On Reconstruction of the Social Order to Our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs,
Primates,Archbishops, Bishops, and Other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion With the Apostolic See, and Likewise to All the Faithful of the Catholic
World.
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, Health
and Apostolic Benediction.
Forty years have passed since Leo XIII's peerless
Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, first saw the light, and the whole
Catholic world, filled with grateful recollection, is undertaking to
commemorate it with befitting solemnity.
2. Other Encyclicals of Our Predecessor had in a
way prepared the path for that outstanding document and proof of pastoral care:
namely, those on the family and the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony as the source
of human society,[1] on the origin of civil
authority[2] and its proper relations with the
Church,[3] on the chief duties of Christian
citizens,[4] against the tenets of Socialism[5] against false teachings on human liberty,[6] and others of the same nature fully expressing the
mind of Leo XIII. Yet the Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, compared
with the rest had this special distinction that at a time when it was most
opportune and actually necessary to do so, it laid down for all mankind the
surest rules to solve aright that difficult problem of human relations called
"the social question."
3. For toward the close of the nineteenth century,
the new kind of economic life that had arisen and the new developments of
industry had gone to the point in most countries that human society was clearly
becoming divided more and more into two classes. One class, very small in
number, was enjoying almost all the advantages which modern inventions so
abundantly provided; the other, embracing the huge multitude of working people,
oppressed by wretched poverty, was vainly seeking escape from the straits
wherein it stood.
4. Quite agreeable, of course, was this state of
things to those who thought it in their abundant riches the result of
inevitable economic laws and accordingly, as if it were for charity to veil the
violation of justice which lawmakers not only tolerated but at times
sanctioned, wanted the whole care of supporting the poor committed to charity
alone. The workers, on the other hand, crushed by their hard lot, were barely
enduring it and were refusing longer to bend their necks beneath so galling a
yoke; and some of them, carried away by the heat of evil counsel, were seeking
the overturn of everything, while others, whom Christian training restrained
from such evil designs, stood firm in the judgment that much in this had to be
wholly and speedily changed.
5. The same feeling those many Catholics, both
priests and laymen, shared, whom a truly wonderful charity had long spurred on
to relieve the unmerited poverty of the non-owning workers, and who could in no
way convince themselves that so enormous and unjust an in equality in the
distribution of this world's goods truly conforms to the designs of the
all-wise Creator.
6. Those men were without question sincerely
seeking an immediate remedy for this lamentable disorganization of States and a
secure safeguard against worse dangers. Yet such is the weakness of even the
best of human minds that, now rejected as dangerous innovators, now hindered in
the good work by their very associates advocating other courses of action, and,
uncertain in the face of various opinions, they were at a loss which way to
turn.
7. In such a sharp conflict of mind, therefore,
while the question at issue was being argued this way and that, nor always with
calmness, all eyes as often before turned to the Chair of Peter, to that sacred
depository of all truth whence words of salvation pour forth to all the world. And
to the feet of Christ's Vicar on earth were flocking in unaccustomed numbers,
men well versed in social questions, employers, and workers themselves, begging
him with one voice to point out, finally, the safe road to them.
8. The wise Pontiff long weighed all this in his
mind before God; he summoned the most experienced and learned to counsel; he
pondered the issues carefully and from every angle. At last, admonished
"by the consciousness of His Apostolic Office"[7] lest silence on his part might be regarded as failure in his
duty[8] he decided, in virtue of the Divine
Teaching Office entrusted to him, to address not only the whole Church of
Christ but all mankind.
9. Therefore on the fifteenth day of May, 1891,
that long awaited voice thundered forth; neither daunted by the arduousness of
the problem nor weakened by age but with vigorous energy, it taught the whole
human family to strike out in the social question upon new paths.
10. You know, Venerable Brethren and Beloved
Children, and understand full well the wonderful teaching which has made the
Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, illustrious forever. The Supreme
Pastor in this Letter, grieving that so large a portion of mankind should
"live undeservedly in miserable and wretched conditions,"[9] took it upon himself with great courage to defend
"the cause of the workers whom the present age had handed over, each alone
and defenseless, to the inhumanity of employers and the unbridled greed of
competitors."[10] He sought no help from
either Liberalism or Socialism, for the one had proved that it was utterly
unable to solve the social problem aright, and the other, proposing a remedy
far worse than the evil itself, would have plunged human society into great
dangers.
11. Since a problem was being treated "for
which no satisfactory solution" is found "unless religion and the
Church have been called upon to aid,"[11] the
Pope, clearly exercising his right and correctly holding that the guardianship
of religion and the stewardship over those things that are closely bound up
with it had been entrusted especially to him and relying solely upon the
unchangeable principles drawn from the treasury of right reason and Divine
Revelation, confidently and as one having authority,[12]
declared and proclaimed "the rights and duties within which the
rich and the proletariat - those who furnish material things and those who
furnish work - ought to be restricted in relation to each other,"[13] and what the Church, heads of States and the
people themselves directly concerned ought to do.
12. The Apostolic voice did not thunder forth in
vain. On the contrary, not only did the obedient children of the Church hearken
to it with marveling admiration and hail it with the greatest applause, but
many also who were wandering far from the truth, from the unity of the faith,
and nearly all who since then either in private study or in enacting
legislation have concerned themselves with the social and economic question.
13. Feeling themselves vindicated and defended by
the Supreme Authority on earth, Christian workers received this Encyclical with
special joy. So, too, did all those noble-hearted men who, long solicitous for
the improvement of the condition of the workers, had up to that time
encountered almost nothing but indifference from many, and even rankling
suspicion, if not open hostility, from some. Rightly, therefore, have all these
groups constantly held the Apostolic Encyclical from that time in such high
honor that to signify their gratitude they are wont, in various places and in
various ways, to commemorate it every year.
14. However, in spite of such great agreement,
there were some who were not a little disturbed; and so it happened that the
teaching of Leo XIII, so noble and lofty and so utterly new to worldly ears,
was held suspect by some, even among Catholics, and to certain ones it even
gave offense. For it boldly attacked and overturned the idols of Liberalism,
ignored long-standing prejudices, and was in advance of its time beyond all
expectation, so that the slow of heart disdained to study this new social
philosophy and the timid feared to scale so lofty a height. There were some
also who stood, indeed, in awe at its splendor, but regarded it as a kind of
imaginary ideal of perfection more desirable then attainable.
15. Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, as
all everywhere and especially Catholic workers who are pouring from all sides
into this Holy City, are celebrating with such enthusiasm the solemn
commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the Encyclical On the Condition of
Workers, We deem it fitting on this occasion to recall the great benefits this
Encyclical has brought to the Catholic Church and to all human society; to
defend the illustrious Master's doctrine on the social and economic question
against certain doubts and to develop it more fully as to some points; and
lastly, summoning to court the contemporary economic regime and passing
judgment on Socialism, to lay bare the root of the existing social confusion
and at the same time point the only way to sound restoration: namely, the
Christian reform of morals. All these matters which we undertake to treat will
fall under three main headings, and this entire Encyclical will be devoted to
their development.
16. To begin with the topic which we have proposed
first to discuss, We cannot refrain, following the counsel of St. Ambrose[14] who says that "no duty is more important
than that of returning thanks," from offering our fullest gratitude to
Almighty God for the immense benefits that have come through Leo's Encyclical
to the Church and to human society. If indeed We should wish to review these
benefits even cursorily, almost the whole history of the social question during
the last forty years would have to be recalled to mind. These benefits can be
reduced conveniently, however, to three main points, corresponding to the three
kinds of help which Our Predecessor ardently desired for the accomplishment of his
great work of restoration.
17. In the first place Leo himself clearly stated
what ought to be expected from the Church:[15] "Manifestly
it is the Church which draws from the Gospel the teachings through which the
struggle can be composed entirely, or, after its bitterness is removed, can
certainly become more tempered. It is the Church, again, that strives not only
to instruct the mind, but to regulate by her precepts the life and morals of
individuals, and that ameliorates the condition of the workers through her
numerous and beneficent institutions "
18. The Church did not let these rich fountains
lie quiescent in her bosom, but from them drew copiously for the common good of
the longed-for peace. Leo himself and his Successors, showing paternal charity
and pastoral constancy always, in defense especially of the poor and the weak,[16] proclaimed and urged without ceasing again and
again by voice and pen the teaching on the social and economic question which
On the Condition of Workers presented, and adapted it fittingly to the needs of
time and of circumstance. And many bishops have done the same, who in their
continual and able interpretation of this same teaching have illustrated it
with commentaries and in accordance with the mind and instructions of the Holy
See provided for its application to the conditions and institutions of diverse
regions.[17]
19. It is not surprising, therefore, that many
scholars, both priests and laymen, led especially by the desire that the
unchanged and unchangeable teaching of the Church should meet new demands and
needs more effectively, have zealously undertaken to develop, with the Church
as their guide and teacher, a social and economic science in accord with the
conditions of our time.
20. And so, with Leo's Encyclical pointing the way
and furnishing the light, a true Catholic social science has arisen, which is
daily fostered and enriched by the tireless efforts of those chosen men whom We
have termed auxiliaries of the Church. They do not, indeed, allow their science
to lie hidden behind learned walls. As the useful and well attended courses
instituted in Catholic universities, colleges, and seminaries, the social
congresses and "weeks" that are held at frequent intervals with most
successful results, the study groups that are promoted, and finally the timely
and sound publications that are disseminated everywhere and in every possible
way, clearly show, these men bring their science out into the full light and
stress of life.
21. Nor is the benefit that has poured forth from
Leo's Encyclical confined within these bounds; for the teaching which On the
Condition of Workers contains has gradually and imperceptibly worked its way
into the minds of those outside Catholic unity who do not recognize the
authority of the Church. Catholic principles on the social question have as a
result, passed little by little into the patrimony of all human society, and We
rejoice that the eternal truths which Our Predecessor of glorious memory
proclaimed so impressively have been frequently invoked and defended not only
in non-Catholic books and journals but in legislative halls also courts of
justice.
