JACQUES MAR/TAIN
219
for its proselytizing efforts outside of Italy. But it did not succeed
in deflecting the course of Mussolini's policy one iota.
*
Most elo–
quent of all, however, is the implication of the admission that it
was with the Italian Fascist State and not the Italian democratic
state that the Pope succeeded in coming to terms.
Integral Humanism and War
M. Maritain is a faithful son of the Church not only in doc–
trine but in the accurate way in which he reflects the inconse–
quentiality of doctrine when confronted by momentous social and
political issues.
In any crucial situation the behavior of the Cath–
olic Church may be more reliably predicted by reference to its
concrete interests as a political organization than by reference to
its timeless dogmas.
Analogously for M. Maritain. His attitude
toward the Second World War is not what one would expect from
a pious Christian but from a French patriot. One can respect the
motives of the French patriot. But one cannot respect a rational–
ization of French patriotism in terms of Catholic theology. It is
truly sad to observe in M. Maritain's Christian apologetics for the
cause of the Allies the lamentable disregard of the very distinc–
tions he has so seriously urged upon us until now. In order to
appreciate the gravity of M. Maritain's intellectual sins-for the
intellectual life has its virtues, too--it is necessary to recapitulate
briefly the argument of his
True Humanism,
approved by the Cath–
olic censor, and compare it with the text of his article on the war,
approved by the French censor.
In the first, the Catholic Church is presented as the only gen–
uine alternative to secular totalitarianism. The capitalist democ–
racies are scorned for their bourgeois humanism, for their degrad–
ing cults of profit and comfort, and their anarchical conception of
freedom. They receive particular condemnation for preparing the
way for the worst features of totalitarianism. The totalitarian cul–
tures are regarded as historically legitimate heirs of the vicious
-The only concrete evidence M. Maritain cites of what the Catholic Church has
received for its support of Italian Fascism is the fact that "the Ballilas have been con–
strained to concede Sunday to religion and the family." This mitigates the fascization
of these bases in arms on all other days of the week. M. Maritain might have also
cited the additional fact that Mussolini has not withdrawn the rights of Christian
burial to the victims of the Ovra.
