In 1920, one of America’s best-selling books was Cardinal Mercier’s Own Story. The title needed no further explanation, as the Cardinal was, in his day, one of the world’s most famous individuals, and the best-known Catholic cleric. His War Utterances had appeared in print in 1917, and several other biographies appeared in English alone. As a symbol of indomitable freedom, his reputation was comparable to that of Desmond Tutu or the Dalai Lama in later years.
It is astonishing, then, that he has dropped so entirely from American memory, and specifically from the popular Catholic mind. If the Church ever chose a patron saint for human rights, then Désiré Mercier would be an obvious candidate.
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