22. Furthermore, after the terrible war, when the
statesmen of the leading nations were attempting to restore peace on the basis
of a thorough reform of social conditions, did not they, among the norms agreed
upon to regulate in accordance with justice and equity the labor of the
workers, give sanction to many points that so remarkably coincide with Leo's
principles and instructions as to seem consciously taken therefrom? The
Encyclical On the Condition of Workers, without question, has become a
memorable document and rightly to it may be applied the words of Isaias:
"He shall set up a standard to the nations."[18]
23. Meanwhile, as Leo's teachings were being
widely diffused in the minds of men, with learned investigations leading the
way, they have come to be put into practice. In the first place, zealous
efforts have been made, with active good will, to lift up that class which on
account of the modern expansion of industry had increased to enormous numbers
but not yet had obtained its rightful place or rank in human society and was,
for that reason, all but neglected and despised - the workers, We mean - to
whose improvement, to the great advantage of souls, the diocesan and regular
clergy, though burdened with other pastoral duties, have under the leadership
of the Bishops devoted themselves. This constant work, undertaken to fill the
workers' souls with the Christian spirit, helped much also to make them
conscious of their true dignity and render them capable, by placing clearly
before them the rights and duties of their class, of legitimately and happily
advancing and even of becoming leaders of their fellows.
24. From that time on, fuller means of livelihood
have been more securely obtained; for not only did works of beneficence and
charity begin to multiply at the urging of the Pontiff, but there have also
been established everywhere new and continuously expanding organizations in
which workers, draftsmen, farmers and employees of every kind, with the counsel
of the Church and frequently under the leadership of her priests, give and
receive mutual help and support.
25. With regard to civil authority, Leo XIII, boldly
breaking through the confines imposed by Liberalism, fearlessly taught that
government must not be thought a mere guardian of law and of good order, but
rather must put forth every effort so that "through the entire scheme of
laws and institutions ... both public and individual well-being may develop
spontaneously out of the very structure and administration of the State."[19] Just freedom of action must, of course, be left
both to individual citizens and to families, yet only on condition that the common
good be preserved and wrong to any individual be abolished. The function of the
rulers of the State, moreover, is to watch over the community and its parts;
but in protecting private individuals in their rights, chief consideration
ought to be given to the weak and the poor. "For the nation, as it were,
of the rich is guarded by its own defenses and is in less need of governmental
protection, whereas the suffering multitude, without the means to protect
itself relies especially on the protection of the State. Wherefore, since
wageworkers are numbered among the great mass of the needy, the State must
include them under its special care and foresight."[20]
26. We, of course, do not deny that even before
the Encyclical of Leo, some rulers of peoples have provided for certain of the
more urgent needs of the workers and curbed more flagrant acts of injustice
inflicted upon them. But after the Apostolic voice had sounded from the Chair
of Peter throughout the world, rulers of nations, more fully alive at last to
their duty, devoted their minds and attention to the task of promoting a more
comprehensive and fruitful social policy.
27. And while the principles of Liberalism were
tottering, which had long prevented effective action by those governing the
State, the Encyclical On the Condition of Workers in truth impelled peoples
themselves to promote a social policy on truer grounds and with greater
intensity, and so strongly encouraged good Catholics to furnish valuable help
to heads of States in this field that they often stood forth as illustrious
champions of this new policy even in legislatures. Sacred ministers of the
Church, thoroughly imbued with Leo's teaching, have, in fact, often proposed to
the votes of the peoples' representatives the very social legislation that has
been enacted in recent years and have resolutely demanded and promoted its
enforcement.
28. A new branch of law, wholly unknown to the
earlier time, has arisen from this continuous and unwearied labor to protect
vigorously the sacred rights of the workers that flow from their dignity as men
and as Christians. These laws undertake the protection of life, health,
strength, family, homes, workshops, wages and labor hazards, in fine,
everything which pertains to the condition of wage workers, with special
concern for women and children. Even though these laws do not conform exactly
everywhere and in all respects to Leo's recommendations, still it is undeniable
that much in them savors of the Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, to
which great credit must be given for whatever improvement has been achieved in
the workers' condition.
29. Finally, the wise Pontiff showed that
"employers and workers themselves can accomplish much in this matter,
manifestly through those institutions by the help of which the poor are
opportunely assisted and the two classes of society are brought closer to each
other."[21] First place among these
institutions, he declares, must be assigned to associations that embrace either
workers alone or workers and employers together. He goes into considerable
detail in explaining and commending these associations and expounds with a
truly wonderful wisdom their nature, purpose, timeliness, rights, duties, and
regulations.
30. These teachings were issued indeed most opportunely.
For at that time in many nations those at the helm of State, plainly imbued
with Liberalism, were showing little favor to workers' associations of this
type; nay, rather they openly opposed them, and while going out of their way to
recognize similar organizations of other classes and show favor to them, they
were with criminal injustice denying the natural right to form associations to
those who needed it most to defend themselves from ill treatment at the hands
of the powerful. There were even some Catholics who looked askance at the
efforts of workers to form associations of this type as if they smacked of a
socialistic or revolutionary spirit.
31. The rules, therefore, which Leo XIII issued in
virtue of his authority, deserve the greatest praise in that they have been
able to break down this hostility and dispel these suspicions; but they have
even a higher claim to distinction in that they encouraged Christian workers to
found mutual associations according to their various occupations, taught them
how to do so, and resolutely confirmed in the path of duty a goodly number of
those whom socialist organizations strongly attracted by claiming to be the
sole defenders and champions of the lowly and oppressed.
32. With respect to the founding of these societies,
the Encyclical On the Condition of Workers most fittingly declared that
"workers' associations ought to be so constituted and so governed as to
furnish the most suitable and most convenient means to attain the object
proposed, which consists in this, that the individual members of the
association secure, so far as is possible, an increase in the goods of body, of
soul, and of property," yet it is clear that "moral and religious
perfection ought to be regarded as their principal goal, and that their social
organization as such ought above all to be directed completely by this
goal."[22] For "when the regulations
of associations are founded upon religion, the way is easy toward establishing
the mutual relations of the members, so that peaceful living together and
prosperity will result."[23]
33. To the founding of these associations the
clergy and many of the laity devoted themselves everywhere with truly
praiseworthy zeal, eager to bring Leo's program to full realization. Thus
associations of this kind have molded truly Christian workers who, in combining
harmoniously the diligent practice of their occupation with the salutary
precepts of religion, protect effectively and resolutely their own temporal
interests and rights, keeping a due respect for justice and a genuine desire to
work together with other classes of society for the Christian renewal of all
social life.
34. These counsels and instructions of Leo XIII
were put into effect differently in different places according to varied local
conditions. In some places one and the same association undertook to attain all
the ends laid down by the Pontiff; in others, because circumstances suggested
or required it, a division of work developed and separate associations were
formed. Of these, some devoted themselves to the defense of the rights and
legitimate interests of their members in the labor market; others took over the
work of providing mutual economic aid; finally still others gave all their
attention to the fulfillment of religious and moral duties and other
obligations of like nature.
35. This second method has especially been adopted
where either the laws of a country, or certain special economic institutions,
or that deplorable dissension of minds and hearts so widespread in contemporary
society and an urgent necessity of combating with united purpose and strength
the massed ranks of revolutionarists, have prevented Catholics from founding
purely Catholic labor unions. Under these conditions, Catholics seem almost
forced to join secular labor unions. These unions, however, should always
profess justice and equity and give Catholic members full freedom to care for
their own conscience and obey the laws of the Church. It is clearly the office
of bishops, when they know that these associations are on account of
circumstances necessary and are not dangerous to religion, to approve of
Catholic workers joining them, keeping before their eyes, however, the
principles and precautions laid down by Our Predecessor, Pius X of holy memory.[24] Among these precautions the first and chief is
this: Side by side with these unions there should always be associations
zealously engaged in imbuing and forming their members in the teaching of
religion and morality so that they in turn may be able to permeate the unions
with that good spirit which should direct them in all their activity. As a
result, the religious associations will bear good fruit even beyond the circle
of their own membership.
36. To the Encyclical of Leo, therefore, must be
given this credit, that these associations of workers have so flourished
everywhere that while, alas, still surpassed in numbers by socialist and
communist organizations, they already embrace a vast multitude of workers and
are able, within the confines of each nation as well as in wider assemblies, to
maintain vigorously the rights and legitimate demands of Catholic workers and
insist also on the salutary Christian principles of society.
37. Leo's learned treatment and vigorous defense
of the natural right to form associations began, furthermore, to find ready
application to other associations also and not alone to those of the workers.
Hence no small part of the credit must, it seems, be given to this same
Encyclical of Leo for the fact that among farmers and others of the middle
class most useful associations of this kind are seen flourishing to a notable
degree and increasing day by day, as well as other institutions of a similar
nature in which spiritual development and economic benefit are happily
combined.
38. But if this cannot be said of organizations
which Our same Predecessor intensely desired established among employers and
managers of industry - and We certainly regret that they are so few - the
condition is not wholly due to the will of men but to far graver difficulties
that hinder associations of this kind which We know well and estimate at their
full value. There is, however, strong hope that these obstacles also will be
removed soon, and even now We greet with the deepest joy of Our soul, certain by
no means insignificant attempts in this direction, the rich fruits of which
promise a still richer harvest in the future.[25]
39. All these benefits of Leo's Encyclical,
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, which We have outlined rather than
fully described, are so numerous and of such import as to show plainly that
this immortal document does not exhibit a merely fanciful, even if beautiful,
ideal of human society. Rather did our Predecessor draw from the Gospel and,
therefore, from an ever-living and life-giving fountain, teachings capable of
greatly mitigating, if not immediately terminating that deadly internal
struggle which is rending the family of mankind. The rich fruits which the
Church of Christ and the whole human race have, by God's favor, reaped
therefrom unto salvation prove that some of this good seed, so lavishly sown
forty years ago, fell on good ground. On the basis of the long period of
experience, it cannot be rash to say that Leo's Encyclical has proved itself
the Magna Charta upon which all Christian activity in the social field ought to
be based, as on a foundation. And those who would seem to hold in little esteem
this Papal Encyclical and its commemoration either blaspheme what they know
not, or understand nothing of what they are only superficially acquainted with,
or if they do understand convict themselves formally of injustice and
ingratitude.
