Fateful Passages: The Life of Henry Somerville, Catholic Journalist

This first profile of Henry Somerville provides a glimpse into how one catholic lay person, at a time when the laity were not known for leadership in the Roman Catholic church, used his position as editor of The Catholic Register to promote social justice in Canada. Born in England during the Industrial Revolution, Somerville (1889-1953) served as a columnist for The Catholic Register during the first World war, then went back to England where he worked as European correspondent for the Toronto Star during the turbulent 1920s, while labouring away in his spare time to promote Catholic social action. In 1933, he was persuaded by Toronto archbishop Neil McNeil to return to Canada to take over the reigns of The Catholic Register, Canada’s premier weekly newspaper for English-speaking Catholics. During his 20-year stint in the editor’s chair, he wrote passionately and copiously on the church’s social; teaching, always stressing the need for working class Catholics to educate themselves in history, economics and politics so they could bring their faith to the marketplace of ideas, whether it be in public life or in their unions or professional associations. This book fills a gap in the understanding of how Catholic social doctrine was spread in Canada in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and it sheds light on the often stormy relationship between the Catholic Church in Canada and left-wing political parties such as the Commonwealth Co-operative Federation, precursor to the NDP. Moreover, it profiles a singularly influential lay Catholic who was the equivalent of the Protestant social gospellers such as JS Woodsworth and Tommy Douglas.