It was only in the summer of 1951 that Buchman became aware that a new situation was developing. In August of that year the Holy Office formulated a three-point warning to Catholics, which was not issued to the press or sent immediately to the Nunciatures round the world but which became known at Caux. It read:

1. It is not proper that priests of the diocesan or regular clergy, or, a fortiori, religious women, should take part in meetings of Moral Re-Armament.

2. If special circumstances render such participation desirable, let permission be asked in advance of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office; it will be granted only to learned and experienced priests.

3. Finally, it is not proper for the faithful to accept any office of responsibility in the Moral Re-Armament movement, and much less to take part in the so-called 'policy teams'.

This was a great surprise to Buchman, as the friendly relations he had maintained since 1948 with the Bishop of the Caux area, Monsignor Charrière, had led him to believe that the Catholic Church was taking a positive attitude to his action. But Charrière made it clear that the warning was a serious matter, although he arranged for priests to serve the Catholic chapel which is a part of the Caux assembly buildings.

As is its custom the Holy Office did not give any reasons for its action. Those of Buchman's many Catholic friends who made enquiries in Rome brought back a confirmation that the statement came from the highest authority on dogmatic matters and that there was no possibility of discussion. At the same time it was made clear to them that the warning did not amount to a condemnation, and, in fact, a stream of Catholics continued to arrive at Caux. Among them were distinguished theologians like Karl Adam, the Professor of Dogmatic Theology at Tübingen University, and Werner Schöllgen, Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Bonn, both of whom recorded their favourable impressions. Professor Adam wrote in the Tübingen Theological Quarterly: 'It is not mere dreamers who have followed the movement which within thirty years has grown into a great world offensive, but prominent intellectuals, world-famous statesmen and politicians, big industrialists and workers' leaders, trade unionists, dockers and miners, men of all conditions from cabinet ministers to cooks. They all have one aim, to solve the toughest political, economic, social and cultural questions in the light of the Gospel. And it is amazing, it is wonderful, how, time after time, it is the simple, clear concepts of the Sermon on the Mount which throw light on the most involved political and economic problems. The four absolutes, the challenge to complete surrender to God, faith in the power of the Cross of Christ and the "quiet time" which Buchman urges, are basic elements of the Christian life, they are Christianity lived out. That is why Buchman's message is in its very core a Christian message. One can understand why the Catholic finds no new truths in Caux. But shaken to his roots, he has to admit that in Caux, Christianity has been more deeply understood and lived out than in many Catholic communities. In answer to the question "What has Caux to give Catholics?" Monsignor Eugène Fischer, Dean of the Cathedral of Strasbourg, replied, "The first thing that strikes us in Caux is the nagging of our conscience. I believe that outside the religious orders, there is no place on the face of the earth where so much prayer goes up." '41

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