Religion: Read No Evil

Roman Catholics “sin grievously, at least,” if they read the Daily Worker. Under the Pope’s recent order excommunicating Communists, Catholics may not read any Communist publications “for information, professional reasons, or curiosity,” declared the Rev. Edwin B. Broderick this week, in a sermon at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “The toying parlor pink,” he said, “must show his true color, red or not red . . . There is no room for pastel shades.” Later, Cardinal Spellman, who heard the sermon, modified the interpretation a bit: Catholics who must read the Worker and other Communist literature for their work would be allowed to continue doing so, if they applied to church authorities for special permission.