THE CHURCH AND THE

WORKING MAN

/

REV. CHARLES O. RICE

THE HOUR OF FAITH



-

4
.^



The Church And The Working Man





The Church And The

Working Man
A series of Sunday morning talks given in 1946 on ^‘The Hour of

Faith^’ a coast-to-coast religious broadcast produced by the National

Council of Catholic Men in cooperation with the American Broadcasting
Company.

BY

REV. CHARLES O. RICE

National Council cf Catholic Men
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W.

Washington 5, D. C.

Printed and distributed by Our Sunday Visitor

Huntington, Indiana



Nihil Obstat:

REV. T. E. DILLON

Censor Librorum

Imprimatur:

^ JOHN FRANCIS NOLL, D.D.
Bishop of Fort Wayne



Table of Contents

Page

The Churches Plea For Justice 7

The Churches Way To Justice 12

The Church And The Family 17

The Workingman Is A Person 22



De8Me<



THE CHURCH’S PLEA FOR JUSTICE
Talk given on April 28, 1946

Towards the end of the nine-

teenth century, the Catholic

Church, once mistress and maker

of Europe, seemed tired and old

and futile. The long, conserva-

tive Pontificate of Pius IX had

ended. It had seen many, many

defeats and recessions of the

Church. The world was very

confident and sure of itself. A

highly industrialized civilization

was very successful. Men trusted

more in material things and

thought less of God than at any

previous time in history.

The hungry masses in Catholic

countries had deserted the

Church in droves. The newly

rich industrialists were mostly

reared in heresy and they felt

no need for the Ancient Church

and no respect for her.

The Church needed a great

Pope, but, when Leo XIII as-

cended the throne of Peter it

seemed that what she got was

just an aged diplomat, whose un-

distinguished career was being

crowned with an honor that was

his because the Church had

waned in worldly regard.

He was a frail man, sixty-

eight years old w^hen he was

elected Pope. The pictures that

we see of him show an old,

withered but kindly face. There

is strength in that face, but it

could be the face of any tired

old man. Nevertheless, he reign-

ed with a sure hand. He set

many things straight and he re-

paired many a rent in the ex-

ternal fabric of the Church.

Things which had seemed to

make him less fitted to be Pope

now came to his aid, and showed

that the Holy Ghost surely had a

hand in his choice as Visible

Head of the Church. He had

been associated as a young priest

and very young Monsignor and

Bishop with the mundane exter-

nal affairs of the crumbling

Papal States. But this had

forced him to see the needs and

the miseries of the people, and

to look at the practical.

And this minor ecclesiastical

diplomat and politician in the

wondrous ways of God became a

great Pope.

There was a fundamental evil

abroad in the world that sur-

rounded his Pontificate. It was

an evil that was most strongly

entrenched. The machine age



8 THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN

came quite suddenly upon Eur-

ope. It came at a bad time, when

men did not possess humility or

the belief in something higher

than themselves, all of which

would have made for better use

of machines, and inventions and

the whole pattern of industrial

capitalism.

There was evil both in the way

men did things and in the way

they thought about them.

As for how they did things.

The owners of factories, mills,

and mines acted without any so-

cial responsibility. They skim-

med the profits and gave their

workers the leavings. The work-

ing class was herded into miser-

able slums. Working men labor-

ed inhumanly long hours for

very low wages. Their wives and

children had to work to eke out

bare subsistence. Safety and

sanitary regulations were not

thought of, or planned for.

There was no such thing as pro-

vision for leisure or recreation.

No insurance, no security. And

unions, which could better the

condition of the masses, were

fought and crushed like very

manifestations of the devil him-

self.

As for the way they thought

about things. Their philosophers

had evolved systems of thought

which justified the vicious and

sinful system. One system said

that selfishness was good and if

each man looked out for himself

all was well. The idea of the sur-

vival of fittest, and the logic that

the weak should go to the bottom

and lie there, worked its way

into this inhuman way of think-

ing. Another system of thought

actually claimed to prove that it

was right and necessary for the

owners to take all the products

and income of industry and give

to the workers only the barest

minimum necessary to just

exist.

Things were mighty bad, but

the viciously selfish lords of in-

dustry were not going unchal-

lenged. Socialism was coming to

the fore. The Socialists, seeing

the abuse of private property,

called for its abolition. Seeing

the arrogance and irresponsible

incompetence of the ruling class

and the oppression of the work-

ers, they called for conflict—^war
—b e t w e e n the classes, and
taught that a classless society

should be the aim of all. Seeing

that religion was either going

along, or being used or was

powerless, the socialists decided

that religion was wrong and un-

necessary, just a sort of opium

to lull the poor to sleep so that



THE CHURCH’S PLEA FOR JUSTICE 9

the rich would not need to

worry.

