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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2015
Kenneth O. Morgan has argued that in 1945 it was ‘generally acknowledged that British society had undergone a massive transformation during the war years …’ The impact of World War Two on British society has been explored perceptively by Marwick and others. However, there has been little attempt to examine the impact of the war on the churches in Britain. This is especially the case with the Roman Catholic Church. The more general works have little to say of the Catholic church during this period. There have been some limited regional studies of Catholicism in the pre-war period but it is only for the post-war period, prior to and since the Second Vatican Council, that there has been any systematic attempt to examine structural changes in Catholicism. Hornsby-Smith in a series of enquiries has examined the social changes in the Catholic community in England since the Second Vatican Council. In a brief overview he described the Catholic church in England prior to the Council as having the characteristics of a ‘mechanistic’ organisation, namely a distinct hierarchical control structure, vertical relations between superiors and subordinates and an insistence on loyalty to the institution.
1 Morgan, K. O., Labour in Power 1945–51. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984, p. 299 Google Scholar. Marwick, A., Britain in the Century of Total War, Bodley Head, London, 1968 Google Scholar. Calder, A., The People’s War; Britain 1939–45, Jonathan Cape, London, 1969 Google Scholar. W. K. Hancock (ed.), History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series. Titmus, R. M., Problems of Social Policy, H.M.S.O., London, 1950 Google Scholar. Stevenson, J., British Society 1914–45, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1984 Google Scholar. Addison, P., The Road to 1945, Jonathan Cape, London, 1975.Google Scholar
For the Catholic Church in this period see Hickey, J., Urban Catholics: Catholicism in England and Wales from 1929 to the present day, Chapman, London, 1967 Google Scholar. Fielding, S. J., Class and ethnicity: Irish Catholics in England 1800–1939, Open University Press, Milton Keynes, 1993 Google Scholar. Hickey confines himself largely to South Wales and Fielding’s work is principally devoted to Irish Catholics in the north of England, particularly in Manchester.
For discussion and examination of the changes in the Catholic Church in England prior to and since World War Two see Brothers, Joan, Church and School, Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 1964 Google Scholar, Ward, Conor K., Priests and People, Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 1961 Google Scholar, Hornsby-Smith, M. P., Roman Catholics in England: studies in social structure since the Second World War, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1987 CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Roman Catholic beliefs in England: customary Catholicism and transformation of religious authority, Cambridge University Press, 1991, Coman, P., Catholics and the Welfare State. Longmans, London, 1977 Google Scholar, Sharratt, B., ‘English Roman Catholicism in the 1960s’ in Hastings, A. (ed), Bishops and Writers: aspects of the evolution of modern English Catholicism. Anthony Clark, Wheathampstead, 1977 Google Scholar, T. Koopmanschap, Transformations in contemporary Roman Catholicism, Unpub. Ph.D. thesis, Liverpool University, 1978.
For purposes of comparison see also Kelly, G. A., Catholics and the practice of the faith: a census study of the diocese of St. Augustine, Catholic University of America Press, Washington, 1946 Google Scholar, D. McRoberts (ed), Modern Scottish Catholicism 1878–1978, J. Burns, Glasgow, 1979, McConville, C., Emigrant Irish and suburban Catholics: faith and nation in Melbourne and Sydney 1851–1933, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 1984 Google Scholar, Zahn, G. C., German Catholics and Hitler’s Wars: a study in social control, Sheed and Ward, London, 1963.Google Scholar
2 Brothers, op.cit., p. 157.
3 Abbott, M., To preserve their memory; Shrewsbury diocesan priests (deceased) 1850–1995, Shrewsbury Diocese, Birkenhead, 1996 Google Scholar. No page numbers. For Moriarty’s contemporaries or near contemporaries in the Catholic hierarchy see Moloney, T., Westminster, Whitehall and the Vatican: the role of Cardinal Hinsley 1935–43. Burns and Oates, Tunbridge Wells, 1985 Google Scholar, Heenan, J. C., Not the whole truth. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1971 Google Scholar, Phillips, F. R., Bishop Beck and English Education 1945–1959. Edwin Mellen Press, Lampeter, 1990 Google Scholar. Leading members of the war time hierarchy, for example, Griffin, Downey, Williams and Marshall, await major biographies.
