Editing Cosmo Gordon Lang (section)

===War===

When the Second World War began in September 1939, Lang saw his main duty as the preservation of spiritual values during what he deemed to be an honourable conflict.<ref name= L435>Lockhart, pp. 435–42</ref> He opposed strategies such as indiscriminate bombing, and on 21 December 1940, in a letter to ''[[The Times]]'' signed jointly with Temple and [[Cardinal Hinsley]], Lang expressed support for the pope's Five Peace Points initiative.<ref name= Hastings392>Hastings, pp. 392–95</ref> Lang was sympathetic to the [[Progressio (organization)|Sword of the Spirit]] campaign, founded by Hinsley in 1940 to combat anti-democratic tendencies among Catholics.<ref name= Hastings392/> In May 1941 [[Lambeth Palace]], Lang's London home, was hit by bombs and made uninhabitable.<ref name= Wilk6a>{{cite odnb|last= Wilkinson|first= Alan|title= (William) Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864–1945)|id=34398}} ("The Second World War" section)</ref>

After the Axis attack on the USSR in June 1941, Lang said that the Soviets must now be regarded as allies, without forgetting or condoning the excesses of the past.<ref name= L435/> His relations with [[Winston Churchill]], prime minister since May 1940, were difficult because "he [Churchill] knows nothing about the Church, its life, its needs or its personnel". There was therefore "uncertainty as to what motives or how much knowledge may determine his decisions [on Church matters]".<ref>Lockhart, pp. 435–36</ref>