birmingham [Ernest William Barnes] should be extricated from his diocese by an appointment to the deanery of Westminster cannot be regarded by Catholics as satisfactory, though such an arrangement would no doubt bring welcome relief to the unfortunate Catholic priests in the Birmingham diocese. But we fail to see why the Abbey, with its great Catholic associations, should be treated as a Modernist preserve. It cannot be pleaded for Dr. Barnes that he possesses even the qualifications of Dean Stanley. Stanley was a Broad Churchman and he regarded the Abbey rather as an historical museum than a church, but he was an accomplished historian, and the Abbey’s historical associations were very dear to him. Dr. Barnes’s intellectual reputation was won on different fields, and we should doubt if the Abbey’s history appeals more to him than its Catholic traditions.

The Church Times digital archive is available free to subscribers.