Welsh Journals

congregational singing that meets our ears as we pass any of the chapels of the various sects which exist in Wales; why cannot we do the same?'73 There was, in fact, a general Catholic-Protestant distinction with regard to the role of the laity. In 1936, J. T. F. Williams claimed that, for Catholicism to attract chapel-folk, the church had to show that there was an active place for the lay people. 'Our missionaries must recognise that whatever religious activity exists among the Welsh sects is mainly due to the laity and, therefore, convince their potential converts that in the Church there is even more scope for lay zeal.' The Welsh people 'must be shown that all that is good and consoling in their religion is to be found in abundance in the Church'.74 After the war, the desire to introduce practices that would appeal to the Welsh people continued. Writing in the Menevia Record in 1955, a Welsh convert Philip Jones asked parishes not to neglect the dialogue mass, which gave the congregation a part to play in the celebration. 'To my mind and I claim to know the Welsh mentality it should play an important part in the apostolate of Wales. 115 He also appealed for more 'doctrinal' sermons and urged lay Catholics to become more involved in the everyday running of the parish.76 Such calls to use 'Nonconformist' characteristics to attract potential Welsh converts were, however, not universally popular. In 1948 a vigorous debate on the virtues of using 'all that is good and consoling' in Nonconformity appeared in the columns of the Catholic Herald. The dispute was certainly more than a question of national temperament; it also reflected theological differences. Not only did it occasion the accusation that those who supported such efforts were ignoring the universal scope of the church, but it also revealed the accusation that, through overemphasising human means, they were depreciating the power of God's grace. The catalyst for the controversy was a letter from a non-Catholic Welshman from Deeside, which suggested that elements of Free Church worship had to be incorporated into Catholic services for any kind of progress to be made in Wales. For the people of Wales to be drawn towards Catholicism, the church required better pulpit delivery, more Welsh hymn singing, and greater lay-activity.77 The initial reaction to these suggestions was hostile. J. A. Burlinson claimed Catholicism had always appealed to people in its own specific way, and this continued to win numerous Welsh converts. Furthermore, why incorporate elements of chapel-worship when Welsh Nonconformity seemed so clearly to be in decline? 'We Catholics do not need to worry,' he concluded, 'Wales will be converted not by oratory nor by music but by the grace of God.'7H Others also noted the futility of