4 Shrewsbury Diocesan Archives, Birkenhead. (Hereafter Shrewsbury). Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 4 September 1939. Moriarty, Pastoral Letter, Advent 1940. I am indebted to Canon John Marmion, archivist of the Shrewsbury Diocese, for arranging access to the diocesan archives.
5 Ibidem, Pastoral Letter, Advent 1941. Pastoral Letter, Advent 1942.
6 Ibidem, Ad Clerum, 4 Septeber 1939. Pastoral Letter, Advent 1939. Ad Clerum, 23 November 1943. Ad Clerum, 23 November 1944.
7 Ibidem, Ad Clerum, 18 June 1940. Ad Clerum, 4 July 1940. Ad Clerum, 27 September 1941. Ad Clerum, 3 July 1940. Ad Clerum, 18 June and 3 July 1940. Pastoral Letter, Lent 1940.
8 Ibidem, Ad Clerum, 18 November 1941. Moriarty, Box 9, W. Dunne to Moriarty, 20 September 1940.
9 Ibidem, D. Matthews to Moriarty, 5 March 1941. Flynn to Moriarty, 28 August 1941. Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 16 June 1942.
10 Ibidem, Joint Pastoral Letter of the Hierarchy of England and Wales, July 1940.
11 Ibidem., Moriarty, Pastoral Letter, 19 May 1943.
12 Ibidem, Pastoral Letter, Lent 1942.
13 Ibidem, Visitation Returns, St. Mary, Duckinfield, October 1939; St. Werburgh, Chester, March 1942; Our Lady Star of the Sea, Ellesmere Port, September 1943; St. Mary, Shifnal, December 1941; St. Vincent, Altrincham, May 1944; St. John, New Ferry, September 1942; St. Patrick, Wellington, February 1940; Our Lady, Birkenhead, November 1942; St. Alban, Liscard, July 1941; St. Joseph, Birkenhead, September 1943; St. Mary, Shifnal, November 1944; Our Lady, Birkenhead, November 1945.
14 Ibidem, Holy Cross, Birkenhead, September 1940. Our Lady and the Apostles, Stockport, October 1942; Our Lady Star of the Sea, Ellesmere Port, September 1943; St. Alban, Liscard, 1944; Holy Cross, Birkenhead, September 1940; Our Lady Star of the Sea, Ellesmere Port, September 1943; St. Mary, Congleton, September 1940; St. Augustine, Latchford, May 1944; Our Lady Star of the Sea, Ellesmere Port, September 1943.
15 For example, by 1943, as a result of German bombing which had destroyed the girls’ and infants’ schools, several children in St. Werburgh’s, Birkenhead were attending non-Catholic schools. Visitation Returns. St. Werburgh, Birkenhead, June 1943; St. Werburgh, Chester, September 1939; St. John, New Ferry 1942; St. Joseph, Birkenhead, September 1943; St. Catherine, Hoylake, October 1944; St. Peter, Hazel Grove, November 1943; St. Oswald, Oswestry, November 1944; St. Winefride, Lymm, June 1944.
16 Salford Diocese Archives—hereafter Salford. Marshall Papers, 200/5. Marshall, Pastoral Letter, Lent 1941, 200/15. Ad Clerum, 25 January 1941, 200/17. Ad Clerum, 5 March 1943. I am indebted to Fr. David Lannon, archivist of the Salford Diocese, for arranging access to Bishop Marshall’s papers.
