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| 46 COMMUNISM AND THE PUBLIC large book, and it was cleverly enough compiled to deceive most readers. The editor, Adamic, leads most of the Slavic front organizations. any peace conference* One can only speculate how many Protestant ministers were Influenced by this propaganda, but were unwilling to affix their signatures to the petition. The statement contained the usual innuendos about Political Catholicism and the Church as the agent of Fascism and National Socialism, It cleverly appealed to bigotry and distrust of the Church latent among so many of the Protestant clergy. But such is the steady diet offered to the readers of the Protestant* Its main program is to attack Fascism and simultaneously to identify the Church with this evil. At the same time it always glorifies the Soviet Union. (Leslie wrote on "The Catholics and Russia" in Soviet .Russia Today. Sept, 1945) It invariably follows the Party Line. For example, it supported the second-front agita- tion, organized a pro-Lublin Polish Committee, attacked the American-Jewish Committee (which is anti-Communist), publicized the People's Institute of Applied Religion (Appendix III); praised Communist books; and otherwise acted as an agent of the Party. Because of its Communism and anti-Catholicism, the magazine has been attacked by prominent Protestant and Jewish groups, such as representatives of the National Conference of Christians and Jews; the Federal Council of Churches; the Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai B'Rith; and well-known individuals. Nevertheless, it is effective in many circles. Communist infiltration into Protestant Churches has been sporadic and minor. They normally can get a good scattering of Bishops and Clergy to sign for most front organizations, with Bishop Francis J, McConnell and other Methodist groups being the most frequent contributors* They definitely influenced a Conference of the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, Jan, 23-26, 1945, as reported in Economic Justicet issued by the National Religion and Labor Foundation. They control a small Episcopalian publication, The T"itnesst and thus affect many of the younger clergy. The main danger in this field apparently is the naivete of many of the younger ministers, who have good intentions but are badly instructed on labor matters. A group to watch is the Communist front called the People's Institute of Applied Religion (Appendix III). Recently they held a meeting in Baltimore to discuss "Religious Fifth Columns in the Trade Unions." Speakers were largely Communist, and the main subject of discussion was a "fascist" Catholic priest who once wrote a book entitled Economics and Society. There is no evidence whatever to connect Jehovah's Witnesses with the Communist Party. Soviet attacks upon the Vatican have been very frequent during the past two years. The "line" is that noted earlier: the linking of the Church with fascism and the consequent condemnation of the Pope. It is interesting to note that Red Star quoted Agora Press, New York, which published the viciously anti-Catholic Crux An sata by H. G. Wells; and Behind the Dictators by the renegade priest L. H. Lehmann (editor of the Converted Catholic Magazine)• Pravda, Izvestia, and War and the Working Class, as well as the Moscow Radio and The Bolshevik all joined in variations upon the same general anti~Vatican theme. In fact, The Bolshevikt in April 1945, accused |