Letters, Dec. 9, 1946

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I hope your Protestant readers will view with pity rather than alarm Michael P. Breen's one-man crusade for intolerance [TIME, Nov. 18]. For every Breen type of Catholic there are a million others who, while believing their church to be the one true and apostolic church, still recognize that every non-Catholic has a similar right in conscience to believe the same of his church. Breen does a disservice to the cause of Christian brotherhood by his bigoted and benighted observations.

BERTRAND J. HENNE Escanaba, Mich.

Sirs:

As a Catholic of 37 years' standing, I hasten to deplore Michael Breen's bigoted statement on Protestant rights.

Breen is speaking only for Breen, bigot.

GEORGE T. SPEARS

Buffalo

Sirs:

... At the time I considered this letter either a hoax or, more likely, a deliberate attempt on the part of someone, who is not himself a Catholic, to discredit the Church. For to me, as a priest, it was inconceivable that any Catholic could, under any provocation, express the sentiments contained in the final paragraph of this letter.

In order to investigate for myself, I drove to Reading yesterday and spent a whole day trying to discover "Michael P. Breen." This is the result:

1) No "Michael P. Breen" is to be found in the City Directory.

2) The Breens who do live in Reading assure me that they know no one called "Michael Breen."

3) No Catholic pastor has such a name on his parish list.

4) Officials at the Reading City Hall could not produce such a name.

I am perfectly willing to bet you a life subscription to TIME against a $50 contribution to any charity you may designate that there is no such Catholic. . . .

(REV.) JOSEPH G. MARTEN St. Francis De Sales Rectory Lenni Mills, Pa.

No bet. TIME, which checks all letters it regards as suspicious, fell for this one, found it was a phony before receiving Reader Marten's thoroughgoing report.—ED.

Man of the Year

Sirs:

For Man of 1946, Douglas MacArthur. It's not because he received the greatest ovation of any returning hero of World War II—he hasn't taken time off from his duties long enough to come home to be acclaimed. Neither is it because his exploits of 1946 have received the greatest fanfare—they have received practically none.

His postwar activities have matched strides with his wartime campaign against Japan, when he planned and executed the most skillful, efficient and successful campaign of the whole war. ... In his administration of Japan he has set an example for his contemporaries which they seem incapable of following. . . .

MYRL E. BECK Beaumont, Calif.

Sirs:

Man of the Year might well again be Harry Truman. He has swung through one of the widest arcs on the pendulum of popularity and influence in the shortest period of time in the history of man. . .

DONALD F. SAVERY Kansas City, Kans.

Sirs:

My nomination is Winston Churchill . . . symbol of world opposition to the spread of Communism. . . . JOE MICCICHE Los Angeles

Sirs: