Archbishop Mannix makes case for Irish freedom to Pope Benedict
British bishops call for conciliation
Paris, 18 April 1921 - Archbishop Daniel Mannix has arrived in Paris after meeting with Pope Benedict XV.
At a dinner on 14 April hosted by a number of Irishmen in the city, Mannix revealed that the Pope had asked him to condemn acts of republican violence in Ireland. Mannix claims that he refused the Pontiff’s request: ‘I showed our Holy Father that there was something fine and heroic in the stand undertaken by the Sinn Féiners against Great Britain, and he finally agreed that the British policy towards us was shocking.’
In a statement issued by Dr Mannix following his Paris dinner, he said that he had received a ‘cordial welcome from the Holy Father. The Pope spoke at length on Ireland and the scandalous events now taking place there. He warmly desires a just and durable peace.’
Photos of the British church leaders and their letter appealing for peace in Ireland. (Image: Illustrated London News, 16 April 1921)
British bishops
In Britain, nine Church of England bishops, along with two bishops
of the Episcopal Church of Scotland and a number of Nonconformist
Ministers have also commented on the situation in Ireland by
appealing to the British Prime Minister and the Chief Secretary of
Ireland to adopt a more conciliatory policy.
‘The present policy is causing grave unrest throughout the empire, and exposing us to misunderstanding and the hostile criticism even of the most friendly of the nations of the world.’
The Belfast Newsletter, unimpressed by the church leaders’ appeal, has called their actions ‘deplorable’ and argues that the ‘practice of indiscriminate and unauthorised reprisals’ about which they protest does not exist. The Newsletter accuses the religious leaders of swallowing the lies of Sinn Féin and showing little concern about the ‘cowardly murders and other outrages of which the rebels are guilty.’
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
