Investigating Cultural Decline

Abstract

Chapter 7 explores Jones’s belief that the classical and Christian heritages were under threat in the decline of Western civilisation. With close examination of his essays and letters, the chapter contextualises Jones’s approach to this inheritance. It traces, in particular, his deep concerns around the marginalisation of classics in the education system and the Second Vatican Council’s decision to vernacularise the Mass. While these fears position Jones within broader movements bent on preserving the unity of Western tradition, his own lack of a classical education and position as a Catholic convert appalled by the modernisation of the faith, encouraged him to fight even harder for cultural continuity. Jones, along with writers, classicists and Catholic intellectuals, and in line with associations like The Virgil Society, advocated a return to Rome—both historically and religiously—to reconnect to the origins of Western culture, reinforce the strength of this tradition and ensure its survival into the future.