The Socialists taught a lot of

good things. They had echoes of

Christianity—though they had
much of it wrong. They felt

that the wealth of the world be-

longed to all the people. They

taught that all wealth and value

came from the labor of the

w^orker. In some things they

were right. In some things

wrong. In some things half and

half.

But, all in all, they were react-

ing too far. They ran counter to

the Christian doctrine concern-

ing the existence of God, the im-

portance and dignity of the hu-

man individual. They would de-

stroy religion. They would abol-

ish private property, and while

they wanted to help man they

would end by enslaving him as

badly, or worse, than the capital-

ists.

Well, at this time the Pope

spoke out. He had been Pope for

thirteen years. He had given a

foretaste of what he would do,

when as Bishop he consistently

went to the aid of the workers in

his successive government posts

in the Papal States; and, as

Pope, when he approved the aims

of the Knights of Labor in the

United States who were being at-

tacked as irreligious.

He spoke out through the me-

dium of an Encyclical. This

word is a long Latinish word for

a simple thing. An Encyclical is

simply a pronouncement by the

Pope in letter form concerning

some topic of major importance.

Pope Leo wrote many Encycli-

cals but in 1891 he wrote one in

particular that will live forever.

He called it ‘‘On the Condition

of Labor.'’ It dealt with the

whole social and economic prob-

lem. It was courageous, farsee-

ing, immensely timely and ter-

ribly necessary. It makes good

and pointed reading even today,

after 55 years. I'll give you a

synopsis of what was in it, but

remember the important thing is

that the Encyclical was issued. It

was sensible, it was constructive,

it spoke plainly. It highlighted

the Catholic doctrine on a great

number of controversial things.

It upheld the hands of cou-

rageous pioneers. It gave cou-

rage and strength to bishops,

priests, laymen, and those out-

side the faith.

We can very briefly tell you

what was in it.

It condemned in biting, sting-

ing, terms the arrogant oppres-

sors of the people. It dissected



10 THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN

their cheap, smug philosophies

which justified keeping the peo-

ple in bondage. It pointed out

that God created the blessings

of the earth for all the people.

It pointed that men were not

slaves and chattels but were

made in the image and likeness

of God. It pointed out that the

working man had to get his fair

share of the product of industry.

It pointed out that he was mainly

responsible for producing wealth

and should enjoy it.

Getting down to cases, the En-

cyclical called for sanitary and

health measures. It called out

for higher wages, shorter hours,

a chance for recreation. It con-

demned child and female labor.

It affirmed in ringing tones the

right of the worker to organize

and to strike to get his just

deserts.

By the same token, the Pope

called on the workers to recog-

nize their responsibilities. It

called on them to avoid violence

and undue bitterness although

their bitterness and hatred were

justified by their mistreatment.

In a very important section the

Encyclical took issue with So-

cialism. It asserted that private

property was a natural right. It

asserted that the remedy for the

abuse of private property, name-

ly, the evil concentration of

wealth into the hands of a few,

was to distribute that wealth

more evenly. The Pope took his

stand for private property so

that the worker might have more

of it, and by having more of it

he might attain freedom and se-

curity.

The Pope assailed the Socialist

idea that the state should take

over and run everything, even

family life. He said the parents

and not the state shall control the

children. But he also said that

the state sometimes must inter-

fere in business and industry.

He said the state should not

stand aside but had to look out

for the welfare of the poor and

the working class. He refuted

the pagan idea, so prevalent

then, that the state was merely a

sort of policeman seeing that the

rich could sleep peacefully in

their beds.

In passages that we need to

listen to today, he called on the

workers and employers to or-

ganize, to control business and

industry and economics for the

common welfare, or else the state

would have to step in by default.

All this may not sound so

wonderfully new or revolutionary

now. But it was positively revo-

lutionary then. Coming from the



THE CHURCH’S PLEA FOR JUSTICE 11

Pope it was a clap of thunder.

Its purpose was to encourage

and protect the workers, to ad-

monish and control the employ-

ers and the wealthy, and, withal,

to warn of the danger of sug-

gested cures which were worse

than the disease.

