MONTH, THE

A journal published by the British province of the Society of Jesus, but begun in July 1864 by Fanny Margaret (later Mother Magdalen) taylor, a convert, who had accompanied Florence Nightingale to the Crimea and later founded the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. She was supported by the jesuits, and encouraged by John Henry newman who, though he cautioned against the publication of theological articles, chose The Month for the first publication of The Dream of Gerontius. The Jesuits took over in 1865, as the review was not paying its way. There was a distinguished series of Jesuit editors, starting with the convert Henry coleridge, a distant relative of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. After Newman's poem, verse disappeared from the journal's pages; Gerard Manley Hopkins's The Wreck of the Deutschland was rejected. George tyrrell was one of those assigned to the journal, and the editor, John Gerard, who was also for a time provincial, made considerable efforts to support him during the Modernist crisis, earning him a rebuke from Rome. Sydney Smith, S.J., a regular contributor from 1869 to 1920, was likewise rebuked for being too sympathetic to Anglicans. The Month published a wide variety of articles, from the historical (by the distinguished Jesuit scholars Joseph Stevenson and Herbert Thurston) to commentary on political events both national and international. Despite the ban on poetry, soon lifted, the magazine had a strong interest in literature. In 1949, under the new editorship of Fr. Philip Caraman, and a new, elegant, design, the literary content became outstanding: Caraman was able to call upon some of the leading British writers for articles. Ronald Moffatt was appointed editor in 1963, and he brought in Peter hebblethwaite, who had just completed his theological studies. Hebblethwaite went to Rome to cover the Second vatican council for The Month and for other journals, swiftly emerging as a leading commentator on Vatican affairs. On his return Moffatt resigned the editorship in his favor. Under Hebblethwaite The Month became increasingly liberal in tone, and carried important articles on Church affairs. In 1971 it absorbed the even more radical Herder Correspondence, having two years earlier amalgamated with the Dublin Review at the request of the Dublin 's owner, the archbishop of Westminster. From 1976 until his sudden death in June 1986 the magazine was edited by Hugh Kay, a layman with close ties to the Jesuits. Kay had strong, radical, political views, and the paper reflected his social concerns. After his death it once again acquired a Jesuit editor and again became more literary, but a declining circulation and the increasing difficulty of finding an editor when the number of members of the British Jesuit province was decreasing led to an announcement in 2000 that it would suspend publication the following year.

Bibliography: j. l. altholz, The Religious Press in Britain, 1760–1900 (Westport, Conn. 1989). j. j. dwyer, "The Catholic Press, 1850–1950," in g. a. beck, ed., The English Catholics, 1850–1950 (London 1950) 475–514. e. leonard, "Modernism and the Month," The Month (December 1989) 461–471. r. moffatt, "Account Rendered," The Month (December 1989) 472–477. p. hebblethwaite, "The Post-conciliar Month," The Month (December 1989) 478–481.

[m. j. walsh]