Maluf cited the late Franz Werfel, author of "The Song of Bernadette," as an example of someone who had investigated the Church and had publicly admitted that its doctrines were the primary influence of his life, and who had never been baptized a Catholic. Maluf said Werfel must be in hell unless he was baptized on his death bed.

From the appearance of this article two years ago until the whole matter burst into the headlines on April 13, 1949, the controversy was kept a secret by Father Feeney and other Catholic officials. Recently, however, the facts of the intervening period have become known.

The Reply

In January 1948 Archbishop Cushing, in complete disagreement with "the no salvation outside the Church" theory set forth in "From the Housetops," is reported to have asked the editors of the quarterly to submit all manuscripts to the Chancery (the Archbishop's office from which he manages the affairs of the archdiocese) before publication. It is further reported that Father Feeney refused outright to submit to this censorship.

The Priest denies this. He told the CRIMSON that the Chancery actually "tried to hinder publication by asking him to submit anything he 'was worried about.'" This, he claims, he was glad to do. He said he always submitted his own works, but he felt he was as competent as any other priest to censor his student's articles.

Father Feeney accused Monsignor Augustus Hickey, of St. Paul's Church and Vicar General of the archdiocese, of ordering him in the name of the Archbishop to suspend publication of "From the Housetops." Maluf, according to Father Feeney, asked for a written order from the Archbishop to that effect along with the reason for its issuance. Monsignor Hickey reportedly left the Center never to return with the written order. The Chancery neither confirms or denies this story on the grounds that Archbishop Cushing has issued his last public statement on the matter last April.

Father Feeney got into trouble with his immediate superior, the Provincial or head of the Boston branch of the Society of Jesus in September of 1948. He was ordered by the Provincial in August to take up duties as a professor at Holy Cross College by September. He never went. This was reported in the September 8 issue of "The Pilot," the official archdiocesian magazine and the report was signed by Father John J. McEleny, S. J., Provincial.

Father Feeney does not deny this. He points out, however, that ordinarily Jesuits do not receive orders at a time of the year when they have already made all their winter commitments. It was for this reason that Father Feeney appealed the order. With his appeal, he said, he asked why he was ordered to Holy Cross so abruptly. The answer came back, according to the priest, that he was teaching "the wrong doctrine." He then asked what the wrong doctrine was so that he "might not repeat it in his teaching at Holy Cross." Neither this appeal nor Father Feeney's doctrinal question has ever been answered, Father Feeney reported. He went on to say that "the authorities were afraid to go on record with the statement that 'salvation outside of the Church is wrong doctrine.'"

Now that the "battle" was joined, with both branches of the Church concentrating on St. Benedict's Center and the doctrine it promulgated, "From the Housetops" came out in December of 1948 with an article by Raymond Karam presenting the complete doctrine of "no salvation," the reasons for believing it, and its historical background. In this article, entitled "Liberal Theology and Salvation," the author quoted several popes, two saints, and the Athanasian Creed.

This, the first clear and fully documented statement of the belief held by the members of St. Benedict's, was duly referred to the Jesuit Seminary at Weston. In due course the answer came in the form of a short and scholarly paper issued for the benefit of Boston College by Father Philip J. Donnelly, S. J., professor of Dogmatic Theology at Weston. "Some Observations on the Question of Salvation Outside the Church," which was reprinted in "From the Housetops," answered St. Benedict's Center to the satisfaction of the Church, though not to the satisfaction of the Center.

Claim and Counter Claim

In the Spring issue of "From the Housetops," Karam referred to Father Donnelly's answer by saying "a weaker defense of theological opinion could not be found," and went on with a point-by-point rebuttal. This issue of "From the Housetops" disappeared from the newsstands in Harvard Square on April 20. There has not been a subsequent issue printed.

Meanwhile, Father Feeney, who had publicly endorsed the magazine his Center published, had encountered further difficulties. Last January, one month after Karam's original article in "From the Housetops," Father Feeney was dispossessed of his "faculties" without any public notice. That meant that he no was no longer allowed to hear confession, say mass, or perform any of the functions of a Catholic priest.

On April 13, the controversy flared into the newspaper headlines. There professors from Boston College and one teacher from the Boston College High School had been fired by Father William J. Keleher, S. J., president of Boston College, for "preaching in and out of class matters of doctrine that should have been left in the hands of competent theologians; matters contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church; and ideas leading to intolerance and bigotry."

The night of the thirteenth these four men went to the newspapers and accused Boston College of teaching a heresy, namely: "that there might be salvation outside of the Catholic Church; that a man might be saved without admitting that the Roman is supreme among churches; and that he might be saved without submission to the Pope."