There are many doors into
heaven. What we have all got to do, Catholics and non-Catholics, is to
insist together that there is a heaven, that there is a life after
death, that there is a God. The more doors the better. No one has a
monopoly of heaven.
"And to Ireland is offered the opportunity, greater than politicians
appear to perceive, of presenting to the world an example of tolerance
and compromise in the supreme interests of religion which may have
incalculable results for the whole world. But what will happen if
England bows before the worst and the stupidest bigotry the modern world
can show? Not only will you strike a blow at Ireland and a blow at
Irish-American sympathy, but a blow at the vitals of religion.
"For it is only by sinking religious differences and making a common
advance against this universal paganism that religion can save the soul
of civilization. If you do not see the truth of that fact in England I
think you must be blind. The fullness of civilization hangs upon
religious union; religious dissension is the enemy."
Change in Ulster.
Another Irish-American who was present on this occasion, an accomplished
man of letters and a traveler, asked me what England felt about Ulster's
share in the responsibility for the present war.
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