" at the shrine of St. Valentino, near Florence, reproduced in the " Daily Mirror" of July 20?
We agree that the taking and publishing of such photographs is regretable. In this country the mentally afflicted are out of sight-and, except for their devoted warders. too often out or mind. In Italy, many of these afflicted creatures have to remain with their relations and friends, who ask Almighty God to have mercy on them, through the intercession of St. Valentine, in the realistic manner of their Latin temperament. We may not like the manner, but we cannot avoid the problem of suffering by putting the afflicted out of sight !
Who ?said "Shrouds don't have pork'eL
We don't know. It sounds like a fragment of Perennial Philosophy ! You might ask " John o' London's
Wieekely i Sunday Pictorial" (25.6.50) under the caption " Adam and Eve-or an Ape," quotes Catholics as believing that our bodies may well have evolved from lower animals. What is the Church's ruling ?
..Many Catholics believe in a created evolution as a possible hypothesis in a limited degree . . there is no dogma concerning the precise mode of formation of the (human) body . . . the ordinary teaching . .. is that it was produced by the special intervention of God. The idea that the body of man has evolved from lower animals is, scientifically and philosophically, highly improbable, and cannot be held with either safety or prudence. Science . . is merely in the conjectural stage."C' Radio Replies": vol. 1. No. 678).
What is the attitude of Catholics to calumny and detraction ?
See " My Neighbour's Character " (Irish Messenger Office, Dublin, 2d.) for a very full consideration of this important theme.
Is there a commentary on St. Thomas More's " Utopia " in modern English?
Yes. See " An Under-Sheriff seeks Utopia" in "Thomas More," by F. W. Chambers (Cape).
Is there a society of laymen without vows for foreign missions ?
We do not know. The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. 23 Eccleston Square, S.W.1, would give you all information about missionary organisation
Would " Fortis Adversa " be a suitable epitaph for a man who bore adversity with courage ?
We suggest " In Adversis Fortis." Perhaps a classical Latinist could improve-or there may be a recognised formula.