40. Yet since in the course of these same years,
certain doubts have arisen concerning either the correct meaning of some parts
of Leo's Encyclical or conclusions to be deduced therefrom, which doubts in
turn have even among Catholics given rise to controversies that are not always
peaceful; and since, furthermore, new needs and changed conditions of our age
have made necessary a more precise application of Leo's teaching or even
certain additions thereto, We most gladly seize this fitting occasion, in
accord with Our Apostolic Office through which We are debtors to all,[26] to answer, so far as in Us lies, these doubts and
these demands of the present day.
41. Yet before proceeding to explain these
matters, that principle which Leo XIII so clearly established must be laid down
at the outset here, namely, that there resides in Us the right and duty to
pronounce with supreme authority upon social and economic matters.[27] Certainly the Church was not given the commission
to guide men to an only fleeting and perishable happiness but to that which is
eternal. Indeed" the Church holds that it is unlawful for her to mix
without cause in these temporal concerns"[28];
however, she can in no wise renounce the duty God entrusted to her to interpose
her authority, not of course in matters of technique for which she is neither
suitably equipped nor endowed by office, but in all things that are connected
with the moral law. For as to these, the deposit of truth that God committed to
Us and the grave duty of disseminating and interpreting the whole moral law,
and of urging it in season and out of season, bring under and subject to Our
supreme jurisdiction not only social order but economic activities themselves.
42. Even though economics and moral science
employs each its own principles in its own sphere, it is, nevertheless, an
error to say that the economic and moral orders are so distinct from and alien
to each other that the former depends in no way on the latter. Certainly the
laws of economics, as they are termed, being based on the very nature of
material things and on the capacities of the human body and mind, determine the
limits of what productive human effort cannot, and of what it can attain in the
economic field and by what means. Yet it is reason itself that clearly shows,
on the basis of the individual and social nature of things and of men, the
purpose which God ordained for all economic life.
43. But it is only the moral law which, just as it
commands us to seek our supreme and last end in the whole scheme of our
activity, so likewise commands us to seek directly in each kind of activity
those purposes which we know that nature, or rather God the Author of nature,
established for that kind of action, and in orderly relationship to subordinate
such immediate purposes to our supreme and last end. If we faithfully observe
this law, then it will follow that the particular purposes, both individual and
social, that are sought in the economic field will fall in their proper place
in the universal order of purposes, and We, in ascending through them, as it
were by steps, shall attain the final end of all things, that is God, to
Himself and to us, the supreme and inexhaustible Good.
44. But to come down to particular points, We
shall begin with ownership or the right of property. Venerable Brethren and
Beloved Children, you know that Our Predecessor of happy memory strongly
defended the right of property against the tenets of the Socialists of his time
by showing that its abolition would result, not to the advantage of the working
class, but to their extreme harm. Yet since there are some who calumniate the
Supreme Pontiff, and the Church herself, as if she had taken and were still
taking the part of the rich against the non-owning workers - certainly no
accusation is more unjust than that - and since Catholics are at variance with
one another concerning the true and exact mind of Leo, it has seemed best to
vindicate this, that is, the Catholic teaching on this matter from calumnies
and safeguard it from false interpretations.
45. First, then, let it be considered as certain
and established that neither Leo nor those theologians who have taught under
the guidance and authority of the Church have ever denied or questioned the
twofold character of ownership, called usually individual or social according
as it regards either separate persons or the common good. For they have always
unanimously maintained that nature, rather the Creator Himself, has given man
the right of private ownership not only that individuals may be able to provide
for themselves and their families but also that the goods which the Creator
destined for the entire family of mankind may through this institution truly
serve this purpose. All this can be achieved in no wise except through the
maintenance of a certain and definite order.
46. Accordingly, twin rocks of shipwreck must be
carefully avoided. For, as one is wrecked upon, or comes close to, what is
known as "individualism" by denying or minimizing the social and
public character of the right of property, so by rejecting or minimizing the
private and individual character of this same right, one inevitably runs into "collectivism"
or at least closely approaches its tenets. Unless this is kept in mind, one is
swept from his course upon the shoals of that moral, juridical, and social
modernism which We denounced in the Encyclical issued at the beginning of Our
Pontificate.[29] And, in particular, let those
realize this who, in their desire for innovation, do not scruple to reproach
the Church with infamous calumnies, as if she had allowed to creep into the
teachings of her theologians a pagan concept of ownership which must be completely
replaced by another that they with amazing ignorance call
"Christian."
47. In order to place definite limits on the
controversies that have arisen over ownership and its inherent duties there
must be first laid down as foundation a principle established by Leo XIII: The
right of property is distinct from its use.[30] That
justice called commutative commands sacred respect for the division of
possessions and forbids invasion of others' rights through the exceeding of the
limits of one's own property; but the duty of owners to use their property only
in a right way does not come under this type of justice, but under other
virtues, obligations of which "cannot be enforced by legal action."[31] Therefore, they are in error who assert that
ownership and its right use are limited by the same boundaries; and it is much
farther still from the truth to hold that a right to property is destroyed or
lost by reason of abuse or non-use.
48. Those, therefore, are doing a work that is
truly salutary and worthy of all praise who, while preserving harmony among
themselves and the integrity of the traditional teaching of the Church, seek to
define the inner nature of these duties and their limits whereby either the
right of property itself or its use, that is, the exercise of ownership, is
circumscribed by the necessities of social living. On the other hand, those who
seek to restrict the individual character of ownership to such a degree that in
fact they destroy it are mistaken and in error.
49. It follows from what We have termed the
individual and at the same time social character of ownership, that men must
consider in this matter not only their own advantage but also the common good.
To define these duties in detail when necessity requires and the natural law
has not done so, is the function of those in charge of the State. Therefore,
public authority, under the guiding light always of the natural and divine law,
can determine more accurately upon consideration of the true requirements of
the common good, what is permitted and what is not permitted to owners in the
use of their property. Moreover, Leo XIII wisely taught "that God has left
the limits of private possessions to be fixed by the industry of men and
institutions of peoples."[32] That history
proves ownership, like other elements of social life, to be not absolutely
unchanging, We once declared as follows: "What divers forms has property
had, from that primitive form among rude and savage peoples, which may be
observed in some places even in our time, to the form of possession in the
patriarchal age; and so further to the various forms under tyranny (We are
using the word tyranny in its classical sense); and then through the feudal and
monarchial forms down to the various types which are to be found in more recent
times."[33] That the State is not permitted
to discharge its duty arbitrarily is, however, clear. The natural right itself
both of owning goods privately and of passing them on by inheritance ought
always to remain intact and inviolate, since this indeed is a right that the
State cannot take away: "For man is older than the State,"[34] and also "domestic living together is prior
both in thought and in fact to uniting into a polity."[35] Wherefore the wise Pontiff declared that it is
grossly unjust for a State to exhaust private wealth through the weight of
imposts and taxes. "For since the right of possessing goods privately has
been conferred not by man's law, but by nature, public authority cannot abolish
it, but can only control its exercise and bring it into conformity with the
common weal."[36] Yet when the State brings
private ownership into harmony with the needs of the common good, it does not
commit a hostile act against private owners but rather does them a friendly
service; for it thereby effectively prevents the private possession of goods,
which the Author of nature in His most wise providence ordained for the support
of human life, from causing intolerable evils and thus rushing to its own
destruction; it does not destroy private possessions, but safeguards them; and
it does not weaken private property rights, but strengthens them.
50. Furthermore, a person's superfluous income,
that is, income which he does not need to sustain life fittingly and with
dignity, is not left wholly to his own free determination. Rather the Sacred
Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church constantly declare in the most
explicit language that the rich are bound by a very grave precept to practice
almsgiving, beneficence, and munificence.
51. Expending larger incomes so that opportunity
for gainful work may be abundant, provided, however, that this work is applied
to producing really useful goods, ought to be considered, as We deduce from the
principles of the Angelic Doctor,[37] an
outstanding exemplification of the virtue of munificence and one particularly
suited to the needs of the times.
52. That ownership is originally acquired both by
occupancy of a thing not owned by any one and by labor, or, as is said, by
specification, the tradition of all ages as well as the teaching of Our
Predecessor Leo clearly testifies. For, whatever some idly say to the contrary,
no injury is done to any person when a thing is occupied that is available to
all but belongs to no one; however, only that labor which a man performs in his
own name and by virtue of which a new form or increase has been given to a thing
grants him title to these fruits.
53. Far different is the nature of work that is
hired out to others and expended on the property of others. To this indeed
especially applies what Leo XIII says is "incontestible," namely,
that "the wealth of nations originates from no other source than from the
labor of workers."[38] For is it not plain
that the enormous volume of goods that makes up human wealth is produced by and
issues from the hands of the workers that either toil unaided or have their
efficiency marvelously increased by being equipped with tools or machines?
Every one knows, too, that no nation has ever risen out of want and poverty to
a better and nobler condition save by the enormous and combined toil of all the
people, both those who manage work and those who carry out directions. But it
is no less evident that, had not God the Creator of all things, in keeping with
His goodness, first generously bestowed natural riches and resources - the
wealth and forces of nature - such supreme efforts would have been idle and
vain, indeed could never even have begun. For what else is work but to use or
exercise the energies of mind and body on or through these very things? And in
the application of natural resources to human use the law of nature, or rather God's
will promulgated by it, demands that right order be observed. This order
consists in this: that each thing have its proper owner. Hence it follows that
unless a man is expending labor on his own property, the labor of one person
and the property of another must be associated, for neither can produce
anything without the other. Leo XIII certainly had this in mind when he wrote:
"Neither capital can do without labor, nor labor without capital."[39] Wherefore it is wholly false to ascribe to
property alone or to labor alone whatever has been obtained through the
combined effort of both, and it is wholly unjust for either, denying the
efficacy of the other, to arrogate to itself whatever has been produced.
