Robert Fox (“The world turns”, 4 January) offers a thoughtful beginning to the commemorations of the centenary of the start of the First World War. There is one figure of the time whom Catholics should not forget: Pope Benedict XV. His principled opposition to the war from September 1914 when he was elected, and his tireless diplomatic efforts to get the warring nations to the negotiating table, are often overlooked: but his witness, and how he tried to hold Europe’s leaders to account for the slaughter, began a big shift in Catholic teaching about war. Recognising what Benedict XV tried to do will entail looking at some awkward historical facts for the Church in this country: Cardinal Bourne and the hierarchy were unsettled by his stance and tried to undermine it in man