Finally, Feeney's influence through his books is large. The Ravenagate Press, set up to publish his works exclusively, said that his best known work. "The Loyolas and the Cabots," sold 3,500 copies in the first printing, 12,000 more in the second, and the plates are being held for a third.
An Inter-Faith Group
The book contains such material as: "An inter-faith meeting is a place where a Jewish rabbi, who does not believe in the divinity of Christ, and a Protestant minister, who doubts it, get together with a Catholic priest who agrees to forget it for the evening."
However ridiculous it may seem to Harvard readers, there is danger in what Feeney preaches. The movement of which he is a symbol is large and growing. Richard Hamel, head of the American Fascist Union, has openly supported his views. His followers now wear special black suits and dresses to mark them off as a beet apart.
The Church's "silencing" of 30 months ago has not stopped Feeney's sermons. Archbishop Cushing has received hundreds of complaints about Feeney, and as many demands that he be excommunicated. Cushing says merely that Feeney is one of the great minds of the modern church, even though he went wrong, and should be prayed for. He will say no more about what Monsignor Hickey calls "nobody's business."
Constant Rebuffs
Feeney, however, is beginning to feel the constant rebuffs he has been receiving off the Common during his name-calling speeches. He no longer answers hecklers with the same force he used a year ago. He seems deeply hurt that Jews and Protestants should hate him because he hates them. All his shouting is no longer as effective as it used to be.
But Feeney has started something that has found popular support in many circles, both Catholic and non-Catholic. This is an organized hate movement, reminiscent of the American fascist movements before the second World War. It no longer needs Feeney--in fact, would probably rather use him as the martyr to the cause.
But the plump little clergyman is not through yet. "They call me a hatemonger but I'll show them all," he warns. "They can never stop me. No matter what they do to me, I'll never take off my Roman collar and I'll never stop preaching."
Mr. Savadove attended Father Feeney's lectures and speeches and had private conferences with him for three months while gathering material for this article. He spent much time at St. Benedict's Center talking to students and teachers there and learning Feeney's ideas. Much of the background was obtained from the files of Gordon Hall, editor of "Countertide."