54. Property, that is, "capital," has
undoubtedly long been able to appropriate too much to itself. Whatever was
produced, whatever returns accrued, capital claimed for itself, hardly leaving
to the worker enough to restore and renew his strength. For the doctrine was
preached that all accumulation of capital falls by an absolutely insuperable
economic law to the rich, and that by the same law the workers are given over
and bound to perpetual want, to the scantiest of livelihoods. It is true,
indeed, that things have not always and everywhere corresponded with this sort
of teaching of the so-called Manchesterian Liberals; yet it cannot be denied
that economic social institutions have moved steadily in that direction. That
these false ideas, these erroneous suppositions, have been vigorously assailed,
and not by those alone who through them were being deprived of their innate
right to obtain better conditions, will surprise no one.
55. And therefore, to the harassed workers there
have come "intellectuals," as they are called, setting up in
opposition to a fictitious law the equally fictitious moral principle that all
products and profits, save only enough to repair and renew capital, belong by
very right to the workers. This error, much more specious than that of certain
of the Socialists who hold that whatever serves to produce goods ought to be
transferred to the State, or, as they say "socialized," is
consequently all the more dangerous and the more apt to deceive the unwary. It
is an alluring poison which many have eagerly drunk whom open Socialism had not
been able to deceive.
56. Unquestionably, so as not to close against
themselves the road to justice and peace through these false tenets, both
parties ought to have been forewarned by the wise words of Our Predecessor:
"However the earth may be apportioned among private owners, it does not
cease to serve the common interests of all."[40] This
same doctrine We ourselves also taught above in declaring that the division of
goods which results from private ownership was established by nature itself in
order that created things may serve the needs of mankind in fixed and stable
order. Lest one wander from the straight path of truth, this is something that
must be continually kept in mind.
57. But not every distribution among human beings
of property and wealth is of a character to attain either completely or to a
satisfactory degree of perfection the end which God intends. Therefore, the
riches that economic-social developments constantly increase ought to be so
distributed among individual persons and classes that the common advantage of
all, which Leo XIII had praised, will be safeguarded; in other words, that the
common good of all society will be kept inviolate. By this law of social
justice, one class is forbidden to exclude the other from sharing in the benefits.
Hence the class of the wealthy violates this law no less, when, as if free from
care on account of its wealth, it thinks it the right order of things for it to
get everything and the worker nothing, than does the non-owning working class
when, angered deeply at outraged justice and too ready to assert wrongly the
one right it is conscious of, it demands for itself everything as if produced
by its own hands, and attacks and seeks to abolish, therefore, all property and
returns or incomes, of whatever kind they are or whatever the function they
perform in human society, that have not been obtained by labor, and for no
other reason save that they are of such a nature. And in this connection We
must not pass over the unwarranted and unmerited appeal made by some to the
Apostle when he said: "If any man will not work neither let him eat."[41] For the Apostle is passing judgment on those who
are unwilling to work, although they can and ought to, and he admonishes us
that we ought diligently to use our time and energies of body, and mind and not
be a burden to others when we can provide for ourselves. But the Apostle in no
wise teaches that labor is the sole title to a living or an income.[42]
58. To each, therefore, must be given his own
share of goods, and the distribution of created goods, which, as every
discerning person knows, is laboring today under the gravest evils due to the
huge disparity between the few exceedingly rich and the unnumbered
propertyless, must be effectively called back to and brought into conformity
with the norms of the common good, that is, social justice.
59. The redemption of the non-owning workers -
this is the goal that Our Predecessor declared must necessarily be sought. And
the point is the more emphatically to be asserted and more insistently repeated
because the commands of the Pontiff, salutary as they are, have not
infrequently been consigned to oblivion either because they were deliberately
suppressed by silence or thought impracticable although they both can and ought
to be put into effect. And these commands have not lost their force and wisdom
for our time because that "pauperism" which Leo XIII beheld in all
its horror is less widespread. Certainly the condition of the workers has been
improved and made more equitable especially in the more civilized and wealthy
countries where the workers can no longer be considered universally overwhelmed
with misery and lacking the necessities of life. But since manufacturing and
industry have so rapidly pervaded and occupied countless regions, not only in
the countries called new, but also in the realms of the Far East that have been
civilized from antiquity, the number of the non-owning working poor has
increased enormously and their groans cry to God from the earth. Added to them
is the huge army of rural wage workers, pushed to the lowest level of existence
and deprived of all hope of ever acquiring "some property in land,"[43] and, therefore, permanently bound to the status
of non-owning worker unless suitable and effective remedies are applied.
60. Yet while it is true that the status of non
owning worker is to be carefully distinguished from pauperism, nevertheless the
immense multitude of the non-owning workers on the one hand and the enormous
riches of certain very wealthy men on the other establish an unanswerable
argument that the riches which are so abundantly produced in our age of
"industrialism," as it is called, are not rightly distributed and
equitably made available to the various classes of the people.
61. Therefore, with all our strength and effort we
must strive that at least in the future the abundant fruits of production will
accrue equitably to those who are rich and will be distributed in ample
sufficiency among the workers - not that these may become remiss in work, for
man is born to labor as the bird to fly - but that they may increase their
property by thrift, that they may bear, by wise management of this increase in
property, the burdens of family life with greater ease and security, and that,
emerging from the insecure lot in life in whose uncertainties non-owning
workers are cast, they may be able not only to endure the vicissitudes of
earthly existence but have also assurance that when their lives are ended they
will provide in some measure for those they leave after them.
62. All these things which Our Predecessor has not
only suggested but clearly and openly proclaimed, We emphasize with renewed
insistence in our present Encyclical; and unless utmost efforts are made
without delay to put them into effect, let no one persuade himself that public
order, peace, and the tranquillity of human society can be effectively defended
against agitators of revolution.
63. As We have already indicated, following in the
footsteps of Our Predecessor, it will be impossible to put these principles
into practice unless the non-owning workers through industry and thrift advance
to the state of possessing some little property. But except from pay for work,
from what source can a man who has nothing else but work from which to obtain
food and the necessaries of life set anything aside for himself through
practicing frugality? Let us, therefore, explaining and developing wherever
necessary Leo XIII's teachings and precepts, take up this question of wages and
salaries which he called one "of very great importance."[44]
64. First of all, those who declare that a
contract of hiring and being hired is unjust of its own nature, and hence a
partnership-contract must take its place, are certainly in error and gravely
misrepresent Our Predecessor whose Encyclical not only accepts working for
wages or salaries but deals at some length with it regulation in accordance
with the rules of justice.
65. We consider it more advisable, however, in the
present condition of human society that, so far as is possible, the
work-contract be somewhat modified by a partnership-contract, as is already
being done in various ways and with no small advantage to workers and owners.
Workers and other employees thus become sharers in ownership or management or
participate in some fashion in the profits received.
66. The just amount of pay, however, must be
calculated not on a single basis but on several, as Leo XIII already wisely
declared in these words: "To establish a rule of pay in accord with
justice, many factors must be taken into account."[45]
67. By this statement he plainly condemned the
shallowness of those who think that this most difficult matter is easily solved
by the application of a single rule or measure - and one quite false.
68. For they are greatly in error who do not
hesitate to spread the principle that labor is worth and must be paid as much
as its products are worth, and that consequently the one who hires out his
labor has the right to demand all that is produced through his labor. How far
this is from the truth is evident from that We have already explained in
treating of property and labor.
69. It is obvious that, as in the case of
ownership, so in the case of work, especially work hired out to others, there
is a social aspect also to be considered in addition to the personal or
individual aspect. For man's productive effort cannot yield its fruits unless a
truly social and organic body exists, unless a social and juridical order
watches over the exercise of work, unless the various occupations, being
interdependent, cooperate with and mutually complete one another, and, what is
still more important, unless mind, material things, and work combine and form
as it were a single whole. Therefore, where the social and individual nature of
work is neglected, it will be impossible to evaluate work justly and pay it
according to justice.
70. Conclusions of the greatest importance follow
from this twofold character which nature has impressed on human work, and it is
in accordance with these that wages ought to be regulated and established.
71. In the first place, the worker must be paid a
wage sufficient to support him and his family.[46] That
the rest of the family should also contribute to the common support, according
to the capacity of each, is certainly right, as can be observed especially in
the families of farmers, but also in the families of many craftsmen and small
shopkeepers. But to abuse the years of childhood and the limited strength of
women is grossly wrong. Mothers, concentrating on household duties, should work
primarily in the home or in its immediate vicinity. It is an intolerable abuse,
and to be abolished at all cost, for mothers on account of the father's low
wage to be forced to engage in gainful occupations outside the home to the
neglect of their proper cares and duties, especially the training of children.
Every effort must therefore be made that fathers of families receive a wage
large enough to meet ordinary family needs adequately. But if this cannot always
be done under existing circumstances, social justice demands that changes be
introduced as soon as possible whereby such a wage will be assured to every
adult workingman. It will not be out of place here to render merited praise to
all, who with a wise and useful purpose, have tried and tested various ways of
adjusting the pay for work to family burdens in such a way that, as these
increase, the former may be raised and indeed, if the contingency arises, there
may be enough to meet extraordinary needs.
72. In determining the amount of the wage, the
condition of a business and of the one carrying it on must also be taken into
account; for it would be unjust to demand excessive wages which a business
cannot stand without its ruin and consequent calamity to the workers. If,
however, a business makes too little money, because of lack of energy or lack
of initiative or because of indifference to technical and economic progress,
that must not be regarded a just reason for reducing the compensation of the
workers. But if the business in question is not making enough money to pay the
workers an equitable wage because it is being crushed by unjust burdens or
forced to sell its product at less than a just price, those who are thus the
cause of the injury are guilty of grave wrong, for they deprive workers of
their just wage and force them under the pinch of necessity to accept a wage
less than fair.
73. Let, then, both workers and employers strive
with united strength and counsel to overcome the difficulties and obstacles and
let a wise provision on the part of public authority aid them in so salutary a
work. If, however, matters come to an extreme crisis, it must be finally
considered whether the business can continue or the workers are to be cared for
in some other way. In such a situation, certainly most serious, a feeling of
close relationship and a Christian concord of minds ought to prevail and
function effectively among employers and workers.
