(Photo © International News Service.)
German Gun in the Bismarck Fortress, Tsing-Tau, Crumpled by Japanese and British Shells.
(Photos by Paul Thompson.)
Patriotism and Endurance
By Cardinal D.J. Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
[Copyright by Burns & Oates, Ltd., 28 Orchard Street, London. All rights reserved.]
Here is the celebrated Christmas pastoral letter of Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines. It is the first authentic translated copy of the now famous document to be received in America. The letter has caused a worldwide sensation because of its bold appeal to the Belgian people. Its publication resulted in the detention of the Cardinal by the Germans in his palace and a consequent protest by the Pope and throughout the whole Roman Catholic world.
The first reports of the arrest of the Cardinal were denied by the German authorities. Subsequently an official report made to the Pope stated that 15,000 copies of the pastoral letter were seized in Malines and destroyed, the printer being fined; that the Cardinal was detained in his palace during all Jan. 4; that he was prevented by German officers on Jan. 3 from presiding at a religious ceremony; that they subjected him to interrogations and demanded of him a retraction, which he refused to make. The English reprint of the Cardinal's letter is copyrighted by Burns & Oates, Ltd., 28 Orchard Street, London. The New York Times Current History reproduces it by permission.