(2 of 2)
Belgium. Cardinal Van Roey. Primate of Belgium, three weeks ago struck back at the Socialist-Liberal government coalition, which has cut subsidies to Catholic schools. He sent a message of instruction to all Belgian priests: "When you are asked if a believer can in conscience, in the forthcoming general elections, vote for a party which combats or menaces religious or moral interests, the answer must be that this cannot be justified and cannot be permitted without grave danger to his conscience."
The Netherlands. The Catholic Archbishopric reiterated a mandate issued three years before, when the Catholic People's Party became alarmed over the inroads made among Catholic voters by the Labor (socialist) Party. Warned the mandate: "Whoever follows the development without prejudice must fear that our political power and influence will crumble. It is not permissible for a Catholic to be a member of socialist associations, such as The Netherlands Federation of Trade Unions, or to visit socialist gatherings regularly, to read the socialist press regularly, or to listen to the socialist radio network regularly." Those who defied the mandate were threatened with refusal of the sacraments. If an offender died unrepentant, he could be refused church burial.
Explaining this new insistence on an old position, a high Vatican official was candid. "Any time we collaborate with the socialists, it is to combat the worse evil of Communism. Whenever there is a danger that socialism may attain its program, we are against it. Now in West Germany, Holland and Belgium, socialism, instead of being an added strength against Communism, has turned into a strength-sapping preacher of neutralism. Those who vote for it, vote against a Christian concept of society."