74. Lastly, the amount of the pay must be adjusted
to the public economic good. We have shown above how much it helps the common
good for workers and other employees, by setting aside some part of their
income which remains after necessary expenditures, to attain gradually to the
possession of a moderate amount of wealth. But another point, scarcely less
important, and especially vital in our times, must not be overlooked: namely,
that the opportunity to work be provided to those who are able and willing to
work. This opportunity depends largely on the wage and salary rate, which can
help as long as it is kept within proper limits, but which on the other hand
can be an obstacle if it exceeds these limits. For everyone knows that an
excessive lowering of wages, or their increase beyond due measure, causes
unemployment. This evil, indeed, especially as we see it prolonged and injuring
so many during the years of Our Pontificate, has plunged workers into misery
and temptations, ruined the prosperity of nations, and put in jeopardy the
public order, peace, and tranquillity of the whole world. Hence it is contrary
to social justice when, for the sake of personal gain and without regard for
the common good, wages and salaries are excessively lowered or raised; and this
same social justice demands that wages and salaries be so managed, through
agreement of plans and wills, in so far as can be done, as to offer to the
greatest possible number the opportunity of getting work and obtaining suitable
means of livelihood.
75. A right proportion among wages and salaries
also contributes directly to the same result; and with this is closely
connected a right proportion in the prices at which the goods are sold that are
produced by the various occupations, such as agriculture, manufacturing, and
others. If all these relations are properly maintained, the various occupations
will combine and coalesce into, as it were, a single body and like members of
the body mutually aid and complete one another. For then only will the social
economy be rightly established and attain its purposes when all and each are
supplied with all the goods that the wealth and resources of nature, technical
achievement, and the social organization of economic life can furnish. And
these goods ought indeed to be enough both to meet the demands of necessity and
decent comfort and to advance people to that happier and fuller condition of
life which, when it is wisely cared for, is not only no hindrance to virtue but
helps it greatly.[47]
76. What We have thus far stated regarding an
equitable distribution of property and regarding just wages concerns individual
persons and only indirectly touches social order, to the restoration of which
according to the principles of sound philosophy and to its perfection according
to the sublime precepts of the law of the Gospel, Our Predecessor, Leo XIII,
devoted all his thought and care.
77. Still, in order that what he so happily
initiated may be solidly established, that what remains to be done may be
accomplished, and that even more copious and richer benefits may accrue to the
family of mankind, two things are especially necessary: reform of institutions
and correction of morals.
78. When we speak of the reform of institutions,
the State comes chiefly to mind, not as if universal well-being were to be
expected from its activity, but because things have come to such a pass through
the evil of what we have termed "individualism" that, following upon
the overthrow and near extinction of that rich social life which was once
highly developed through associations of various kinds, there remain virtually
only individuals and the State. This is to the great harm of the State itself;
for, with a structure of social governance lost, and with the taking over of
all the burdens which the wrecked associations once bore. the State has been
overwhelmed and crushed by almost infinite tasks and duties.
79. As history abundantly proves, it is true that
on account of changed conditions many things which were done by small
associations in former times cannot be done now save by large associations.
Still, that most weighty principle, which cannot be set aside or changed,
remains fixed and unshaken in social philosophy: Just as it is gravely wrong to
take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and
industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the
same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater
and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. For
every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members
of the body social, and never destroy and absorb them.
80. The supreme authority of the State ought,
therefore, to let subordinate groups handle matters and concerns of lesser
importance, which would otherwise dissipate its efforts greatly. Thereby the
State will more freely, powerfully, and effectively do all those things that
belong to it alone because it alone can do them: directing, watching, urging,
restraining, as occasion requires and necessity demands. Therefore, those in
power should be sure that the more perfectly a graduated order is kept among
the various associations, in observance of the principle of "subsidiary
function," the stronger social authority and effectiveness will be the
happier and more prosperous the condition of the State.
81. First and foremost, the State and every good
citizen ought to look to and strive toward this end: that the conflict between
the hostile classes be abolished and harmonious cooperation of the Industries
and Professions be encouraged and promoted.
82. The social policy of the State, therefore,
must devote itself to the re-establishment of the Industries and Professions.
In actual fact, human society now, for the reason that it is founded on classes
with divergent aims and hence opposed to one another and therefore inclined to
enmity and strife, continues to be in a violent condition and is unstable and
uncertain.
83. Labor, as Our Predecessor explained well in
his Encyclical,[48] is not a mere commodity. On
the contrary, the worker's human dignity in it must be recognized. It therefore
cannot be bought and sold like a commodity. Nevertheless, as the situation now
stands, hiring and offering for hire in the so-called labor market separate men
into two divisions, as into battle lines, and the contest between these
divisions turns the labor market itself almost into a battlefield where, face
to face, the opposing lines struggle bitterly. Everyone understands that this
grave evil which is plunging all human society to destruction must be remedied
as soon as possible. But complete cure will not come until this opposition has
been abolished and well-ordered members of the social body - Industries and
Professions - are constituted in which men may have their place, not according
to the position each has in the labor market but according to the respective
social functions which each performs. For under nature's guidance it comes to
pass that just as those who are joined together by nearness of habitation
establish towns, so those who follow the same industry or profession - whether
in the economic or other field - form guilds or associations, so that many are
wont to consider these self-governing organizations, if not essential, at least
natural to civil society.
84. Because order, as St. Thomas well explains,[49] is unity arising from the harmonious arrangement
of many objects, a true, genuine social order demands that the various members
of a society be united together by some strong bond. This unifying force is
present not only in the producing of goods or the rendering of services - in
which the employers and employees of an identical Industry or Profession
collaborate jointly - but also in that common good, to achieve which all
Industries and Professions together ought, each to the best of its ability, to
cooperate amicably. And this unity will be the stronger and more effective, the
more faithfully individuals and the Industries and Professions themselves
strive to do their work and excel in it.
85. It is easily deduced from what has been said
that the interests common to the whole Industry or Profession should hold first
place in these guilds. The most important among these interests is to promote
the cooperation in the highest degree of each industry and profession for the
sake of the common good of the country. Concerning matters, however, in which
particular points, involving advantage or detriment to employers or workers,
may require special care and protection, the two parties, when these cases
arise, can deliberate separately or as the situation requires reach a decision
separately.
86. The teaching of Leo XIII on the form of
political government, namely, that men are free to choose whatever form they
please, provided that proper regard is had for the requirements of justice and
of the common good, is equally applicable in due proportion, it is hardly
necessary to say, to the guilds of the various industries and professions.[50]
87. Moreover, just as inhabitants of a town are
wont to found associations with the widest diversity of purposes, which each is
quite free to join or not, so those engaged in the same industry or profession
will combine with one another into associations equally free for purposes
connected in some manner with the pursuit of the calling itself. Since these
free associations are clearly and lucidly explained by Our Predecessor of
illustrious memory, We consider it enough to emphasize this one point: People
are quite free not only to found such associations, which are a matter of
private order and private right, but also in respect to them "freely to
adopt the organization and the rules which they judge most appropriate to
achieve their purpose."[51] The same
freedom must be asserted for founding associations that go beyond the
boundaries of individual callings. And may these free organizations, now
flourishing and rejoicing in their salutary fruits, set before themselves the
task of preparing the way, in conformity with the mind of Christian social
teaching, for those larger and more important guilds, Industries and
Professions, which We mentioned before, and make every possible effort to bring
them to realization.
88. Attention must be given also to another matter
that is closely connected with the foregoing. Just as the unity of human
society cannot be founded on an opposition of classes, so also the right
ordering of economic life cannot be left to a free competition of forces. For
from this source, as from a poisoned spring, have originated and spread all the
errors of individualist economic teaching. Destroying through forgetfulness or
ignorance the social and moral character of economic life, it held that
economic life must be considered and treated as altogether free from and
independent of public authority, because in the market, i.e., in the free
struggle of competitors, it would have a principle of self direction which
governs it much more perfectly than would the intervention of any created
intellect. But free competition, while justified and certainly useful provided
it is kept within certain limits, clearly cannot direct economic life - a truth
which the outcome of the application in practice of the tenets of this evil
individualistic spirit has more than sufficiently demonstrated. Therefore, it
is most necessary that economic life be again subjected to and governed by a
true and effective directing principle. This function is one that the economic
dictatorship which has recently displaced free competition can still less
perform, since it is a headstrong power and a violent energy that, to benefit
people, needs to be strongly curbed and wisely ruled. But it cannot curb and
rule itself. Loftier and nobler principles - social justice and social charity
- must, therefore, be sought whereby this dictatorship may be governed firmly
and fully. Hence, the institutions themselves of peoples and, particularly
those of all social life, ought to be penetrated with this justice, and it is
most necessary that it be truly effective, that is, establish a juridical and
social order which will, as it were, give form and shape to all economic life.
Social charity, moreover, ought to be as the soul of this order, an order which
public authority ought to be ever ready effectively to protect and defend. It
will be able to do this the more easily as it rids itself of those burdens
which, as We have stated above, are not properly its own.
89. Furthermore, since the various nations largely
depend on one another in economic matters and need one another's help, they
should strive with a united purpose and effort to promote by wisely conceived
pacts and institutions a prosperous and happy international cooperation in
economic life.
90. If the members of the body social are, as was
said, reconstituted, and if the directing principle of economic-social life is
restored, it will be possible to say in a certain sense even of this body what
the Apostle says of the mystical body of Christ: "The whole body (being
closely joined and knit together through every joint of the system according to
the functioning in due measure of each single part) derives its increase to the
building up of itself in love."[52]
91. Recently, as all know, there has been
inaugurated a special system of syndicates and corporations of the various
callings which in view of the theme of this Encyclical it would seem necessary
to describe here briefly and comment upon appropriately.
92. The civil authority itself constitutes the
syndicate as a juridical personality in such a manner as to confer on it
simultaneously a certain monopoly-privilege, since only such a syndicate, when
thus approved, can maintain the rights (according to the type of syndicate) of
workers or employers, and since it alone can arrange for the placement of labor
and conclude so-termed labor agreements. Anyone is free to join a syndicate or
not, and only within these limits can this kind of syndicate be called free;
for syndical dues and special assessments are exacted of absolutely all members
of every specified calling or profession, whether they are workers or
employers; likewise all are bound by the labor agreements made by the legally
recognized syndicate. Nevertheless, it has been officially stated that this
legally recognized syndicate does not prevent the existence, without legal
status, however, of other associations made up of persons following the same
calling.
