Alliance

ALLIANCE. - Under this name certain Protestant organizations are known, the principal ones of which are:

1) WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE (World's Evangelical Alliance). - In 1844 Gregory XVI, with the encyclical Inter praecipuas of 5 May, condemned the Christian A. that had been founded in the United States. Two years later, in 1846, the World Evangelical A. was constituted in London. Eight hundred delegates from various sects, from many countries, flocked there. The "Doctrinal Basis" was immediately approved, consisting of 9 articles or points, considered however not as an obligatory "creed," but as the essential doctrines of Christians who wished to belong to the A. Among the above-mentioned points, the 2nd is to be noted: the right and duty of private examination in the interpretation of Holy Scripture; and the 6th: the justification of the sinner by faith alone. It is therefore a purely Protestant irritation. The purpose of the A., repeated on the cover of the individual issues of the magazine The Evangelical Christendom, which is the official organ, is that "English Christians and those of other nations may realize in themselves and manifest to others the living and essential union of all believers in the school of Christ." The A. professes to work to foster cooperation and unity, to defend religious freedom, to help persecuted Christians, to promote union in prayer, to preserve evangelical truth and love, etc.; from its writings and its history of almost a century, it is evident that it has always opposed every attempt at union with Catholics; it has never defended their religious freedom when they were persecuted, for example during the German Kulturkampf, by Calles in Mexico and by the revolutionaries in Spain; and never, in its leaflets and writings, has it manifested evangelical love toward Catholics, but rather an aversion not far removed from hatred.

The A. found a favorable echo among the sects of almost all countries and also among those of Italy, whose magazines and papers publish every year the themes of the week of prayer. In the individual nations the sects united with the A. have their national committee, but the principal committee was always that of London. Every four or five years general meetings are held, at which some attack against the Catholic Church is never lacking. The principal elements of the A. are, besides the general congresses, the week of prayer and the press. In the week of prayer, from 7 to 14 January, topics that are more and more general are ordinarily proposed. The publications, then, both regular and occasional, are generally contrary to the Catholic Church, with a hostility that recalls that of the worst times of the religious polemics of the 16th century.

2) PRESBYTERIAN ALLIANCE OR ALLIANCE OF REFORMED CHURCHES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD HOLDING THE PRESBYTERIAN SYSTEM (Alliance of Reformed Churches through the World holding the Presbyterian System). - Presbyterianism is not synonymous with Calvinism. The latter concerns the doctrines of Calvin, the former the ecclesiastical system or regime established by him, according to which the Church must be governed by elders (presbyters), both lay and ecclesiastical. There exist Presbyterian churches that do not profess all the Calvinist doctrines.

The founding of the World Evangelical A. aroused among Presbyterians the idea of constituting an a. among themselves which, without weakening the independence of the individual Reformed churches, would serve as a bond for mutual assistance, for dealing with common affairs concerning missions, etc. The Presbyterian A. was founded in 1875.

The A. is formed not by individuals, but by Churches (synods or consistories), with a number of deputies proportional to the number of their communities or congregations. The deputies assemble every four years in a kind of council, which examines all affairs of common interest, but has no authority to impose its decisions and its counsels. At these assemblies some attack against the Catholic Church is sometimes hurled, but truths are also heard that cannot fail to make the congressists reflect, as happened at the congress of 1913 in Belfast, at which one of the deputies compared the union of the Catholic Church with the division of the Protestants, and applied to these the saying of Coleridge: "I belong to that holy and infallible Church of which I am now the only member." Among the 108 allied churches is also found the Waldensian Church.

3) BAPTIST WORLD ALLIANCE (Baptist World Alliance). - It was founded in London in 1905, with the purpose of promoting the spirit of cooperation and fellowship among all the Baptist churches scattered throughout the world. Given the congregationalist regime of the Baptists, according to which the individual Churches do not group themselves into synods, consistories, etc., but each remains absolutely isolated and independent, it was not possible for the general board of the A. to assemble the representatives of the individual churches, since there are about 70,000 in the world and more than fifty in Italy. For this reason the board or general council is composed of only 22 members, of whom 7 are from the United States, 5 English, 2 Canadian, and another 8 for the rest of the Baptist world.

The independence of the individual Churches and the division of the Baptists themselves into about 20 different sects have contributed to the silence that is maintained around this A. in their yearbooks or manuals. Except for some manual, such as the English one of 1912, in which all the articles and clauses of the A. are found, in the others there is barely a very brief mention, with an indication of the principal officers and with the faithful citation of the con-

annual contribution. The last general congress of the Baptist World A., held in Berlin in 1934, was famous for the number of participants (they say there were 10,000) and for the circumstances in which it was held.

In imitation of the Baptists and Presbyterians, some principal sects have also formed their a. under various names. The Lutherans have their Lutheran World Convention; the Methodists the Methodist Ecumenical Conference, etc.

4. WORLD ALLIANCE FOR PROMOTING INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP THROUGH THE CHURCHES (World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through the Churches)

The Italian Committee of this Alliance thus narrates its history (1930): "Its first origin goes back about 25 years, that is to say, to the fusion of two movements that had simultaneously appeared in the United States and in Europe from 1905 to 1907, among representatives of the various Churches gathered in solemn congresses in New York and in London. A federation or union of the different fractions of Christianity was envisaged with a view to common work; and among all works that of placing the religious forces at the service of international peace appeared most important and most urgent." The purpose is therefore to create in peoples a state of mind that inspires and sustains governments in their decisions for the maintenance of peace and the definitive abolition of war. The first great international conference was convened at Constance on 2 July 1914, precisely when the European war was breaking out. Once the war was over, others have been held every three years. The Catholic Church, while praising the purpose for which the Alliance prays and has others pray, officially holds itself apart. It cannot be considered as a fraction of Christianity; moreover, in the committees - as in the Italian one - former priests frequently appear; furthermore, it does not believe that the methods adopted by the Alliance lead to the desired purpose.

The Alliance has national committees answerable to a central committee, which gathers and communicates information, coordinating the work, and resides in Geneva; the Official Yearbook of the Church of England called it, without more ado, the spiritual part of the "League of Nations." The Italian committee has also introduced into Italy the Protestant youth institution of the "knights of peace." The Alliance has not been able to achieve its purpose, despite its excellent organization, its great activity in giving and promoting conferences and in the publication of numerous pamphlets and books.

Camillo Crivelli