ABSTRACT
The antagonists of the Catholic Socialists during these years included Catholic laymen, Jesuit and Benedictine priests, and the Catholic Truth Society. The antecedent discussions in the lengthy controversy between the Catholic Socialists and the anti-Socialist Catholics had occurred during the spring and summer of 1906 and had culminated in the founding of the Catholic Socialist Society. Many Catholics remained unconvinced by the Catholic Socialist teachings, of course, and certain clerics were openly hostile to Wheatley and the Society. In July, 1907, Wheatley exacerbated the fears of Catholic anti-Socialists by endorsing the candidacy of John Stewart, an I. L. P. candidate for Town Councillor from Blackfriars who was standing against an incumbent Liberal and Home Ruler, Duncan Graham. Published in the Catholic newspaper of the West of Scotland, Wheatley’s letter challenged his adversaries in their own camp, and Father Leo Puissant undertook to champion the Catholic anti-Socialist cause.