93. The associations, or corporations, are
composed of delegates from the two syndicates (that is, of workers and
employers) respectively of the same industry or profession and, as true and
proper organs and institutions of the State, they direct the syndicates and
coordinate their activities in matters of common interest toward one and the
same end.
94. Strikes and lock-outs are forbidden; if the
parties cannot settle their dispute, public authority intervenes.
95. Anyone who gives even slight attention to the
matter will easily see what are the obvious advantages in the system We have
thus summarily described: The various classes work together peacefully,
socialist organizations and their activities are repressed, and a special
magistracy exercises a governing authority. Yet lest We neglect anything in a
matter of such great importance and that all points treated may be properly
connected with the more general principles which We mentioned above and with
those which We intend shortly to add, We are compelled to say that to Our
certain knowledge there are not wanting some who fear that the State, instead
of confining itself as it ought to the furnishing of necessary and adequate
assistance, is substituting itself for free activity; that the new syndical and
corporative order savors too much of an involved and political system of
administration; and that (in spite of those more general advantages mentioned
above, which are of course fully admitted) it rather serves particular
political ends than leads to the reconstruction and promotion of a better
social order.
96. To achieve this latter lofty aim, and in
particular to promote the common good truly and permanently, We hold it is
first and above everything wholly necessary that God bless it and, secondly,
that all men of good will work with united effort toward that end. We are
further convinced, as a necessary consequence, that this end will be attained
the more certainly the larger the number of those ready to contribute toward it
their technical, occupational, and social knowledge and experience; and also,
what is more important, the greater the contribution made thereto of Catholic
principles and their application, not indeed by Catholic Action (which excludes
strictly syndical or political activities from its scope) but by those sons of
Ours whom Catholic Action imbues with Catholic principles and trains for
carrying on an apostolate under the leadership and teaching guidance of the
Church - of that Church which in this field also that We have described, as in
every other field where moral questions are involved and discussed, can never
forget or neglect through indifference its divinely imposed mandate to be
vigilant and to teach.
97. What We have taught about the reconstruction
and perfection of social order can surely in no wise be brought to realization
without reform of morality, the very record of history clearly shows. For there
was a social order once which, although indeed not perfect or in all respects
ideal, nevertheless, met in a certain measure the requirements of right reason,
considering the conditions and needs of the time. If that order has long since
perished, that surely did not happen because the order could not have
accommodated itself to changed conditions and needs by development and by a
certain expansion, but rather because men, hardened by too much love of self,
refused to open the order to the increasing masses as they should have done, or
because, deceived by allurements of a false freedom and other errors, they
became impatient of every authority and sought to reject every form of control.
98. There remains to Us, after again calling to
judgment the economic system now in force and its most bitter accuser,
Socialism, and passing explicit and just sentence upon them, to search out more
thoroughly the root of these many evils and to point out that the first and
most necessary remedy is a reform of morals.
99. Important indeed have the changes been which
both the economic system and Socialism have undergone since Leo XIII's time.
100. That, in the first place, the whole aspect of
economic life is vastly altered, is plain to all. You know, Venerable Brethren
and Beloved Children, that the Encyclical of Our Predecessor of happy memory
had in view chiefly that economic system, wherein, generally, some provide
capital while others provide labor for a joint economic activity. And in a
happy phrase he described it thus: "Neither capital can do without labor,
nor labor without capital."[53]
101. With all his energy Leo XIII sought to adjust
this economic system according to the norms of right order; hence, it is
evident that this system is not to be condemned in itself. And surely it is not
of its own nature vicious. But it does violate right order when capital hires
workers, that is, the non-owning working class, with a view to and under such terms
that it directs business and even the whole economic system according to its
own will and advantage, scorning the human dignity of the workers, the social
character of economic activity and social justice itself, and the common good.
102. Even today this is not, it is true, the only
economic system in force everywhere; for there is another system also, which
still embraces a huge mass of humanity, significant in numbers and importance,
as for example, agriculture wherein the greater portion of mankind honorably
and honestly procures its livelihood. This group, too, is being crushed with
hardships and with difficulties, to which Our Predecessor devotes attention in
several places in his Encyclical and which We Ourselves have touched upon more
than once in Our present Letter.
103. But, with the diffusion of modern industry
throughout the whole world, the "capitalist" economic regime has
spread everywhere to such a degree, particularly since the publication of Leo
XIII's Encyclical, that it has invaded and pervaded the economic and social
life of even those outside its orbit and is unquestionably impressing on it its
advantages, disadvantages and vices, and, in a sense, is giving it its own
shape and form.
104. Accordingly, when directing Our special
attention to the changes which the capitalist economic system has undergone
since Leo's time, We have in mind the good not only of those who dwell in
regions given over to "capital" and industry, but of all mankind.
105. In the first place, it is obvious that not
only is wealth concentrated in our times but an immense power and despotic
economic dictatorship is consolidated in the hands of a few, who often are not
owners but only the trustees and managing directors of invested funds which
they administer according to their own arbitrary will and pleasure.
106. This dictatorship is being most forcibly
exercised by those who, since they hold the money and completely control it,
control credit also and rule the lending of money. Hence they regulate the
flow, so to speak, of the life-blood whereby the entire economic system lives,
and have so firmly in their grasp the soul, as it were, of economic life that
no one can breathe against their will.
107. This concentration of power and might, the
characteristic mark, as it were, of contemporary economic life, is the fruit
that the unlimited freedom of struggle among competitors has of its own nature
produced, and which lets only the strongest survive; and this is often the same
as saying, those who fight the most violently, those who give least heed to
their conscience.
108. This accumulation of might and of power
generates in turn three kinds of conflict. First, there is the struggle for
economic supremacy itself; then there is the bitter fight to gain supremacy
over the State in order to use in economic struggles its resources and
authority; finally there is conflict between States themselves, not only
because countries employ their power and shape their policies to promote every
economic advantage of their citizens, but also because they seek to decide
political controversies that arise among nations through the use of their
economic supremacy and strength.
109. The ultimate consequences of the
individualist spirit in economic life are those which you yourselves, Venerable
Brethren and Beloved Children, see and deplore: Free competition has destroyed
itself; economic dictatorship has supplanted the free market; unbridled
ambition for power has likewise succeeded greed for gain; all economic life has
become tragically hard, inexorable, and cruel. To these are to be added the
grave evils that have resulted from an intermingling and shameful confusion of
the functions and duties of public authority with those of the economic sphere
- such as, one of the worst, the virtual degradation of the majesty of the
State, which although it ought to sit on high like a queen and supreme
arbitress, free from all partiality and intent upon the one common good and
justice, is become a slave, surrendered and delivered to the passions and greed
of men. And as to international relations, two different streams have issued
from the one fountain-head: On the one hand, economic nationalism or even
economic imperialism; on the other, a no less deadly and accursed
internationalism of finance or international imperialism whose country is where
profit is.
110. In the second part of this Encyclical where
We have presented Our teaching, We have described the remedies for these great
evils so explicitly that We consider it sufficient at this point to recall them
briefly. Since the present system of economy is founded chiefly upon ownership
and labor, the principles of right reason, that is, of Christian social
philosophy, must be kept in mind regarding ownership and labor and their
association together, and must be put into actual practice. First, so as to avoid
the reefs of individualism and collectivism. the twofold character, that is
individual and social, both of capital or ownership and of work or labor must
be given due and rightful weight. Relations of one to the other must be made to
conform to the laws of strictest justice - commutative justice, as it is called
- with the support, however, of Christian charity. Free competition, kept
within definite and due limits, and still more economic dictatorship, must be
effectively brought under public authority in these matters which pertain to
the latter's function. The public institutions themselves, of peoples,
moreover, ought to make all human society conform to the needs of the common
good; that is, to the norm of social justice. If this is done, that most important
division of social life, namely, economic activity, cannot fail likewise to
return to right and sound order.
111. Socialism, against which Our Predecessor, Leo
XIII, had especially to inveigh, has since his time changed no less profoundly
than the form of economic life. For Socialism, which could then be termed
almost a single system and which maintained definite teachings reduced into one
body of doctrine, has since then split chiefly into two sections, often
opposing each other and even bitterly hostile, without either one however
abandoning a position fundamentally contrary to Christian truth that was
characteristic of Socialism.
112. One section of Socialism has undergone almost
the same change that the capitalistic economic system, as We have explained
above, has undergone. It has sunk into Communism. Communism teaches and seeks
two objectives: Unrelenting class warfare and absolute extermination of private
ownership. Not secretly or by hidden methods does it do this, but publicly,
openly, and by employing every and all means, even the most violent. To achieve
these objectives there is nothing which it does not dare, nothing for which it
has respect or reverence; and when it has come to power, it is incredible and
portentlike in its cruelty and inhumanity. The horrible slaughter and
destruction through which it has laid waste vast regions of eastern Europe and
Asia are the evidence; how much an enemy and how openly hostile it is to Holy
Church and to God Himself is, alas, too well proved by facts and fully known to
all. Although We, therefore, deem it superfluous to warn upright and faithful
children of the Church regarding the impious and iniquitous character of
Communism, yet We cannot without deep sorrow contemplate the heedlessness of
those who apparently make light of these impending dangers, and with sluggish
inertia allow the widespread propagation of doctrine which seeks by violence
and slaughter to destroy society altogether. All the more gravely to be
condemned is the folly of those who neglect to remove or change the conditions
that inflame the minds of peoples, and pave the way for the overthrow and
destruction of society.
113. The other section, which has kept the name
Socialism, is surely more moderate. It not only professes the rejection of
violence but modifies and tempers to some degree, if it does not reject
entirely, the class struggle and the abolition of private ownership. One might
say that, terrified by its own principles and by the conclusions drawn
therefrom by Communism, Socialism inclines toward and in a certain measure
approaches the truths which Christian tradition has always held sacred; for it
cannot be denied that its demands at times come very near those that Christian
reformers of society justly insist upon.
