Shane has started an interesting new blog called Lux Occulta in which he has posted scans of the covers of various old Catholic Truth Society (CTS) pamphlets. Many have an advert for the old CTS bible (Douai Rheims) on the back, priced 6/- for the blue cloth bound version and 8/6d for the maroon leatherette version. I have a copy of the blue cloth version but do remember as a child wondering if I might be able to afford the luxury leatherette version one day!
These pamphlets are an important part of our Catholic history, showing the hermeneutic of continuity in practice. The CTS always engaged effectively in promoting the lay apostolate - the decree of Vatican II on the Lay Apostolate Apostolicam Actuositatem affirmed this work that was a strength of the life of the Catholic Church in Britain long before the Council. Pope Benedict spoke of its importance in his Ad Limina address to the Bishops of Scotland earlier this year (as I mentioned in February):
Hand in hand with a proper appreciation of the priest’s role is a correct understanding of the specific vocation of the laity. Sometimes a tendency to confuse lay apostolate with lay ministry has led to an inward-looking concept of their ecclesial role. Yet the Second Vatican Council’s vision is that wherever the lay faithful live out their baptismal vocation – in the family, at home, at work – they are actively participating in the Church’s mission to sanctify the world. A renewed focus on lay apostolate will help to clarify the roles of clergy and laity and so give a strong impetus to the task of evangelizing society.The picture above shows a CTS pamplet on the vocation of the laity in the world. It is priced 3d but someone has raised the price to 5p in felt pen, showing that it was on sale before the change to decimal currency in 1971 and then given a stiff price hike by someone running a parish repository somewhere. It was published by the Dublin CTS in 1956. If you go to the post at the Lux Occulta blog and cick on the picture, you can get the whole text.
As with many institutions, the CTS went through a bad patch after the Council but was revived very successfully, and continues today in the spirit of its fine tradition. One suggestion I would have is to recover some of the pamphlets from the 20th century such as those written by CC Martindale, Frederick Copleston, Ronald Knox and others. I am sure that they would be popular if reissued as facsimile editions.
5 comments:
Facsimiles would be very welcome, without the kind of nuancing footnotes which were added to the new addition, about 15 years ago, of Fr Martindale's "Words of Life" (I think that was the title).
I wonder what he thought of that!
Sadly, the Catholic Truth Society of Ireland morphed into Veritas publishers; it produces some very good material but an equal admixture of rubbish. It's a wholly owned subsidiary of the Irish Bishops conference which probably explains the unevenness of their output. I never frequent their bookshop - preferring the Bible Society, who being good Protestants would never take your money for a Catholic book unless it was truly Catholic!
A great idea. The truth behind the Catholic Truth Society is just as true now as it was then.
JARay
Left-Footer,
You have hit an important nail on the head with the present incarnation of the CTS. They ruthlessly edit out all the more "difficult" orthodox bits from their books (including texts submitted by contemporary authors) and then present them as though they were the full and complete teaching of the Church. Steer clear of their revised edition of the Penny Catechism. Comparison with the 1957 edition is revealing.
They drifted far from the Catholic Truth of their name in the 70s, 80s and 90s and have in recent years got better, but the relativistic approach still dominates in many booklets and one gets the impression that they remove anything that would really embarrass Catholics at a dinner party.
Yes, there is some good stuff there now, but plenty of dodgy stuff as well. The problem is you don't know which is which until you've read it. You can't completely trust them. Terrible thing to say, but it's true. Still, that's neo-cons for you!
Great idea Fr Tim to republish excellent publications. I'm fortunate in often receiving old books & pamphlets..I find them enormously inspiring. Yes I like the CTS now...
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