The Encyclical did not produce

an automatic effect of setting

everything straight, but it did

clarify matters and it did high-

light the humane, sensible teach-

ing of the Catholic Church.

As a direct result of the En-

cyclical, and at the bidding of

the Pope, bishops, priests and

la^Tnen entered the conflict on

the side of the worker. Not all

responded as they should and in

time the effect became blurred.

But the original impetus was

given. The Church in the inter-

vening fifty-five years has more

and more found her true place in

the hard, mechanical modern

world. This world was not of the

Church’s making and it has

taken time and will take more

time for the final adjustment.

But another Pope, Pope Pius

XI, following in the footsteps of

his. illustrious predecessor, has

traced out the way even more

clearly. Today the fundamental

facts are making themselves

knovm more surely day by day.

Religion is not the drug but the

hope of the people. In the great

Christian teachings of the invio-

lability of the human personality,

of the fatherhood of God and the

brotherhood of man, lie the sal-

vation of a world grown heavy

of its own weight, in constant

and increasing danger of de-

struction through its owm uncon-

trolled knowledge. A world that

despised religion and worshipped

material things may yet have a

chance to save itself by realizing

the great, fundamental truths of

the relation of man to man, and

man to God, as outlined by gen-

erations of scholars and saints

and teachers in the deathless

Christian tradition.



THE CHURCH’S WAY TO jUSTtCE
Talk giyen on May 5, 1946

Last Sunday we discussed the

great Encyclical of Pope Leo

XIIL This Encyclical, or papal

letter, was issued in the year

1891; it dealt with social and

economic matters and it was

called ''On the Condition of

Labor/' It is a truly historic

document. It was followed forty

years later by another papal

letter, which brought it up to

date. This second Encyclical was

written by Pope Pius XI, of

happy memory, and it was en-

titled "On Reconstructing the

Social Order."

In our discussion today we are

purposely going to limit our-

selves. The Encyclicals are quite

specific. They do not go into

technical details, mind you, for

as Pope Pius says, in this the

Church has neither the equip-

ment nor the calling. But the

Encyclicals are, nevertheless,

more than mere general exhor-

tations to do good and avoid evil.

They set out certain principles of

conduct. These principles we

shall not enter into deeply today.

But it appears fairest to those

magnificent documents t h e m-

selves to point out to the listen-

ing audience, that there is a

great deal that is practical ajid

specific in them which we will

not cover in today's talk. We

recommend the reading of the

documents themselves, by those

immediately interested in their

wealth of analysis, comment and

suggestion concerning the social

and economic order.

Underlying all the concern

which the Popes, in common with

all religious leaders, feel for the

social and economic well-being

of the world, is the conviction

that the problem of men living

together in justice and charity is

at bottom a moral, a religious

question. The evils which cause

misery on this earth are moral

evils—sins. In the words of the
poet, "Man's inhumanity to man,

which makes countless thousands

mourn," is an evil thing which

must be constrained by moral

and religious forces.

To understand the nature of

the social and economic question,

we have to understand the nature

of man himself. We must put

our plans and solutions for

worldly ills soundly on a basis

of religious beliefs.



THE CHURCH’S WAY TO JUSTICE 13

Fundamentally, we come back

to the brotherhood of man and

the fatherhood of God. Man is

an animal. That is, he has a

body. He is born, he dies. His

body grows. It may be healthy

and flourishing. It may waste

and die. Man needs nourishment.

His body must be protected from

the elements. He is an animal,

albeit the highest of animals

biologically.

Man is a sentient animal. That

is, he feels, he experiences. He

possesses a very complex nervous

structure with a highly developed

brain and sense organs.

But he is more than all this.

He is a rational animal. He

possesses intellect and under-

standing. And above all, he pos-

sesses a will. He is capable of a

high type of spontaneous striv-

ing on the one hand, and on the

other, of deliberate choice and

striving.

In his superior mental equip-

ment he is able to foresee, to look

into the future. He is able to

form purposes and adapt means

to his ends. He is here superior

to brute creation.

More than this, his knowledge

gives him a wide range of inter-

ests peculiar to him alone of all

animals. Among these are re-

ligion, as well as the intellectual

pursuit of truth and knowledge,

of moral good, of right and

wrong, and of the beautiful.

The various aspects of human

nature—the biological, the per-
ceptive, and the intellectual—are
not just so many different com-

partments. They form the whole

man. One depends on the others.

The higher level always includes

the lower. The high dignity of

man, the human personality, is

dependent on the animal nature,

and includes it for its completion.