114. For if the class struggle abstains from
enmities and mutual hatred, it gradually changes into an honest discussion of
differences founded on a desire for justice, and if this is not that blessed
social peace which we all seek, it can and ought to be the point of departure
from which to move forward to the mutual cooperation of the Industries and
Professions. So also the war declared on private ownership, more and more
abated, is being so restricted that now, finally, not the possession itself of
the means of production is attacked but rather a kind of sovereignty over
society which ownership has, contrary to all right, seized and usurped. For
such sovereignty belongs in reality not to owners but to the public authority.
If the foregoing happens, it can come even to the point that imperceptibly
these ideas of the more moderate socialism will no longer differ from the
desires and demands of those who are striving to remold human society on the
basis of Christian principles. For certain kinds of property, it is rightly
contended, ought to be reserved to the State since they carry with them a
dominating power so great that cannot without danger to the general welfare be
entrusted to private individuals.
115. Such just demands and desire have nothing in
them now which is inconsistent with Christian truth, and much less are they
special to Socialism. Those who work solely toward such ends have, therefore,
no reason to become socialists.
116. Yet let no one think that all the socialist
groups or factions that are not communist have, without exception, recovered
their senses to this extent either in fact or in name. For the most part they
do not reject the class struggle or the abolition of ownership, but only in
some degree modify them. Now if these false principles are modified and to some
extent erased from the program, the question arises, or rather is raised
without warrant by some, whether the principles of Christian truth cannot
perhaps be also modified to some degree and be tempered so as to meet Socialism
half-way and, as it were, by a middle course, come to agreement with it. There
are some allured by the foolish hope that socialists in this way will be drawn
to us. A vain hope! Those who want to be apostles among socialists ought to
profess Christian truth whole and entire, openly and sincerely, and not connive
at error in any way. If they truly wish to be heralds of the Gospel, let them
above all strive to show to socialists that socialist claims, so far as they
are just, are far more strongly supported by the principles of Christian faith
and much more effectively promoted through the power of Christian charity.
117. But what if Socialism has really been so
tempered and modified as to the class struggle and private ownership that there
is in it no longer anything to be censured on these points? Has it thereby
renounced its contradictory nature to the Christian religion? This is the
question that holds many minds in suspense. And numerous are the Catholics who,
although they clearly understand that Christian principles can never be
abandoned or diminished seem to turn their eyes to the Holy See and earnestly
beseech Us to decide whether this form of Socialism has so far recovered from
false doctrines that it can be accepted without the sacrifice of any Christian principle
and in a certain sense be baptized. That We, in keeping with Our fatherly
solicitude, may answer their petitions, We make this pronouncement: Whether
considered as a doctrine, or an historical fact, or a movement, Socialism, if
it remains truly Socialism, even after it has yielded to truth and justice on
the points which we have mentioned, cannot be reconciled with the teachings of
the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to
Christian truth.
118. For, according to Christian teaching, man,
endowed with a social nature, is placed on this earth so that by leading a life
in society and under an authority ordained of God[54] he
may fully cultivate and develop all his faculties unto the praise and glory of
his Creator; and that by faithfully fulfilling the duties of his craft or other
calling he may obtain for himself temporal and at the same time eternal
happiness. Socialism, on the other hand, wholly ignoring and indifferent to
this sublime end of both man and society, affirms that human association has
been instituted for the sake of material advantage alone.
119. Because of the fact that goods are produced
more efficiently by a suitable division of labor than by the scattered efforts
of individuals, socialists infer that economic activity, only the material ends
of which enter into their thinking, ought of necessity to be carried on
socially. Because of this necessity, they hold that men are obliged, with
respect to the producing of goods, to surrender and subject themselves entirely
to society. Indeed, possession of the greatest possible supply of things that
serve the advantages of this life is considered of such great importance that
the higher goods of man, liberty not excepted, must take a secondary place and even
be sacrificed to the demands of the most efficient production of goods. This
damage to human dignity, undergone in the "socialized" process of
production, will be easily offset, they say, by the abundance of socially
produced goods which will pour out in profusion to individuals to be used
freely at their pleasure for comforts and cultural development. Society,
therefore, as Socialism conceives it, can on the one hand neither exist nor be
thought of without an obviously excessive use of force; on the other hand, it
fosters a liberty no less false, since there is no place in it for true social
authority, which rests not on temporal and material advantages but descends
from God alone, the Creator and last end of all things.[55]
120. If Socialism, like all errors, contains some
truth (which, moreover, the Supreme Pontiffs have never denied), it is based
nevertheless on a theory of human society peculiar to itself and irreconcilable
with true Christianity. Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory
terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.
121. All these admonitions which have been renewed
and confirmed by Our solemn authority must likewise be applied to a certain new
kind of socialist activity, hitherto little known but now carried on among many
socialist groups. It devotes itself above all to the training of the mind and
character. Under the guise of affection it tries in particular to attract
children of tender age and win them to itself, although it also embraces the
whole population in its scope in order finally to produce true socialists who
would shape human society to the tenets of Socialism.
122. Since in Our Encyclical, The Christian
Education of Youth,[56] We have fully taught the
principles that Christian education insists on and the ends it pursues, the
contradiction between these principles and ends and the activities and aims of
this socialism that is pervading morality and culture is so clear and evident
that no demonstration is required here. But they seem to ignore or
underestimate the grave dangers that it carries with it who think it of no
importance courageously and zealously to resist them according to the gravity
of the situation. It belongs to Our Pastoral Office to warn these persons of the
grave and imminent evil: let all remember that Liberalism is the father of this
Socialism that is pervading morality and culture and that Bolshevism will be
its heir.
123. Accordingly, Venerable Brethren, you can well
understand with what great sorrow We observe that not a few of Our sons, in
certain regions especially, although We cannot be convinced that they have
given up the true faith and right will, have deserted the camp of the Church
and gone over to the ranks of Socialism, some to glory openly in the name of
socialist and to profess socialist doctrines, others through thoughtlessness or
even, almost against their wills to join associations which are socialist by
profession or in fact.
124. In the anxiety of Our paternal solicitude, We
give Ourselves to reflection and try to discover how it could happen that they
should go so far astray and We seem to hear what many of them answer and plead
in excuse: The Church and those proclaiming attachment to the Church favor the
rich, neglect the workers and have no concern for them; therefore, to look
after themselves they had to join the ranks of socialism .
125. It is certainly most lamentable, Venerable
Brethren, that there have been, nay, that even now there are men who, although
professing to be Catholics, are almost completely unmindful of that sublime law
of justice and charity that binds us not only to render to everyone what is his
but to succor brothers in need as Christ the Lord Himself,[57] and - what is worse - out of greed for gain do
not scruple to exploit the workers. Even more, there are men who abuse religion
itself, and under its name try to hide their unjust exactions in order to
protect themselves from the manifestly just demands of the workers. The conduct
of such We shall never cease to censure gravely. For they are the reason why
the Church could, even though undeservedly, have the appearance of and be
charged with taking the part of the rich and with being quite unmoved by the
necessities and hardships of those who have been deprived, as it were, of their
natural inheritance. The whole history of the Church plainly demonstrates that
such appearances are unfounded and such charges unjust. The Encyclical itself,
whose anniversary we are celebrating, is clearest proof that it is the height
of injustice to hurl these calumnies and reproaches at the Church and her
teaching.
126. Although pained by the injustice and downcast
in fatherly sorrow, it is so far from Our thought to repulse or to disown
children who have been miserably deceived and have strayed so far from the
truth and salvation that We cannot but invite them with all possible solicitude
to return to the maternal bosom of the Church. May they lend ready ears to Our
voice, may they return whence they have left, to the home that is truly their
Father's, and may they stand firm there where their own place is, in the ranks
of those who, zealously following the admonitions which Leo promulgated and We
have solemnly repeated, are striving to restore society according to the mind
of the Church on the firmly established basis of social justice and social
charity. And let them be convinced that nowhere, even on earth, can they find
full happiness save with Him who, being rich, became poor for our sakes that
through His poverty we might become rich,[58] Who
was poor and in labors from His youth, Who invited to Himself all that labor
and are heavily burdened that He might refresh them fully in the love of His
heart,[59] and Who, lastly, without any respect
for persons will require more of them to whom more has been given[60] and "will render to everyone according to
his conduct."[61]
127. Yet, if we look into the matter more
carefully and more thoroughly, we shall clearly perceive that, preceding this
ardently desired social restoration, there must be a renewal of the Christian
spirit, from which so many immersed in economic life have, far and wide,
unhappily fallen away, lest all our efforts be wasted and our house be builded
not on a rock but on shifting sand.[62]
128. And so, Venerable Brethren and Beloved Sons,
having surveyed the present economic system, We have found it laboring under
the gravest of evils. We have also summoned Communism and Socialism again to
judgment and have found all their forms, even the most modified, to wander far
from the precepts of the Gospel.
129. "Wherefore," to use the words of
Our Predecessor, "if human society is to be healed, only a return to
Christian life and institutions will heal it."[63]
For this alone can provide effective remedy for that excessive care for
passing things that is the origin of all vices; and this alone can draw away
men's eyes, fascinated by and wholly fixed on the changing things of the world,
and raise them toward Heaven. Who would deny that human society is in most
urgent need of this cure now?
130. Minds of all, it is true, are affected almost
solely by temporal upheavals, disasters, and calamities. But if we examine
things critically with Christian eyes, as we should, what are all these
compared with the loss of souls? Yet it is not rash by any means to say that
the whole scheme of social and economic life is now such as to put in the way
of vast numbers of mankind most serious obstacles which prevent them from
caring for the one thing necessary; namely, their eternal salvation .
131. We, made Shepherd and Protector by the Prince
of Shepherds, Who Redeemed them by His Blood, of a truly innumerable flock,
cannot hold back Our tears when contemplating this greatest of their dangers.
