When it was proposed to repeat the series of daily lectures at Blackfriars, Oxford, during the Unity Octave of 1950, the decree from the Holy Office on the oecumenical movement published during March had not been thought of, nor had The Times correspondence on Catholicism Today yet appeared. But those who read the following papers, which comprise all but one of the lectures finally delivered at Blackfriars in that January ‘Octave’, will realise how The Times correspondence prepared the way for, and gave point and unity to the series. Moreover they can hardly avoid noticing how aptly the lectures conform to the spirit of the decree of the Holy Office; they may, indeed, be taken as an extended commentary of that important document.

It is true that the decree was heralded by an unwise blare of trumpets in the popular press, so that when it did appear in English at the end of February many non-Catholics were disappointed, having been led to expect some ‘concessions’ which the Church could never give. Nevertheless, members of the Church of England have been able to recognise the true meaning and the value of the Vatican document. The Archbishop of Canterbury himself showed a clear understanding of its import when he discussed it as a ‘timely’ and ‘encouraging’ direction to Catholics on what can be done in co-operation with non-Catholics in face of the increasing peril of Christian civilisation. The Church Times gave the document a warm welcome without mistaking its significance : ‘The Roman Catholic ordinaries, to whom the document is addressed, arc instructed to take a positive interest in movements towards reunion, not only to keep close watch upon them, but “prudently to foster and to guide them”.