THE CATHOLIC HOUR

AS A WORLD CITIZEN
BY

DR. GEORGE F. DONOVAN

SEP 4 1946

The eleventh in a series of addresses by prominent Catholic laymen

entitled “THE ROAD AHEAD,” delivered in the Catholic Hour, broad-
cast by the National Broadcasting: Company in cooperation with the
National Council of Catholic Men, on August 18, 1946 by Dr. George F.

Donovan, President of Webster College, Webster Groves, Missouri.

After the series has been concluded on the radio, it will be made
available in one pamphlet.

National Council of Catholic Men

Washington, D. C.



c/t/SfKV)

AS A WORLD CITIZEN

Today, one is accustomed to

hear in conversation and over

the radio, and to read in the

press, frequent reference to one

world, a single universe, to a

United States of the World. It

has been suggested that the two

hemispheres, the eastern and the

western, become one. All expres-

sions are in the direction of

peace among the nations.

Man now has an outlook that

is very wide. War and the prob-

lems of peace have made this

horizon a very extensive one.

Material inventions, ending up

with the atomic bomb, are lead-

ing people closer and closer to-

gether. The establishment, and

the preliminary and early his-

tory of the United Nations as an

international body, have also

contributed to this general idea

of world responsibility. Close

contact with the Vatican on the

part of countries and leaders all

over the world and the apparent

willingness of various religious

groups to work together in the

advocacy of world peace are

signs of a broad and universal

interest.

The same forces which en-

courage a man to become inter-

ested in his fellowman, both in

tfie local community and in the

nation's life, also operate on the

world scene. If the dignity of

man benefits through right local

and national measures then, too,

the dignity of man should also

be improved through the right

international action.

A man declares with little or

no difficulty that he is a citizen

of the town, a citizen of this

state of the Union, and a citizen

of the United States. It still

seems remote to many, however,

to comprehend the idea of a

citizenship that embraces the

world. So much seems against

it. In the past the term, world

citizenship, has often been used

as a literary and imaginary pic-

ture without much thought of

realization later. The division in

the world reflected in the wars

and partisan trade agreements,

have never encouraged the

thought of a universal citizen-

ship. The absence of a univer-

sally spoken language, the his-'

torical isolation policy of the

United States, and the deep-

seated selfishness of political

and economic groups have often

times risen up against and op-

posed the genuine and the true

interests of mankind.

These reasons, however, are

not insuperable ones. They

merely delay the time for action.

Now, more than ever before, are



the conditions ripe for cooper-

ation among the nations of the

world. The end of war as a

means of control, the distribu-

tion of relief, emergency and

otherwise, the trend toward in-

ternational control of natural re-

sources which might easily be

employed in the prosecution of

war, and the formulation of open

treaties, all need immediate at-

tention on the part of our citi-

zens. To solve these obvious

problems and associate them

with a permanent program based

on peace and justice is part of

the natural and logical thinking

of the individual man. Through

peace, the dignity of man is

recognized and strengthened and

through war it is attacked and

broken.

The approach to a world citi-

zenship is naturally studied

through a world organization.

Right now the United Nations

is that world organization and

until a beter one is produced, we

should cooperate with it, with

the definite understanding, how-

ever, that principles of justice

and honesty should not be com-

promised under any circum-

stances in the deliberations and

the procedures of this inter-

national society. This world citi-

zenship will be a reality in the

light of a platform of principles

which must be observed by the

participants.

The program of peace must be

permanent, that is, for all time,

and yet the agreements leading

up to such a program must

speak in terms of limited periods

ay five years, ten years, or fifty

years, thus giving room for

improvement and necessary

changes from time to time.

Justice, particularly in trade re-

lations, political life, and in re-

ligion, must be extended to all

nations including the small coun-

tries, and to the vanquished

states, especially to the latter

after a probationary period has

elapsed and a just punishment,

not one of revenge, has been im-

posed.

Open relations, through con-

ferences and agreements, which

are known to the world must

ever be a policy of the world or-

ganization. The man on the

street must become familiar with

the deliberations carried on by

the leaders of universal peace.