17 Shrewsbury, Moriarty Box 6, McNulty, Pastoral Letter, Lent 1942.
18 Ibidem, Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 16 November 1939.
19 Salford, Marshall Papers, 115. Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 3 December 1939, 115 Google Scholar. Marshall, Pastoral Letter, January 1940. Shrewsbury, Moriarty Box 6, Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 2 January 1940 Google Scholar. Salford, Marshall Papers, 200/12, Marshall, , Pastoral Letter, Lent 1945 Google Scholar, 200/131. Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 10 June 1943 Google Scholar, 200/27. Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 3 September 1941 Google Scholar, 200/16. Marshall to Deans, 2 November 1941, 200/131. Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 10 June 1943 Google Scholar, 200/120. Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 6 November 1943 Google Scholar, 200/ 139. Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 2 February 1945 Google Scholar, 200/141. Marshall, Ad Clerum, 7 April 1945.
20 Shrewsbury, Visitation Returns, St. Mary, Crewe, November 1941; St. John, New Ferry, September 1942; St. Alban, Macclesfield, November 1941; St. Augustine, Latchford, May 1944. For Bishop Marshall’s position on mixed marriages see, for example, Salford, Marshall Papers, 115. Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 3 December 1939 Google Scholar and Marshall, , Pastoral Letter, January 1940.Google Scholar
21 Shrewsbury, Visitation Returns, St Alban, Liscard. July 1941; Our Lady, Latchford, February 1944; St. Anne, Rock Ferry, November 1944; St. Catherine, Hoylake, October 1944.
22 Ibidem, St. Mary, Congleton, September 1940; St. Mary, Crewe, November 1941; Our Lady, Stockport, October 1942; St. Francis, Chester, October 1944; SS. Peter and Paul, New Brighton, November 1945; Our Lady, Birkenhead, November 1945; St. Edward, Runcorn, September 1945.
23 Ibidem, St. Peter, Stalybridge, November 1939.
24 For seminary education see Doyle, P., ‘The education and training of Roman Catholic priests in nineteenth century England.’ Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 35 (2), 1984, pp. 206–219 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, Milburn, D., A History of Ushaw College, Ushaw College, Ushaw, 1964 Google Scholar, Osborne, K. B., Priesthood: a history of ordained ministry in the Roman Catholic Church, Paulist Press, New York, 1968 Google Scholar, Shrewsbury, Moriarty, Pastoral Letter, 11 September 1941, Ad Clerum, 19 April 1944, Ad Clerum, 1 May 1943 and 19 April 1944, Ad Clerum. 11 September 1941 and 23 September 1943.
25 Ibidem, Moriarty, Box 6. J. B. Sandeman O.S.B. to Moriarty, 26 July 1941. Williams to Moriarty, 26 July 1941.
26 Ibidem, Godfrey to Moriarty, 18 October 1941. McCormack to Moriarty, 1 November 1941.
27 Ibidem, Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 11 September 1943.
28 Ibidem, Ad Clerum, 27 February 1941. Ad Clerum, 11 September 1943. Ad Clerum, 30 June 1942. For Bishop Marshall’s views on priests using cars see, for example, Salford, Marshall Papers, 196, Marshall to F. G. Cochrane, 2 November 1947 and Marshall to Fr. J. Brosnan, 23 November 1947.
29 T. Johnstone and J. Hagerty. The Cross on the Sword. Catholic Chaplains in the Forces. Gregory Chapman, Poole, 1996. Shrewsbury, Moriarty, Box 6, Dey to English and Welsh Bishops, 26 December 1940. Statement by Dey of number of Services’ chaplains supplied by the dioceses of England and Wales, December 1940. Dey to English and Welsh Bishops, 26 December 1940. Dey to English and Welsh Bishops, 3 May 1941. Dey to Amigo, 5 August 1942.
30 Ibidem, Dey to Moriarty, 1 July 1940. Dey to Moriarty, 10 October 1942.
31 Ibidem, Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 4 September 1939.
32 Ibidem. Moriarty 6, Marshall to Moriarty, 19 May 1941. Downey to Moriarty, 14 January 1944.
33 Ibidem, Moriarty 6, McCormack, Ad Clerum, 7 October 1939. Salford, Marshall Papers, 215, Marshall, Ad Clerum, 4 June 1940. Shrewsbury, Moriarty Box 6, Board of Education to Directors of Education, 24 May 1940.