Not by bread alone does man live,

to be sure, but by the same token,

as St. Thomas Aquinas said, a

certain decent sufficiency of this

world’s goods is necessary for

the practice of virtue.

Man is not a disembodied

spirit. He is a creature com-

posed of body and soul. The

Popes and other religious leaders

are concerned with social and

economic life because it is tied in

with the religious life. The re-

ligious life is not just a com-

partment, separable from the

whole man.

It must pervade the whole.

Men can best serve God in a

whole, healthy society. This so-

ciety must be organized and run

with charity and justice as well

as with wisdom and science. Be-

sides, religious leaders are con-



14 THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN

cerned because it follows as the

night the day that a true follow-

ing of fundamental religious

precepts will lead to a healthier

and more prosperous and peace-

ful society.

As we go further into the

nature of man we must admix

that man cannot be described or

understood fully as he stands

himself alone, an individual man.

He can be understood only in re-

lation to his fellows. In a word,

to understand man, you must

understand society. Man is more

than an isolated individual, he

is a social being through and

through.

From the cradle to the grave,

we depend on other human

beings. We are brought into the

world by two beings. Once in

existence, we can survive, we

grow and live, only through the

care of others. The family takes

us and cares for us. We would

die in our boyhood and youth if

left alone or abandoned. We

grow through the family, not

only in body but in mind. We

depend on others, not only for

our daily bread, and our physi-

cal existence, but even more for

our spiritual and mental growth.

Character and personality are

products of the influences of

others. We can say that so com-

pletely social is man, of his very

nature, that we must live in so-

ciety under the penalty of ceas-

ing to be real men.

Now as we get into the fleld of

economics we And the social na-

ture of man even more clearly

emphasized. No individual is

self-sufficient today. No family is

self-sufficient. As John Donne’s

memorable quotation has it, no

man is an island. We are all

parts of the main. No family, no

nation is an island, all are parts

of the continent of the human

race.

Social contacts from the ends

of the earth are required to pro-

vide the ordinary necessities of

life for the average man of to-

day. This very fact makes the

economic question, one that is

not only social but international.

On it depends not only the wel-

fare of people in any one nation,

but the welfare of peoples all

over the world. Economic health

is not the concern of individuals;

it is the concern of nations.

Religious teaching tells us that

all men are brothers under the

fatherhood of God. We have a

beautiful Catholic doctrine which

well expresses the interdepend-

ence of the whole human race. It

is called the doctrine of the

Mystical Body of Christ. We are



THE CHURCH’S WAY TO JUSTICE 15

members of that mystical body,

and an injury of one is an injury

to all. If one part of the body

be ill, the other members cannot

be indifferent, because they are

identified with one another as

members of that body.

For the health of society we

must live with one another in

amity, justice and charity. Men

must get along. They must

eschew selfishness and greed, be-

cause unless they do, they hurt

not only their brothers, but

themselves, and the very fabric

of human society. What better

than the eternal truths of holy

religion to control and enlighten

men? What can better serve to

overflow the greed, narrowness

and selfishness that is in every

one of us, as a consequence of

original sin, than an application

of the truths of revealed religion

to our practical, daily life?

As human beings, composed of

soul, as well as body, we have

rights and duties. Our rights and

duties balance each other. We

can live full human lives only as

we respect the rights of others.

We can reach our full stature,

and attain our proper place as

moral beings, only as we fulfill

our duties.

All injustice, all inhumanity

comes from a tramnling of the

rights of human beings, and a

neglect of bounden duties by

those able to perform them. Look

at every evil and injustice you

know. Analyze them from this

angle and you will see how true

it is.

Let us go a step further and

we will see that the only effec-

tive basis of respect for the

rights of others and observance

of personal duties can come from

the moral law. There has to be

a sanction outside ourselves.

There has to be respect for

something higher than mere

mankind to effectively procure

justice for all.

Religious teachers, like the

Popes, are not believers in the

possibility of Utopia on earth.

But they are believers in the

possibility of doing better, the

possibility, nay the necessity, of

closer approaches to perfection.

Pope Pius said that the true

guiding principle of economics is

justice. To achieve this, he

pointed out the necessity of

moral reform. Moral reform not

only of the individual but of so-

ciety; and of all the institutions

of public and social life, so that

they are imbued with the spirit

of justice.

In calling for the dethroning

of sordid selfishness, the Holy



16 THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN

Father pointed out that charity

must play a leading part. We

must go beyond justice to

charity. Justice comes first and

charity cannot take its place, but

charity must be added on to it.

