Australian Churches at War

Attitudes and Activities of the Major Churches 1914-1918

by Michael McKernan

The Catholic Theological Faculty, 1980, b/w photographs, hardcover, dustjacket, ISBN 0909246610

Near Fine Condition, ex-library, tape residue on front and back cover, cancelled stamp on front flyleaf, minor edge/shelf wear to dustjacket

'Australian clergymen welcomed war in August 1914 because they believed it would wean Australians from materialism and lead them to appreciate the value of sacrifice and devotion to duty.
Hundreds of clergymen enlisted enthusiastically in the A.I.F. as chaplains, ready to minister to the religious sentiments they expected battle experience to provoke.
The reality of war shattered these complacent hopes,  Dr McKernan shows that reform and renewal failed to materialise at the front.  Faced with failure, clergymen became increasingly bitter and devisive, channeling their frustrations into rancorous secretarian outbursts.  The book traces development of these frustrations from the first heady days of enthusiasm, through the recruiting campaigns to the conscription referanda and their aftermath.  The author draws on newspapers, private papers and church documents for his history and also uses important Vatican documents, previously unpublished.'