Religion: Rx: Tolerance

Religious tolerance with a capital T is the business of the Rev. Everett Ross Clinchy. As president of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, his job is to sow seeds of understanding and uproot the tares of prejudice. Embarking last week for London and the first international conference of his organization, Peacemaker Clinchy took time out to deplore the caterwauling between Catholic and Protestant churchmen which recently hit high C over Presidential Representative Myron C. Taylor's continued mission to the Vatican (TIME, June 17). Said Dr. Clinchy: "Public disputes are regrettable. Face-to-face conference is the needed strategy."

Dr. Clinchy, a Protestant, listed the chief Protestant misunderstandings about their Catholic brethren:

"Catholics and Civil Liberties: . . . Catholic support of the . . . Bill of Rights matches that of the Protestants from the time of Lord Baltimore.

"Catholics and Patriotism: ... To the Church and to the Pope as its head, Catholics give spiritual loyalty; to the United States Government American Catholics give complete national allegiance.

"Catholics and Political Influence. ... A Protestant official in Washington reckons that the Protestants and the Catholics lobby in about the same proportion as their population numbers."