34 Salford, Marshall Papers, 215, Marshall, , Ad Clerum, 4 June 1940 and 29 August 1940Google Scholar. Shrewsbury, Moriarty 6, Board of Education to Director of Education, Cannock, 3 September 1941. Moriarty 6, Archdiocese of Liverpool, ‘Concerning the “merging” of evacuated Catholic children in non-Catholic schools.’
35 Salford, Marshall Papers, 200/16, Marshall to Deans, 2 November 1941.
36 Davies, J., ‘‘L’Art du Possible’, the Board of Education, The Catholic Church and Negotiations Over the White Paper and The Education Bill, 1943–1944.’ Recusant History, 22, (2) October 1994, pp. 231–250 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Shrewsbury, Moriarty, Pastoral Letter, Advent 1942.
37 Ibidem, Ad Clerum, 13 January 1944. Heimann, M., Catholic Devotion in Victorian England, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. passim. O’Brien, S., ‘French Nuns in Nineteenth-Century England’, Past and Present, 154, February 1997, p. 168.Google Scholar
38 Shrewsbury, Moriarty, Pastoral Letter, Lent 1944.
39 Ibidem, Ad Clerum, 8 September 1944. The 1936 Act had dealt with the raising of the school leaving age. Under the Act grants of up to 75% with Local Authority agreement were available to the Catholic authorities to extend their provision to cover the extra year of schooling. The majority of schemes proposed under the Act has been suspended as a result of the war. In the negotiations prior to the passing of the 1944 Act, the Government had agreed to the revival of many of these schemes. The schools involved were known as Special Agreement Schools.
40 Ibidem, Moriarty, Box 6, Hinsley to English and Welsh Bishops, Printed Circular 1941. Enclosed with Ad Clerum of Archbishop Williams, Birmingham, 23 July 1941.
41 Ibidem, Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 28 January 1942. Moriarty, Box 6, D. Matthew to English and Welsh Bishops, 4 April 1942.
42 Maloney, T., Westminster, Whitehall and the Vatican. The Role of Cardinal Hinsley 1935–1943, 1985, pp. 186–204.Google Scholar
43 Shrewsbury, Joint Ad Clarem, March 1943.
44 Ibidem, Joint Ad Clarem, March 1943. Attached statement.
45 Ibidem, Ad Clerum, 28 August 1941. For Marshall’s robustly expressed views on the limits of cooperation with other Christians see, for example, Salford, Marshall Papers, 200.37, Marshall, Ad Clerum, 2 July 1942. Shrewsbury, Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 20 April 1945. For Marshall’s instructions on the limits of Catholic involvement in V.E. Day celebrations see Salford, Marshall Papers, 200.142. Marshall, Ad Clerum, 4 May 1945.
46 Shrewsbury, Moriarty, Box 6, Memorandum, War Damages Bill, Sub-committee of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to Chancellor of the Exchequer, 18 June 1941. Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 27 December 1941. Ad Clerum, 12 May 1941. Ad Clerum, 30 June 1943. Visitation Returns. See, for example, Our Lady, Birkenhead, November 1942; English Martyrs, Wallasey, October 1942.
47 Ibidem, Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 16 November 1939. Moriarty, Ad Clerum, 21 August 1941.
48 Harrison, T., Living Through the Blitz, Collins, London, 1976, p. 307.Google Scholar
49 Cardinal Hinsley had convened a special conference in July 1939 to consider and define ‘leakage’ and propose remedies. Salford, Marshall Papers 196. Bishop David Mathew to Marshall, 23 March 1940. Enclosed—‘Short Report on the Conference on the Preservation of the Faith.’
50 Phillips, P., ‘A Catholic Community. Shrewsbury 1850–1920. Part 2.’ Recusant History 20 (3) 1990, pp. 380–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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