Charity is the love of God, and

the love of our neighbors be-

cause of Him; Love of God the

Father and of all men as our

brothers.

Justice alone, that stern virtue,

cannot by itself make inroads on

the greed and selfishness that sin

implants in the hearts of men;

but, aided by charity, it can

storm the ramparts of corrupt

human nature and alleviate the

miseries of countless pilgrims in

this vale of tears. Justice alone,

said the Pope, even when most

faithfully observed, can remove

indeed the cause of social strife,

but it can never bring about a

union of hearts and minds, and

this union, binding men together,

is the main principle of stability

in all institutions which aim at

establishing social peace and pro-

moting mutual aid. In its ab-

sence the wisest regulations come

to nothing.

Our Holy Father, Pope Pius

XI, reflected in his powerful

letter, on the chief disorder of

the modern world—the ruin of
souls. He reminded us: Whal

will it profit men if a more pru-

dent distribution and use of

riches make it possible for them

to gain the whole world, if there-

by they suffer the loss of their

own souls? What will it profit,

to teach them sound principles

of economics, if they permit

themselves to be so swept away

by selfishness, by unbridled and

sordid greed, that ^'Hearing the

Commandments of the Lord, they

do all things contrary''?

We have been unable in this

brief talk to indicate to you the

wealth of practical suggestion

and analysis contained in the

great Encyclical *'On Recon-

structing the Social Order," but

we have endeavored to point out

the great concern which the

Pope had with the welfare of

all humanity. This concern is

Christianity and religion in their

very essence. It echoes the

Christian affirmation that all

men are brothers under God, and

we are our brothers' keepers.



THE CHURCH AND THE FAMILY
Talk given on

We are discussing in these

broadcasts the Encyclical letters

issued by two Popes on the social

and economic questions. You

will remember that these papal

letters were issued forty years

apart by two great Popes. Pope

Leo XIII wrote in 1891 and titled

his message, ‘'On the Condition

of Labor.’' Pius XI wrote in our

generation in the year 1931 and

called his letter “On Recon-

structing the Social Order.”

The second Encyclical was a

more deeply searching one. It

also went further along the road

to pointing out constructive

means of changing the social

order. I want to remind you that

in these discussions we are de-

liberately limiting ourselves. We

are not going to touch on the

wealth of practical economics

contained in both documents. We

are not going to discuss the his-

torical background and other as-

pects. We are limiting our-

selves to the religious aspects in

the very strictest sense. I am

giving this reminder because in

a talk of this sort we do not at-

tempt to do full justice to the

immensely practical and specific

May 19, 1946

criticisms and suggestions with

which both documents teem.

One aspect that I should like

to touch on today has to do with

a basic religious concept which

underlies the Church’s attitude

on sociology and economics

;

which, mpreover, underlies the

type of solutions which the Popes

proffer to the world. For the

specific solutions we commend

you to the documents themselves

which may be found in any li-

brary or in any Catholic book-

store.

But this basic religious princi-

ple is one which transcends the

purely religious aspect of life. It

illustrates the fact that religion

touches everything. It embraces

the whole man, body and soul.

But the principle which I will

discuss is this—the Catholic atti-
tude toward the family. The

Catholic concern for the family.

Now don’t conclude too quickly

that here we are on a ground

which permits of no discussion;

that here we are discussing

something that is accepted; that

is completely uninteresting and

unexciting. That is not so.

Contrary to what the average



18 THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN

man thinks, the family in modern

society is not safe; it is in great

danger. To call for preservation

and strengthening of the family

is not to mouth a platitude
;

it is

to state a challenging truth that

is being ignored.

We Americans do think that

we stand for the family. It is a

common joke to include defense

of the family as one of those

safe, dull things, lik^ attacking

the common cold and the man-

eating shark. But not so.

Many of us give lip service to

the family, of course. But many

don't understand either its true

function, its importance or its

imminent danger. We Americans

may have a homesickness for

family life, modern man in gen-

eral may have such a nostalgia

—

but the family is losing out

every day.

Modern progress is hard on

the family. Let us examine vari-

ous modern innovations, inven-

tions, and conventions and see

what they are doing to family

life. The automobile can become

an enemy of family life. It tends

to take children and parents

away from the home. Our mod-

ern mass entertainment, like the

movies, draws people from the

home. Of all modern conveni-

ences the radio is the only major

one which builds up the family.

