The Osservatore Romano pays great attention to a recent finding of the Supreme Court of Holland in which the exemption of a contemplative order from personal taxes has been upheld. The legal dispute has been going on for some time and the Finance Minister had opposed the findings of the lower courts. The grounds on which the exemption was sought were that prayer and penance for the missions were works of great utility for the public good.
The Osservatore describes the findings as " of the highest possible religious and civil significance," because it cuts across the modern view that " progress consists in the repudiation of prayer and sacrifice."