CATHOLIC 
SOCIAL ACTION 

T H R O U G H T H E 

P A R I S H 

C R E D I T U N I O N 



NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS in the field, of parish credit unions in 1958 are highlighted in 
this folder, the fourth in a series published by Mt. Carmel Parish Credit Union. Included is the text of a 
Papal letter to the Rev. John P. Sullivan, S.J., of Jamaica; references to Papal recognition of two 
of our credit union leaders; the credit union sermon outline prepared by the Canadian Catholic 
Conference; and an address, "Parishioners, Money and the Credit Union," given by Robert Dolan, 
Director of the CUNA Organization Department. 

P a r i s h i o n e r s , M 
NEED FOR UNDERSTANDING 
If we are to give the best possible credit union service 
to our members, and if the Hierarchy of the Church is 
to be encouraged to provide credit union service to all 
of the Faithful, it is necessary to cultivate the will to 
serve as well as increasing our skill in credit union 
operations. Ours is not just to "do or die" but also to 
"reason why." This means pausing to consider the 
special circumstances surrounding parish credit unions 
that provide the strong motivation to excel in per-
formance. 

"While there is much talk about the maturity and 
strength of the layman in the Church, it is in public 
life that this must be practiced and proved. To act in 
this field is truly to act in the Church, because the 
Church and the Christian faith necessarily must 
influence the economic, the social, the cultural and 
the civil spheres to bring them all into conformity 
with the commandments of God." ii-Pope Pius XII 

EARLY HISTORY 
I t is customary to place the historical beginnings of 
the modern credit union movement in the 19th century 
with the work of Friedrich RaifFeisen. The movement 
spread to North America in the person of Alphonse 
Desjardins who started the first credit union in North 
America—in a Catholic Parish in Levis, Quebec. Then 
to the U. S. where the first credit union was organized 
in 1909—in a Catholic Parish in New Hampshire. I t 
was only natural that the greatest growth of credit 
unions since that time paralleled the industrial expan-
sion of America. Today a new momentum ^car ry ing 
credit union expansion closer to its true potential. The 
expansion of parish credit unions has been steady if 
not spectacular. 

However, we can look further back than RaifFeisen in 
a search for roots. We discover that in the Middle Ages 
there were institutions known as the Möns ¡Pietatis. 
These Monies were established -by the Franciscans to 
combat the evils of usury, and lent money at low rates 
of interest upon the objects of security left in pawn. 

IT ALL G O E S TOGETHER 
Much of the inspiration for the parish credit union 
spirit can be found in the connection that exists ¡between 
our spiritual, political, and economic lives. 

St. Pius X who was responsible for so many reforms 
that permitted the laity more active participation in 
the official worship of the Church is the same man who 
organized a credit union in his parish at Salzano in 
Italy. Furthermore, it was he who conferred Knight-
hood on Desjardins, founder of the credit union move-
ment in North America. 

I t is well to remember that the principle of active 
participation is the key to meeting the crises of our 
times. We pray better when we actively participate 

o n e y a n d t h e C r 
in our worship; we govern ourselves better when we 
actively participate in our political institutions; and 
likewise we can handle our financial affairs better when 
we actively participate in controlling our money ac-
cording to its intended use. In credit unions we have 
this opportunity. 

"The Church's only compelling urge, and that of 
Christians worthy of the name, toward social action 
does not come from without. It is not fear of revolu-
tion, nor of the rousing of the masses that drives them 
to work for the people. No, it is love that makes their 
hearts beat, that same love that made the heart of 
Christ throb, that inspires their devoted concern for 
the defense and respect of the modern workingman's 
dignity, along with their active zeal to provide him 
with material and social living conditions in accord 
with such dignity." ]?®S&Pope Pius XII 

CATHOLIC SOCIAL DOCTRINE 
Pius X deplored the fact that we have become mute 
spectators in Church, thereby missing the energizing 
influence of the Mass and the Sacraments in our lives. 
Mute spectatorship in politics in a like manner leads 
to tyranny. Carrying it one step farther, being mute 
spectators in money matters makes us economic slaves. 
The issue resolves into one of freedom. Only free men 
can make the required application of Catholic social 
doctrine in the urgent need to find a basis for recon-
struction of the social order. 