It is something that attracts

people to the home. Members of

a family gather around a radio,

and they do it at home. Even the

new home conveniences which

make house-work light will tend

to diminish home life. They will

make the time that it is neces-

sary to spend in the home, even

less than ever.

The structure of modern life

wars on the home. This war be-

gan in the early days of the in-

dustrial revolution when child

and female labor were rampant.

It has continued with the pres-

sures which continually make it

difficult and keep it difficult for

a man, a working man particu-

larly, to support a family. When

support of a family means drud-

gery and denial and sacrifices

—

the pressure to forego the pleas-

ures and duties of family life is

terrific. The pressure for the

poor and the worker to have

small families or none at all is

increasing. Ironically, as the lot

of the worker becomes better and

as more pleasures and enjoy-

ments come into his reach, the

temptation to seek those pleas-

ures and enjoyments, unencum-

bered by a family, increases.

Divorce and artificial limitation

of families are symptoms rather



THE CHURCH AND THE FAMILY 19

than causes, and this the Pope

knew and recognized.

With all the encouragement in

the world, family life would have

a hard time in modern society.

The social pressures work

against it. Even the good things,

the reforms, exert a sort of pres-

sure against the family. The

school as it increasingly becomes

the center of youthful life takes

away more and more of the

duties of the parents and reduces

the importance of the family. As

more and more obligations to

children and individuals are as-

sumed by social agencies and the

state, we find signs of additional

pressure on the family.

The Pope put his finger on it

all when he inveighed against

modern individualism. What the

Pope hails as the ideal is a so-

ciety which uses^as its base the

family.

All the forces and resources of

society should aid the individual

as part of the family. It is the

Christian ideal that society with

families as a bed-rock base will

erect thereon a superstructure of

which three organizations, or-

ganized according to people's

needs and interests, will cooper-

ate and will cover the whole

gamut of living. In this manner

we get away from the horrible

modern evil of a society of indi-

viduals, each seeking his own

welfare, with only the State

above; and with nothing stand-

ing between the individual and

the State.

Aldous Huxley in his savage

satire on modern living called

‘'Brave New World" pictured the

ultimate result of modern living

as a society in which individuals

come into the world artificially,

are raised in incubators, are

reared by the State, are supplied

by the State with their opinions

and beliefs, are entertained and

kept from boredom by the State,

and eventually are saved from

disease and old age by being

painlessly killed. He pictured a

world in which the words, Moth-

er, family and God were evil

words.

A far-fetched idea of course,

but one which illustrates the

modern trend away from warm

family relationship and into

mass, artificial relationships

playing upon the individual as

an individual and not as part of

a family and a warm, human,

organic society.

Many very good schemes for

the welfare of modern man err

in that they do not see the im-

portance of the family. They will

put full and final authority, not



20 THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN

in the hands of the parents, but

of the State. The family will not

be the basic unit of society, but

it will be a necessary evil from

which the child and the man will

be liberated as quickly as pos-

sible.

Practical things like a family

living wage are urged by Pope

Pius. He, likewise, urges a

stronger rural family life as

being healthy for people and for

society. He urges the State to

help the family by family allow-

ances, and so on. He urges em-

ployers to voluntarily pay wages,

and make allowances on the basis

of family needs.

We don't do this sufficiently.

Too often it is our attitude that

it is for the man with a family

to look out for it himself. He

brings the children into the

world, let him support them. We

are not so bad as once we were

but we still have to go a long,

long way to realize the absolute

importance of the family. It is

for society to bend every re-

source to aid families. If a

family has more children it is

common Christianity that the

head of this family should re-

ceive more for his labor, than the

head of a smaller family, or than

one who is single and without

obligations. It would not be a

simple thing to work out, but it

could be worked out and we

should start in that direction be-

fore the trend the other way be-

comes so pronounced that it can't

be headed off.

The Pope's preoccupation with

the family is often misunder-

stood. Let us go over the ground

once more and emphasize that it

is the Catholic conviction that a

strong, healthy family life is the

greatest of earthly blessings. In

the modern world it is hard to

maintain family life. This often

is no one's fault, it is merely

circumstances. We should organ-

ize society so that pressures will

tend to keep the family knit

closely together, to keep it a

citadel against the assaults of all

the world. This will result not

only in immense spiritual bene-

fits for mankind but will be an

economic help also. A sane,

sound social system is impossible

without good strong homes and

families.

We worry a great deal about

the destruction that can be un-

leashed by fission of the atom.

