Editing J. R. R. Tolkien (section)

=== Religion ===

{{redirect-distinguish|Tolkien's Christianity|Christianity in Middle-earth}}

Tolkien's [[Catholicism]] was a significant factor in [[C. S. Lewis]]'s conversion from [[atheism]] to Christianity.<ref name="CSL">{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |title=The Inklings |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-00-774869-3 |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter}} Lewis was brought up in the [[Church of Ireland]].</ref> He once wrote to [[Rayner Unwin]]'s daughter Camilla, who wished to know the purpose of life, that it was "to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all the means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks."<ref>{{cite book |last=Ware |first=Jim |url={{Google books|N_0VhzQKIIAC |page=PR22 |plainurl=yes}} |title=Finding God in The Hobbit |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4143-0596-7 |page=xxii|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers }}</ref> He had a special devotion to the [[eucharist in the Catholic Church|blessed sacrament]], writing to his son Michael that in "the Blessed Sacrament ... you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that".<ref name="Letters, No. 43" group="T" /> He accordingly encouraged frequent reception of [[Holy Communion]], again writing to his son Michael that "the only cure for sagging of fainting faith is Communion." He believed the Catholic Church to be true most of all because of the pride of place and the honour in which it holds the Blessed Sacrament.<ref name="Letter 250" group="T">{{harvnb|Carpenter|Tolkien|1981|loc=''Letters'' #250 to Michael Tolkien, 1 November 1963}}</ref> In the last years of his life, Tolkien [[Traditionalist Catholicism|resisted certain liturgical changes]] implemented after the [[Second Vatican Council]], his primary objection being the use of English for the liturgy.<ref>{{harvnb|Ordway|2023|p=328}}</ref> Tolkien spoke Latin fluently, and he felt that the English translations were clumsy.<ref>{{harvnb|Ordway|2023|p=328}}</ref> In his old age he continued to make the Mass responses in Latin.<ref name="SimonTolkien" /><ref>{{harvnb|Ordway|2023|p=329}}</ref> Tolkien did not sign the [[Agatha Christie indult]], however, and he served as a [[Reader (liturgy)|lector]] at Corpus Christi, a parish church in [[Headington]], in accordance with the allowances of the Council.<ref>{{harvnb|Ordway|2023|pp=332-333}}</ref>