Individual freedom must be

guaranteed and carried out, par-

ticularly in regard to the press,

petition, assembly, worship, busi-

ness, private ownership. Free-

dom of education must be grant-

ed, especially to minority groups.

Economic liberty must be es-

tablished. The right to trade



must never be restricted in the

future by monopolies or cartels.

No one nation or group of na-

tions should control or restrict

the production or distribution of

such necessary products as quin-

ine, oil, water, or any other eco-

nomic goods necessary to the

health and the welfare of the

peoples of the world.

There should always be pres-

ent the desire to help our fellow-

man not only here at home but

abroad. Our interest in helping

the starving Europeans and

Chinese and our sympathetic

support of the Filipino indepen-

dence should be broadened and

made into a permanent desire to

assist the peoples of the world

not only within our own gener-

ation but as a permanent policy.

In all these international dis-

cussions it is most important

that the foundation of the family

be kept in mind because world

peace goes back to national

peace and to the peace of the

local community and, finally, to

the stability and peace of the

individual family. So it is urgent

that in a world organization the

same factors, which aided in pre-

serving family life, should be

recognized and protected, such

as the institution of marriage,

the religious character of matri-

mony, the proper education of

the children, and the construc-

tion of individual homes. Thus

there would be less chance for

divorce or breaking up of the

family. Such stability would be

comparable to a universal bond

of peace among the nations of

the world. The dignity of man,

comforted by the happiness of

the family, will likewise be

strengthened and made into a

power for tremendous good and

peace among the various coun-

tries.

Education is a significant as-

pect of world organization. One

means towards this end is mani-

fested in a well planned program

leading to the exchange of rep-

resentative teachers, students,

members of various other pro-

fessions and occupations includ-

ing business men and workers.

The distribtuion should be on an

equal basis so that no one nation

should become the great edu-

cational reservoir to the detri-

ment of the other powers. There

should be an even exchange of

such groups all over the world.

The matter of national sover-

eignty always enters a discussion

of a world society. It is one

thing to speak of world citizen-

ship without the thought of in-

fluencing in any way one’s al-

legiance to his town, to his state,

and to the nation, but it is an-



other and more serious step to

have world citizenship and to

give up some of the responsibili-

ties associated with other and

less allegiances. It is possible,

however, for a man to be a

citizen of the world and at the

same time to have other types of

citizenship. There is no more

conflict in the maintenance of

American citizenship and at the

same time in the identification of

an American with world citi-

zenry than there is in the pos-

session of a* local or state citizen-

ship along with the national

citizenship of the United States.

One fact must be kept in mind.

So-called national sovereignty

with its emphasis on the coun-

try’s position right or wrong is

a statement from the past. Na-

tional sovereignty that excludes

participation and cooperation

with other nations, national so-

vereignty that opposes a world

organization based on the co-

operation, interest, and responsi-

bility of all nations, national so-

vereignty that defies the exten-

sion of peace and justice

throughout the world, is not a

proper and fit institution for our

times. It is a relic of the past.

Individual man on the Amer-

ican scene then would have a

world citizenship but, also, would

possess local, state, and national

citizenship. He would have

rights and obligations of an in-

ternational character just as he

has rights and responsibilities in

his local neighborhood. Although

the problems will be greater be-

cause the responsibilities are

greater, nevertheless, the man

on a world basis should be great-

er and, with the help of Al-

mighty God, should be able to

solve international problems on

the basis of permanent peace and

justice.

The dignity of man then would

be three-fold— local, national,
and international. Already have

we witnessed the meaning and

the understanding of a man with

dignity on the local and national

levels. An American citizen look-

ing at the world from a univer-

sal point of view would treat the

defeated Japanese in much the

same manner he uses when he

studies the people of our own

states, especially when legis-

lation is being proposed for the

benefit of the people as a whole.