Well, fission of the family will

have immensely more destructive

and deadly effects.

The family is a God-given in-

stitution. It is a natural thing.

It suits perfectly the nature of



THE CHURCH AND THE FAMILY 21

man. It can be a rock in the of good will, not only those of the

shifting sea of modem chaos and Household of Faith, to rally to

confusion. The appeal has gone the support of our most cherish-

forth over and over again from ed and most endangered insti-

the chair of Peter, for all men tution.



THE WORKINGMAN IS A PERSON
Talk given on May 26, 1946

On these Programs of the

Hour of Faith, I have been try-

ing, with what success I simply

do not know, to convey to you

something of the great contents

of those Labor and Social Ency-

clicals of Popes Leo XIII and

Pius XL As I have told you, in

previous programs, these two

Encyclicals were written forty

years apart. They were written

about the capitalistic economy

but they were written from en-

tirely different aspects.

One was written when our way

of doing things was on the up-

grade—^the other was written in
1931 when things were going

badly all over the world and we

were sinking deeper and deeper

into a depression. So the second

one went more deeply into ex-

amining the nature of our

present economy and it sug-

gested sweeping, but constructive

changes. The earlier Encyclical

found a lot of fault; the latter

made suggestions. In tone the

documents are quite different,

but they are joined by certain

threads. The way of doing things

that was going so well in 1891

was fundamentally the same way

of doing things, and looking at

things, although greatly changed,

that was losing out forty years

later.

But the other thread that joins

the documents is the thread of

religion. The two Popes were

looking at something that had

changed but they were looking at

it from the same point of view.

That point of view is, of course,

the Catholic Church.

The a g e-o 1 d principles of

Christianity were applied and

they came out remarkably the

same. That is no small thing, be-

cause in the forty years between

1891 and 1931 there had been

profound changes. There had

been the first world war. There

had been the advent of modern

society as we really know it
;
and

there had been the decline of im-

perialism and the growth of

Communism in Russia.

The decline of imperialism

meant that a prop of industrial

capitalism was going into the

discard. The revolution in Russia

meant that for the first time in

modern history, something di-

ametrically opposed to industrial



THE WORKINGMAN IS A PERSON 23

capitalism was established and

was making its way.

Nevertheless, there are great

similarities in the two Encycli-

cals and the fundamental truths

enunciated by the one were found

true and applicable by the other.

Systems changed, but mankind

and eternity did not.

We regret that in the limita-

tions of those programs we can

only approximate the true flavor

and substance of these marvelous

Encyclicals by Popes Pius and

Leo. The Encyclicals examined

modern social and economic life.

They looked at the facts. They

applied principles. They arrived

at definite and specific recom-

mendations. They compiled a list

of do’s and don’t’s. Pope Pius

was more far-reaching and prac-

tical than Pope Leo but they both

had something to say.

However, we have agreed to

limit ourselves to the more gen-

eral aspects of the problem. Even

though the Popes saw fit to enter

the arena itself and call out in

clear, exact terms, we in this

series are limiting ourselves. I

am endeavoring to make this

point because I do not want our

listeners to judge these wonder-

fully practical documents on the

basis of what we have to say

about them. Go to the documents

themselves. Ask in the public

library, or the Catholic book

stores.

We do not, in a word, want the

letters of the Popes on this

practical, important subject to

be judged and weighed, solely, on

the basis of the pale reflection

of these broadcasts.

In considering the religious

aspects of the Encyclicals one of

the • most important things to

note is that both Popes insisted

with utmost vigor on the dignity

of the individual. All that they

have to say is predicated on the

fact that God created man in His

own image and likeness. Each

man has an immortal soul which

is of infinite value. Each man

himself is of great worth and

dignity. Human personality is an

inviolable thing.

It follows from this that what-

ever injures the worth and dig-

nity of human beings is wrong

and should be changed. It also

follows that any changes we

might be tempted to adopt should

be studied and weighed from the

point of view of what they wilb

or can do, to the individual man.

Pope Pius goes much further

than Pope Leo, as we have indi-

cated many times before. He is

obsessed with the social nature

of map. By that we mean the



24 THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN

fact that man is not simply an

individual existing alone in a

vacuum; he is part and parcel

of society. He needs other people

and they need him.

Unless proper attention is paid

to man in relation to other men,

the individual loses out. You see,

the ideal society is one in which

individual men operate and co-

operate. But it can very quickly

and easily become one in which

individuals are part of a herd,

with their individuality lost and

their rights trampled upon and

destroyed.

