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“At the World’s Fair in Chicago, 1893, Archbishop Keane, then Rector of Catholic University at Washington, D.C., Father Walter Elliott of the Paulist Fathers, and Father John Driscoll of the Albany diocese took advantage of this international gathering to explain the teachings of the Catholic Church by answering in a kindly manner the problems, difficulties, and objections sincerely presented by men and women of every religious creed.
A Question Box was placed in the Assembly Hall and day after day hundreds of queries on every phase of Catholic belief and practice were submitted. Father Elliott at once grasped the importance and the value of this irenic method of religious controversy and adopted it in the doctrinal lectures he later delivered in the diocese of Detroit. Since that time the Question Box has been used extensively and effectively by numerous priests in the instruction of people.
In 1900 Father Alexander Doyle, then Editor of The Catholic World, felt the need of a book which would answer the principal questions disturbing American citizens and allay their misgivings about the Catholic Church. He persuaded Father Bertrand Conway, a young Paulist missionary, to devote himself to this challenging project. With enthusiasm, energy, and talent Father Conway produced a summary of Catholic Apologetics which has since been acclaimed in every part of the world.
Father Conway’s Question Box has enjoyed phenomenal success. The first edition published in 1903 and the second edition in 1929 sold over 4 million copies. It was translated in Spanish, French, German, and Flemish. Permission was given for a Chinese version. No one can estimate the salutary influence this little book exerted over the years. It has dissipated suspicion and prejudice, dispelled ignorance and error, and helped doubting and inquiring minds to discover the truth about the Catholic Church. It has strengthened wavering Catholics in their Faith, stirred fallen-away Catholics to return to the Church, and initiated innumerable conversions....
And His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Spellman graciously consented to write a special Preface (that is as applicable today as it was in 1961):
“Today, more than at any other time in our history, our follow country men have manifested widespread interest in Catholicism. Men of good will admire the Catholic Church’s steadfast adherence to truth, her interest in integral education, her care for the poor and the oppressed, and her dedicated priests, religious and laity who staunchly defend the principles upon which our American democracy has been founded.
Yet, at the same time, enemies of religion are working tirelessly to destroy men’s belief in God and His revealed message and to distort the true image of the Catholic Church.
Catholics must, therefore, be well informed about their faith, not only for their own spiritual advancement but also for the enlightenment of those earnestly seeking the fullness of God’s truth. They must likewise be equipped to dispel any misunderstanding about the Church and to refute, when necessary, the errors of misguided critics.
It is therefore vitally necessary that there be available a supply of suitable literature for Catholics to place in the hands of inquiring non-Catholics.
The Question Box has been for the past fifty-eight years an invaluable tool in fulfilling such an apostolic need. Indeed, it has become a classic in its kind. Its simple, direct method of question-and-answer presents Catholic teaching with clarity and vigor. Four million copies already have been distributed; countless thousands of souls have had their knowledge of the faith increased, while many unbelievers have been brought to the full knowledge and love of Christ. Its influence has been inestimable.
I ask God’s blessing upon this newly revised edition of The Question Box, and pray that it will continue undiminished in its influence.”
The Feast of St. Joseph 1961 s/F. Cardinal Spellman
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