In the Encyclical Quadragessimo Anno Pius XI calls 
for the establishment of societies of mutual aid to help 
relieve the social evils of our time. Catholic churchmen 
have always been quick to identify credit unions as one 
of the institutions that fit the definition of societies of 
mutual aid. And in 1958, the Pope specifically com-
mended the work of credit unions. 

We are only beginning to see the social action implica-
tions in the fuller meaning of credit unions. There is a 
great need for serious discussion to see credit unions as 
a social invention with great potential for social reform. 

"What is needed is the active presence in factories and 
work places of pioneers who are fully conscious of 
their double vocation—as Christians and as workers— 
and who are bent on assuming their responsibilities 
to the full, knowing neither peace nor rest until they 
have transformed the environment of their lives to the 
demands of the Gospel. The Church, by this positive, 
constructive work, will be able to extend her life-giving 
action to the millions of souls for whom she has a 
maternal and ardent solicitude." —Pope Pius XII 

TRENDS TODAY 
A resurgence of life and interest in the untapped poten-
tials for service by parish credit unions is apparent. 
There is so much left to do; it behooves us to tool-up 
for tackling the job of fuller service by expansion of 

fteaetfed 



d i t U n i o n 
existing parish credit unions and the organization of 
hundreds more parish credit unions. 

Mt. Carmel Parish Credit Union in Pueblo, Colorado 
takes the position that we have a moral obligation to 
bring credit unions to all who need it, especially through 
parish credit unions. Even better, they back it up with 
a budget item. A genuine concern to give full service 
to one's own members is bound to overflow in activity 
that reaches beyond the individual credit union. In 
1958, Papal honors were given to four leaders of Mt. 
Carmel Parish Credit Union by Pope Pius XII . 

Elsewhere today, there is reason to thrill to the work 
of many people, including Fathers Sullivan, Ganey, 
Steele, McClellan, Green, O'Rourke, and Mother Alicia 
in the West Indies, Latin America, and the Pacific. 

In Michigan on Laetare Sunday it has become a custom 
for parish credit unions to have an annual Gold Mass 
at which credit union leaders pray for the success of 
the movement. This practice is spreading to other 
parts of the country. 

Knights of St. Gregory 
Richard T. Lagerman, K.S.G., honored for his cease-
less efforts to elevate the economic status and to bring 
Catholic thinking into the life of Pueblo Catholics. 
Clarence C. Bellinger, K.S.G., honored for his self-
less interest in giving of his time and talents to his 
credit union as president and in other capacities. 

PARISH CREDIT UNIONS AND THE MOVEMENT 
Parish credit unions are not "different" from other 
credit unions. Actually, they are the same in all essen-
tials, with extra opportunities and obligations peculiar 
to Parish credit unions. Being organized in a parish 
does not make it a "Catholic" credit union, but giving 
all possible service to all eligible members does make 
it "universal" and "catholic" in the truest sense. 

The opportunity to set good examples in constructive 
leadership is foremost in this special kind of apostolate. 
I t is also the thing the whole credit union movement 
will appreciate most. Through actual participation in 
the programs of its credit union league, the parish 
credit union is best able to advance. When we wonder 
about the purpose and meaning of the many hours of 
hard work we put into this credit union movement, it 
helps to recall the meaningful words of the Irish writer, 
"A. E . " (George William Russell): 

"It is a dull business, 
Unworthy of being made in the image of God 
To grind away at work 
Without some noble end to be served, 
Some glowing ideal to be attained." 

. . . letter to the Rev. John Peter Sullivan, S.J., 
Kingston, Jamaica, from the Secretary of State 
for His Holiness, Pope Pius XII 

Dear Reverend Father, 

His Holiness has been informed of the praise-
worthy work being accomplished by the "Credit 
Union Movement" in Jamaica and in other terri-
tories of the West Indies, and He directs me to 
send you this expression of His paternal interest 
and encouragement. 

Always solicitous for the material as well as 
the spiritual welfare of His children, without dis-
tinction of religion, race or colour, the Holy Father 
could not fail to derive comfort from the knowledge 
of the meritorious achievements, both economic and 
social of the Credit Union Movement, in pursuance 
of the laudable purposes for which it was founded.. 
He therefore bids me felicitate you on the success 
that has crowned your efforts in this field, to which 
you have devoted so much of your priestly energy 
and pastoral zeal, and He cherishes the prayerful 
hope that your persevering endeavour in this social 
apostolate may reap an ever more abundant 
harvest of spiritual fruits. 