Guilty leaders, of course, would

be punished. The nation as a

whole must be shown beyond any

question of a doubt that the ac-

tion taken in the last war was

an unjust and futile one but, at

the same time, the people should

be made to understand that we

are not content to remain as



mere enemies, with them placed

under our heel, but that we are

anxious to cooperate with them

and, when they have proved

themselves worthy of responsi-

bility and trust, they will be

given the chance to assume a

leadership first at home among,

their own citizens and, later in

the family of nations.

The American citizen as a

world citizen, too, would look at

the Polish situation and consider

it not only as a problem but as a

direct threat to world peace.

Every assurance must be made

that the Polish people will have

the right to practice the funda-

mental rights of man, the oppor-

tunity to have self-government,

and to conduct economic and re-

ligious enterprises free from the

domination of an outside power.

When we think of suppressed

peoples abroad and the denial of

certain rights to them we must

also, recall in the .same manner

the rights that are denied in our

own United States to minorities

including the Negro, the Jew,

the Mexican, the Japanese, and

the Chinese. The more the dig-

nity of man among our own

American minorities is recog-

nized, the more we will be able

to express our position to the

dispossessed and the disfran-

chised humans in other parts of

the world.

May the day come when a citi-

zen of Washington, our nation’s

capital, may talk in agreement

on the fundamental rights of

man and nations with a citizen

of Berlin, of Paris, of Moscow,

of Cairo, of Dublin, of Bogota,

and of the Vatican City. The

conversation and the laughter of

such citizens might answer in

unison to the appeals of men,

women, and children of all na-

tions for assistance and under-

standing. Such citizens, not only

as natives of particular national

capitals, but as international

citizens as well, will expect, and

with reason, that law, yes, even

international law, will be for

them the bulwark of justice and

truth and that in this same law

they and their fellow-citizens

may find safe protection for

those God-given human rights

whose free exercise is funda-

mental in any world order,

where peace may expect to take

foundation. One such right is

the right of every nation, small

or weak, as well as great or

strong, to its own life and inde-

pendence, the right of every

individual to worship God pub-

licly as well as privately, and to

serve Him according to the dic-

tates of conscience.



A citizen of the world in the

economic sense would under-

stand the problems of the labor-

er, the consumer, management,

and government. He would be-

come vitally interested not

merely in the framework of an

international organization but in

all the problems that are of tre-

mendous concern to the working

man of today, to the owner of

property, to the housewife, and

to the employee ^of government.

As God was called upon to in-

spire and assist the men and

women in constructing the foun-

dations of our own country so,

too, among the nations of the

world should He also be invited

in. Certainly no one knows the

problems of the world better

than He and no pne is more

capable of solving them than He.

The dignity of man is now al-

most complete. The town, the

nation, and world order have

lifted him from the wrechedness

of routine and narrow points of

view to the joys of justice and

peace for his fellowmen. Man

seeks not only a community dig-

nity, a national dignity, and a

global dignity but he also search-

es for a higher and more noble

bearing—a spiritual life—and
that combination—Man and God,
will make citizenship a lasting

and ever glorious one.



THE CATHOLIC HOUR
1 930—Seventeenth Year— 1 946

The nationwide Catholic Hour was inaugurated on

March 2, 1930, by the National Council of Catholic Men

in cooperation with the National Broadcasting Company

and its associated stations. Radio facilities are provided

by NBC and the stations associated with it; the pro-
gram is arranged and produced by NCCM.

The Catholic Hour was begun on a network of 22

stations, and now carries its message of Catholic truth

on each Sunday of the year through a number of sta-

tions varying from 90 to 110, situated in 40 states, the

District of Columbia, and Hawaii. Consisting usually

of an address, mainly expository, by one or another of

America's leading Catholic preachers—though some-
times of talks by laymen, sometimes of dramatizations

—and of sacred music provided by a volunteer choir,
the Catholic Hour has distinguished itself as one of the

most popular and extensive religious broadcasts in the

world. An average of 100,000 audience letters a year,
about twenty per cent of which come from listeners of

other faiths, gives some indication of its popularity and

influence.

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