(b) the defence problems of the Atlantic approaches. This would bring us into close cooperation not only with America but also with Eire and Iceland, and the Secretary of State considers that we should bring Scandinavia into our scheme on this Atlantic basis and not in the context of the narrower Western Union now being worked out with France and Benelux; (c) collective security, embracing the Americans, Africa and Asia in the wide sense discussed above. (3) Spiritual and Cultural. The Secretary of State thinks that the moment has now come to harness spiritual forces behind the whole concept of Western Union in the widest sense. The freedom of the individual is so closely bound up with religious freedom and general spiritual values that all the great religious faiths, Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, etc., can be brought together on this plane in opposition to Communism. Before, however, attempting to organise Islam and Buddhism it is essential to arrive at some unity among the Christian Churches. The difficulty at the moment is that the Roman Catholic Church has remained outside the International Council of Christian Churches. The Secretary of State feels, however, that in the present crisis a further effort must be made to get all the Christian Churches together on the basis of the defence of religion, peace, liberty and social justice. He therefore proposes next week to see individually the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Griffin, the heads of the Free Churches and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and he will consult with the Archbishop of Canterbury about bringing the Orthodox Church into his concept. The objective which the Secretary of State has in mind is a world congress of Christian Churches to be held e.g. at Geneva later this year. It is of course essential that the Foreign Office should remain well in the background and that the lead for this should come from the Churches themselves.
(b) the defence problems of the Atlantic approaches. This would bring us into close cooperation not only with America but also with Eire and Iceland, and the Secretary of State considers that we should bring Scandinavia into our scheme on this Atlantic basis and not in the context of the narrower Western Union now being worked out with France and Benelux; (c) collective security, embracing the Americans, Africa and Asia in the wide sense discussed above. (3) Spiritual and Cultural. The Secretary of State thinks that the moment has now come to harness spiritual forces behind the whole concept of Western Union in the widest sense. The freedom of the individual is so closely bound up with religious freedom and general spiritual values that all the great religious faiths, Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, etc., can be brought together on this plane in opposition to Communism. Before, however, attempting to organise Islam and Buddhism it is essential to arrive at some unity among the Christian Churches. The difficulty at the moment is that the Roman Catholic Church has remained outside the International Council of Christian Churches. The Secretary of State feels, however, that in the present crisis a further effort must be made to get all the Christian Churches together on the basis of the defence of religion, peace, liberty and social justice. He therefore proposes next week to see individually the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Griffin, the heads of the Free Churches and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and he will consult with the Archbishop of Canterbury about bringing the Orthodox Church into his concept. The objective which the Secretary of State has in mind is a world congress of Christian Churches to be held e.g. at Geneva later this year. It is of course essential that the Foreign Office should remain well in the background and that the lead for this should come from the Churches themselves.
1948-03-05-Bevin-memorandum-foreign-policy.docx