As a pledge of that heavenly favour and in 
further token of His paternal interest and benevo-
lence, the Pontiff cordially imparts to you and to 
your collaborators in the Credit Union Movement 
His paternal Apostolic Benediction. 

With sentiments of high esteem and cordial 
regard, I remain, 

Yours sincerely in Christ 

(Signed) Monsignor Angelo Dell'Acqua 

(For a d d i t i o n a l c red i t union in fo rmat ion , wr i t e to C red i t Union 
Nat ional Association, 1617 Sherman Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin) 



A S e r m o n O u t l i n e 
The Credit Union . . . Christian Social Leadership in Action 

(Prepared May, 1958, by the Rev. F. J Smyth, Director, Social 
Action Dept., Canadian Catholic Conference, assisted by priests, 
seminarians, and laity throughout Canada.) 

Social Action Sunday commemorates the anniversaries of two 
great Social Encyclicals: Pope Leo X I I I ' s Rerum Novarum 
(1891) and Pope Pius XI ' s Quadragesimo Anna (1931). 
The theme chosen by the Canadian Hierarchy for this year 's 
Social Action Sunday is: 
"THE CREDIT UNION: CHRISTIAN SOCIALiEADERSHIP IN ACTION." 
In deciding on this theme, Their Excellencies were undoubtedly 
influenced by two facts: 

1. The Social Life Conference, which will take place a t 
Winnipeg next November, will be devoted to "The Train-
ing and Role of Social Leaders." 

2. The encouragement given to the Credit Union Movement 
by the Holy See. 

WHAT IS A CREDIT UNION? 
The name itself suggests the meaning and purpose of a Credit 
Union: it is a society or association of people with a common 
bond. I t operates under a legal charter and is owned and 
managed by its members for their mutual benefit. 
As a financial insti tution it provides members with facilities for 
saving money and for using their pooled savings to obtain 
personal loans for provident and productive purposes a t a 
minimum cost. 

"Credit Unions . . . unite the efforts and resources of the 
workers and of those who join them, with a view to their economic 
prosperity and their social advancement. . ." 
0Joint Pastoral Letter of the Quebec Bishops, 1950, para 116) 
"A Credit Union is not an ordinary financial concern, seeking 
to enrich its members at the expense of the general public. 
Neither is it a loan company, seeking to make a profit at the 
expense of the unfortunate . . . the Credit Union is nothing of 
the kind; it is an expression in the field of economics of a 
high social ideal.7' 

(Alphonse Desjardins, founder of the Caisse Populaire 
Movement, originator of Credit Unionism in Canada.) 

"Credit Unions are societies for mutual help. They are among 
the most important of social agencies to achieve financial freedom 
and independence for the worker, to promote thrift, responsi-
bility and self-help . . . 
. . . Credit Unions put restrictions on the profit motive. Credit 
Unionists, however, are not Utopian eollectivists. They realize 
that the profit motive is necessary for the proper functioning 
of the natural law of self-preservation, culture and. progress." 

(Leo XIII and Credit Unions by Bishop Muench of Fargo.) 
Credit Unionism has proved itself to be a sound economic 
technique. But it is fundamentally very much more than a 
technique: it is C H R I S T I A N SOCIAL L E A D E R S H I P I N 
ACTION. 
WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? 

. . the power to influence and direct the lives of other people; 
this power is a combination of virtues and habits residing in 
the intellect and the will; hence it can be cultivated and de-
veloped." 

(Archbishop Pocock, Address at St. Paul's College, 
Winnipeg, Feb. 17, '58) 

WHAT IS CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP? 
".. . the power to influence society and its institutions according 
to the mind of Christ." 

(.Archbishop Pocock—as above.) 
• A Christian is a follower of Christ , dedicated to Him in all 

his acts, public and private. 
• Christ gave one great law, the law of Chari ty: "A new 

commandment I give you; t ha t you love one another as I 
have loved you ." 

• By Baptism we are all incorporated into the Church, the 
Body of Christ. 

• At Confirmation we are commissioned to build up the Body 
of Christ. 