It is a surprising thing that

social animals, which we men are,

can so easily slip into individual-

istic ways of doing things. In

this modern day and age we

should be more a part of our fel-

lows. All manner of modern

gadgets make it easier for us to

meet, to see, to come in contact

with, and to understand our

fellow-men. But in spite of the

gadgets, we withdraw into our-

selves and we give selfishness

more and more power in the

scheme of things.

Both the Popes inveighed

against individualism and the

greed and selfishness which it

promotes; and so they advocated

means of arresting individual-

isin.

Man is a lonely animal. His

very knowledge tends to put him

apart. As our mental and physi-

cal horizons expand we find

more and more people who cannot

cope with this expansion. The

more vistas they see stretching

beyond them, the smaller and

more lonely and insecure they

feel.

The herding of people into the

Nazi and Fascist parties was a

product of this insecurity and

loneliness. Men wanted to be

part of something that claimed

to know the answers. There is so

much knowledge available in this

modern day that ordinary men

are swamped. They don’t know

where to turn to verify the few

answers they know. So they hand

their reasoning powers over to

someone else and they just be-

lieve him, lies and all.

This comes from the fact that

in modern society men have be-

come individuals in a herd.

Why, the earth bound peasant

of an earlier day was more an

integrated man than the be-

wildered, lonely, modern man.

The peasant at least was part of

his little group of fellows. The

modern man is part of nothing.

He is a cog in a machine, if he is

anything.

It was with full and compas-



THE WORKINGMAN IS A PERSON 25

sionate knowledge of this lonely

separateness of modern man that

Pope Pius wrote. His purpose

was to devise methods and sys-

tems that would permit us to

evolve a way of economic life

that would enfold men in a warm,

healthy, cooperative social sys-

tem.

As we noted last week, the

Pope began with the family. He

advocated approaches that would

strengthen the family and build

it into a strong haven to shelter

men from the chill winds of sel-

fish individualism.

Moving out from the family,

and regarding it as the basic

unit of society, he advocated a

society in which we would no

longer have merely the herded

individual and the state; but we

would have men banded into

voluntary functional groups,

working together in their vo-

cations and avocations. The Pope

did not blueprint an organization

of society.

He recognized that that was

not his function. He did indicate

the broad general lines, and he

did indicate the goal to be aimed

for.

To put it in another way,

the pyramiding circumstances of

modern living set men apart and

exalt greed and selfishness. The

Pope, in agreement with many,

many other religious leaders,

points out a way which will en-

able men to combine together to

perform life’s practical tasks.

Under such an arrangement,

worker and employer will have

much more chance to work to-

gether in business and industry,

rather than to fight each other.

Such a plan will combine and

broaden both duties and rights.

This, in its essence, is to be an

arrangement achieved voluntarily

by the people concerned and not

something imposed from above.

This way there will be more

chance for mutual respect and

acknowledgment of mutual obli-

gations.

In these talks we have tried to

give you an introduction to the

Labor and Social Papal letters

issued by Popes Leo and Pius.

We could, in such a short radio

series, do little more than tell

you what the Encyclicals are and

what they are like. If you want

to learn more fully, you must go

to them, and read, and study

them yourselves.

I hope we have been able to

indicate to you the great brood-

ing compassion of the Catholic

Church as she views the chaos

and suffering of modern life.

This complex and wondrous civi-



26 THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN

lization of ours has done stupen-

dous things. It has changed the

lives and habits of all mankind;

but it still has not brought man

outside himself. Men still are

men. They still are brothers of

one another and children of God

the Father. As Chesterton put

it, men still are as “little children

walking amid the snow and

rain.'" Modem man in the rash

lustiness of his powers some-

times may think that he has out-

grown God and eternity but in

the loneliness of his own heart,

he knows it is not so.

Greed and selfishness have

never been lacking in the world,

but today they run rampant as

never before. Modern man in his

cruelty and callousness constant-

ly wars on himself.

The Popes, speaking to all the

world, have taken note of man's

self-imposed miseries. They have

analyzed the ills of the world and

they have suggested practical

remedies. And above all, they

have insisted upon man's great

destiny and his immutable worth

and dignity. They have recalled

to the mind of modern men that

justice and charity transcend all

systems and all advances. With-

out them, reform and progress

and material achievement are as

nothing; they merely increase

man's capacity for hurting him-

self.

Man can be saved from him-

self only by renewed belief in

God; and he can serve himself

only through the service of his

Maker.



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