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10. THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION AND
NON-CATHOLICS
May
the Counter-Revolution accept the cooperation of non-Catholics? Are there
counter-revolutionary Protestants, Moslems, and others? The answer must be
carefully nuanced. There is no authentic Counter-Revolution outside the Church.
62 But it is conceivable that certain Protestants or Moslems, for
instance, are in a state of soul in which they begin to perceive all the
wickedness of the Revolution and to take a stand against it. Such persons can
be expected to form obstacles, at times even great ones, against the
Revolution. If they respond to grace, they can become excellent Catholics and,
therefore, efficient counter-revolutionaries. Until then, they at least oppose
the Revolution to some degree and can even force it back. In the full and true
sense of the word, they are not counter-revolutionaries. But their cooperation
may and even should be accepted, with the care that the directives of the
Church demand.
Catholics ought to be particularly mindful of the dangers inherent in
interdenominational associations, as Saint Pius X wisely warned:
"Indeed, without
mentioning other points, the dangers to which – because of associations of this
sort – our people expose or certainly can expose both the integrity of their
faith and the just obedience to the laws and precepts of the Catholic Church
are incontestably grave."63
Among
non-Catholics, our best apostolate should focus on those who have
counter-revolutionary tendencies.
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