• The Body of Christ is more than an aggregation of individuals; 
it is an organism, a society and a social institution, the 
members of which have mutual rights and duties. (St. Paul— 
the Body and the members; St. John—the Vine and the 
branches.) 

• T h e members of the Church should govern their activities by 
the virtues of Justice and Charity. Since the Church is a 
society, it follows tha t these virtues must also be social. 

• Social Justice and Chari ty are concerned not only with 
spiritual matters, bu t also with the material goods of this 

world, t ha t is, those things which a man needs to foster and 
maintain a good Christian life. 

• These virtues should compel us to assist our neighbours when 
they are in need and to remove the causes of social injustice. 
("Bear ye one another 's burdens and ye shall fulfill the 
Law of Christ.") "Social Chari ty ,""says Pius X I I , "is the 
soul of the Social Order ." 

HOW DOES CREDIT UNIONISM PROVIDE CHRISTIAN SOCIAL 
LEADERSHIP? 
• I t gives expression to Christ 's commandment of Love. 
• I t is based on the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood 

of God. 
" When people are in the State of Grace, any co-operation 
with others for mutual help, or to foster the common good, is 
Christian Charity in action. Men may combine their efforts 
in the spiritual, the social, the educational or the economic 
spheres: as long as their aim is. to help others, they are 
practicing Charity. Their co-operation may initiate or sup-
port works of religion and mercy, some community enter-
prise, a Credit Union . . . a co-operative home-building 
society: as long as they are helping others, they are practicing 
Charity. 
"Admittedly, modern society might consider all this too wide 
a use of the word charity, but only because modern society has 
practically forgotten the full meaning of charity, and has 
limited it to almsgiving or some other form of remedial work." 

(Bishop John R. MacDonald, in an address on the 
Mystical Body and the Co-operative Movement.) 

• I t is, in economic life, an expression of the doctrine of the 
Mystical Body. 

• Credit Union study clubs form their members by teaching 
them the structure and day-to-day operation of a Credit Union. 

• This training helps them to judge objectively (e.g. advertising.) 
• I t restores their awareness of their dignity and destiny as 

human beings. 
• I t teaches them the value of planning family expenditures 

(an important key to family harmony). 
• Properly followed, the Credit Union program gives training 

in action. 
WHY SHOULD CHRISTIANS BE LEADERS IN THE CREDIT UNION 
MOVEMENT? 
To sum up the foregoing: 
• Because Credit Unions afford special opportunities for the 

practice of social justice and social charity. 
"(VVicy) must not look upon the co-operatives as merely 
economic enterprises; it is of great consequence that they be 
instruments of education and means of amending our eco-
nomic system. It is especially with this in mind that we have 
supported them. A spirit of social Christianity, so much the 
more powerful since these enterprises deal more with money, 
must prompt the members and their association. That is 
why study clubs, without abandoning the economic training 
necessary to good business management, should especially pay 
attention to the social training of co-operators ..." 

(Joint Pastoral Letter of the Quebec Bishops, 
1950, para 117.) 

"A particular reform in the structure of society—a particu-
lar law—a particular current of thought—may help or hinder 
greatly the chance of religious extension . . . 
"This reason alone should make Christians take part in 
social or political activities, with a view to bringing social 
conditions into conformity with the plan of God. It is not 
only a civic duty, it is clearly an apostolic duty also." 
{Bishop Suenens, in The Gospel to Every Creature, p. 27.) 

• Our present Holy Father has commended and blessed Credit 
Unions, (vide Fr . Sullivan's letter.) 

THE IMPACT OF CREDIT UNIONISM ON OUR CANADIAN SOCIETY 
"Pioneers who well remember the timid beginnings of credit 
unions in the Maritimes a quarter of a century ago get quite 
a lift out of the recent report that, today, ONE OUT OF 
EVERY EIGHT PERSONS IN CANADA IS A 
CREDIT UNION MEMBER." 

(Maritime Co-operator, Feb. 1, 1958.) 
"We hope that these organizations will multiply and become 
still more effective by reason of the number and quality of 
their members, and that those whose existence is precarious 
may acquire a better financial stability through a more 
intensive education and a greater interest by the members." 

(Joint Pastoral Letter of the Quebec Bishops, 
1950, para 116.)