EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS

SIR,-IS it youth clubs, which tend to divide even further the already divided welfare state supervised family, so much as Catholic community centres which arc needed? Centres where the whole family can learn, play, and pray together in a truly Christian atmosphere and so relearn the duties expected of each in relation to living the Faith,
Stan A. Dennis, Welfare Worker and Ex-Youth Leader Wayback, Ashdon Road,
Saffron Walden, Essex.
SIR,-A child of five goes to school. Previously he has attended Mass with his parents, but now he is told he must attend the Children's Mass For the remainder of his childlife, for the greatest act of Catholic worship, he is segregated from his parents. No longer does he have a parent beside him to explain, to help him to pray and to curb his wandering attention. Instead he is surrounded by companions whose ability to concentrate is no greater than his own and who quickly find ways of whiling away the boring time. How many parish priests and teachers judge the state of Catholicity amongst the children by the number who are bodily present at the Chil: dren's Mass?
He will be prepared to make his first Confession. How many parents have been present with their children on this great occasion? He will be prepared for the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Only a few months ago knelt beside a mother whose child was receiving her First Holy Communion. All the children in the school were present, parents were strictly relegated to the back of the church, and we were behind a pillar. When the greatest moment in her child's life arrived, the mother was craning round the pillar vainly trying to glimpse her child receiving Our Blessed lord for the first time, For 10 impressionable years the child may never once attend Mass with his parents, may never once go to Confession or Holy Communion with them, may not even know whether they receive the Sacraments regularly. And in those 10 years many children and many parents learn that the practice of the Faith is the concern of the school.
H. 1, McHugh 470 New Chester Road, Rock Ferry, Cheshire.
SIR-The real stumbling block is not with the youth but with the adults in their lack of example and encouragement. Few parish priests and laymen tackle the question with the vocational zeal and enthusiasm which is required if any club or movement is to succeed.
Mr. Newman does not mention the Young Christian Workers' movement, which is a movement within movements. and the perfect foundation for work of this kind. At the same time it breeds inter-parochial activities which result in Catholic marriages. and these marriages will only come about by this method because in any parish there is a certain family atmosphere which leads them to meet partners outside this
circle. Tom Kennedy The Bungalow Stores, Shakerley Estate.
Tyldesley, near Manchester.
Sia,-For over 40 years I have studied, cut out, and for a long time kept by me, the letters and articles on the "leakage" which throughout that time regularly, almost continuously, have appeared in our journals. The C.T.S. has been keeping its jubilee, and on the first page of my leakage file I have a letter which its founder, Mr. Britten, wrote to me in November, 1918, concerning the leakage, "that matter of primary importance."
And today, "40 years on." it is grim to find the same disease rampant hut worsened, the same facts repeated. the same appeals from the leachers and. alas, the same concentration on numbers (the pity of it that the Newman Society should, on turning its attention to the matter, devote its influence, resources and energy to its statistics), the same tinkering with the symptoms instead of a thorough investigation of the root causes of the disease.
(Miss) M. Cahill 13 Blackfriars Street, Canterbury.
SIR,-Some time ago a young, unsophisticated, but very attractive, Catholic girl from the north came under my supervision. She had no friends in London and was delighted when I suggested a Catholic youth club. We went to the presbytery of our nearest church, one of the largest in London, but were told that there was nothing for girls of her ageonly for school girls. I then took her to another church where I knew there was a club. We saw a priest and arranged for her to go there.
The first time she went no one spoke to her at all and she left after about half an hour, she felt so embarrassed. I encouraged her to persevere and she did, but no one ever tried to make her feel at ease, and after a time she gave up going. Soon she made other acquaintances, and one day she vanished without a word of explanation. I learned later that she had fallen into bad company and was going to have a baby whose father was a married man.
(Mrs.) Adds Bosanquet 5 Pembridge Place, W.2.
Sr,-I think we still tend to teach religion as a series of prohibitions"You mustn't miss Mass on Sunday," "You mustn't marry outside the Church," etc., predominates. Ought we not to aim at giving our pupils such a realisation of the majesty of God, of our utter dependence on Him as creatures, of the goodness of Our Lord in giving us His sacrifice, that love and appreciation of the Mass will bring them to church every Sunday without fail. These topics are surely best taught through the Scriptures, not primarily through the Catechism. I believe that instruction through the Scriptures rather than through the Catechism was the usual method before the Reformation. Of course, these studies need to be clinched and shaped by a certain amount of Catechism learning.
Christine F.. R. Rowland 33 Cliffsea Grove, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.
Sia.-I would say that one of the reasons for the big leakage in the 15to-20-year-old group is the impression given by most Catholic educationists that once children are admitted to Catholic schools their complete Catholic education is assured. Surely it is obvious that schools, youth clubs and other organisations cannot effect very much of lasting value if apathy in Catholic homes is thus induced.
Sheila Dickins 57 Marlborough Grove, London, S.E.1.
Sist.-If by some means an idea of the social nature of the Mass could he grasped by the time children leave school, then I feel a great start would 'have been made in stemming the leakage. M. J. Kenny 5 Hocking Lane. Sheffield, 8.
'Vox Populi' SIR.-Those who enjoyed hearing one of our mast eminent choirmasters at the Newman Association lecture last week, and then bewailed the widespread liturgical coldshoulder in their various parishes, may like to know that at 6 o'clock on Sunday evenings at St. George's, Sudbury, Middlesex, the congregation are encouraged to sing Canonical Vespers, followed by an English hymn and Latin antiphon (at Benediction), both of which are seldom repeated more than twice in the course of the year. Gaudeamus (mines-both Rector and organist are very considerate.
Ram B. Fryer Cope Dollis Hill, London.