Nay rather, fully mindful of Our pastoral office and with paternal solicitude,
We are continually meditating on how We can help them; and We have summoned to Our
aid the untiring zeal of others who are concerned on grounds of justice or
charity. For what will it profit men to become expert in more wisely using
their wealth, even to gaining the whole world, if thereby they suffer the loss
of their souls?[64] What will it profit to teach
them sound principles of economic life if in unbridled and sordid greed they
let themselves be swept away by their passion for property, so that
"hearing the commandments of the Lord they do all things contrary."[65]
132. The root and font of this defection in
economic and social life from the Christian law, and of the consequent apostasy
of great numbers of workers from the Catholic faith, are the disordered
passions of the soul, the sad result of original sin which has so destroyed the
wonderful harmony of man's faculties that, easily led astray by his evil
desires, he is strongly incited to prefer the passing goods of this world to
the lasting goods of Heaven. Hence arises that unquenchable thirst for riches
and temporal goods, which has at all times impelled men to break God's laws and
trample upon the rights of their neighbors, but which, on account of the
present system of economic life, is laying far more numerous snares for human
frailty. Since the instability of economic life, and especially of its
structure, exacts of those engaged in it most intense and unceasing effort,
some have become so hardened to the stings of conscience as to hold that they
are allowed, in any manner whatsoever, to increase their profits and use means,
fair or foul, to protect their hard-won wealth against sudden changes of
fortune. The easy gains that a market unrestricted by any law opens to
everybody attracts large numbers to buying and selling goods, and they, their
one aim being to make quick profits with the least expenditure of work, raise
or lower prices by their uncontrolled business dealings so rapidly according to
their own caprice and greed that they nullify the wisest forecasts of
producers. The laws passed to promote corporate business, while dividing and
limiting the risk of business, have given occasion to the most sordid license.
For We observe that consciences are little affected by this reduced obligation
of accountability; that furthermore, by hiding under the shelter of a joint name,
the worst of injustices and frauds are penetrated; and that, too, directors of
business companies, forgetful of their trust, betray the rights of those whose
savings they have undertaken to administer. Lastly, We must not omit to mention
those crafty men who, wholly unconcerned about any honest usefulness of their
work, do not scruple to stimulate the baser human desires and, when they are
aroused, use them for their own profit.
133. Strict and watchful moral restraint enforced
vigorously by governmental authority could have banished these enormous evils
and even forestalled them; this restraint, however, has too often been sadly
lacking. For since the seeds of a new form of economy were bursting forth just
when the principles of rationalism had been implanted and rooted in many minds,
there quickly developed a body of economic teaching far removed from the true
moral law, and, as a result, completely free rein was given to human passions.
134. Thus it came to pass that many, much more
than ever before, were solely concerned with increasing their wealth by any
means whatsoever, and that in seeking their own selfish interests before
everything else they had no conscience about committing even the gravest of
crimes against others. Those first entering upon this broad way that leads to
destruction[66] easily found numerous imitators
of their iniquity by the example of their manifest success, by their insolent
display of wealth, by their ridiculing the conscience of others, who, as they
said, were troubled by silly scruples, or lastly by crushing more conscientious
competitors.
135. With the rulers of economic life abandoning
the right road, it was easy for the rank and file of workers everywhere to rush
headlong also into the same chasm; and all the more so, because very many
managements treated their workers like mere tools, with no concern at all for
their souls, without indeed even the least thought of spiritual things. Truly
the mind shudders at the thought of the grave dangers to which the morals of
workers (particularly younger workers) and the modesty of girls and women are
exposed in modern factories; when we recall how often the present economic
scheme, and particularly the shameful housing conditions, create obstacles to
the family bond and normal family life; when we remember how many obstacles are
put in the way of the proper observance of Sundays and Holy Days; and when we
reflect upon the universal weakening of that truly Christian sense through
which even rude and unlettered men were wont to value higher things, and upon
its substitution by the single preoccupation of getting in any way whatsoever
one's daily bread. And thus bodily labor, which Divine Providence decreed to be
performed, even after original sin, for the good at once of man's body and
soul, is being everywhere changed into an instrument of perversion; for dead
matter comes forth from the factory ennobled, while men there are corrupted and
degraded.
136. No genuine cure can be furnished for this
lamentable ruin of souls, which, so long as it continues, will frustrate all
efforts to regenerate society, unless men return openly and sincerely to the
teaching of the Gospel, to the precepts of Him Who alone has the words of
everlasting life,[67] words which will never
pass away, even if Heaven and earth will pass away.[68]
All experts in social problems are seeking eagerly a structure so
fashioned in accordance with the norms of reason that it can lead economic life
back to sound and right order. But this order, which We Ourselves ardently long
for and with all Our efforts promote, will be wholly defective and incomplete
unless all the activities of men harmoniously unite to imitate and attain, in
so far as it lies within human strength, the marvelous unity of the Divine
plan. We mean that perfect order which the Church with great force and power
preaches and which right human reason itself demands, that all things be
directed to God as the first and supreme end of all created activity, and that
all created good under God be considered as mere instruments to be used only in
so far as they conduce to the attainment of the supreme end. Nor is it to be
thought that gainful occupations are thereby belittled or judged less consonant
with human dignity; on the contrary, we are taught to recognize in them with
reverence the manifest will of the Divine Creator Who placed man upon the earth
to work it and use it in a multitude of ways for his needs. Those who are
engaged in producing goods, therefore, are not forbidden to increase their
fortune in a just and lawful manner; for it is only fair that he who renders
service to the community and makes it richer should also, through the increased
wealth of the community, be made richer himself according to his position,
provided that all these things be sought with due respect for the laws of God
and without impairing the rights of others and that they be employed in
accordance with faith and right reason. If these principles are observed by
everyone, everywhere, and always, not only the production and acquisition of
goods but also the use of wealth, which now is seen to be so often contrary to
right order, will be brought back soon within the bounds of equity and just
distribution. The sordid love of wealth, which is the shame and great sin of
our age, will be opposed in actual fact by the gentle yet effective law of
Christian moderation which commands man to seek first the Kingdom of God and
His justice, with the assurance that, by virtue of God's kindness and unfailing
promise, temporal goods also, in so far as he has need of them, shall be given
him besides.[69]
137. But in effecting all this, the law of
charity, "which is the bond of perfection,"[70]
must always take a leading role. How completely deceived, therefore, are
those rash reformers who concern themselves with the enforcement of justice
alone - and this, commutative justice - and in their pride reject the
assistance of charity! Admittedly, no vicarious charity can substitute for
justice which is due as an obligation and is wrongfully denied. Yet even
supposing that everyone should finally receive all that is due him, the widest
field for charity will always remain open. For justice alone can, if faithfully
observed, remove the causes of social conflict but can never bring about union
of minds and hearts. Indeed all the institutions for the establishment of peace
and the promotion of mutual help among men, however perfect these may seem,
have the principal foundation of their stability in the mutual bond of minds
and hearts whereby the members are united with one another. If this bond is
lacking, the best of regulations come to naught, as we have learned by too
frequent experience. And so, then only will true cooperation be possible for a
single common good when the constituent parts of society deeply feel themselves
members of one great family and children of the same Heavenly Father; nay, that
they are one body in Christ, "but severally members one of another,"[71] so that "if one member suffers anything, all
the members suffer with it."[72] For then
the rich and others in positions of power will change their former indifference
toward their poorer brothers into a solicitous and active love, listen with
kindliness to their just demands, and freely forgive their possible mistakes
and faults. And the workers, sincerely putting aside every feeling of hatred or
envy which the promoters of social conflict so cunningly exploit, will not only
accept without rancor the place in human society assigned them by Divine
Providence, but rather will hold it in esteem, knowing well that everyone
according to his function and duty is toiling usefully and honorably for the
common good and is following closely in the footsteps of Him Who, being in the
form of God, willed to be a carpenter among men and be known as the son of a
carpenter.
138. Therefore, out of this new diffusion
throughout the world of the spirit of the Gospel, which is the spirit of
Christian moderation and universal charity, We are confident there will come
that longed-for and full restoration of human society in Christ, and that
"Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ," to accomplish which, from
the very beginning of Our Pontificate, We firmly determined and resolved within
Our heart to devote all Our care and all Our pastoral solicitude,[73] and toward this same highly important and most
necessary end now, you also, Venerable Brethren, who with Vs rule the Church of
God under the mandate of the Holy Ghost,[74] are
earnestly toiling with wholly praiseworthy zeal in all parts of the world, even
in the regions of the holy missions to the infidels. Let well-merited
acclamations of praise be bestowed upon you and at the same time upon all
those, both clergy and laity, who We rejoice to see, are daily participating
and valiantly helping in this same great work, Our beloved sons engaged in
Catholic Action, who with a singular zeal are undertaking with Us the solution
of the social problems in so far as by virtue of her divine institution this is
proper to and devolves upon the Church. All these We urge in the Lord, again
and again, to spare no labors and let no difficulties conquer them, but rather
to become day by day more courageous and more valiant.[75]
Arduous indeed is the task which We propose to them, for We know well
that on both sides, both among the upper and the lower classes of society,
there are many obstacles and barriers to be overcome. Let them not, however,
lose heart; to face bitter combats is a mark of Christians, and to endure grave
labors to the end is a mark of them who, as good soldiers of Christ,[76] follow Him closely.
139. Relying therefore solely on the all-powerful
aid of Him "Who wishes all men to be saved,"[77]
let us strive with all our strength to help those unhappy souls who have
turned from God and, drawing them away from the temporal cares in which they
are too deeply immersed, let us teach them to aspire with confidence to the
things that are eternal. Sometimes this will be achieved much more easily than
seems possible at first sight to expect. For if wonderful spiritual forces lie
hidden, like sparks beneath ashes, within the secret recesses of even the most
abandoned man - certain proof that his soul is naturally Christian - how much
the more in the hearts of those many upon many who have been led into error
rather through ignorance or environment.
140. Moreover, the ranks of the workers themselves
are already giving happy and promising signs of a social reconstruction. To Our
soul's great joy, We see in these ranks also the massed companies of young
workers, who are receiving the counsel of Divine Grace with willing ears and
striving with marvelous zeal to gain their comrades for Christ. No less praise
must be accorded to the leaders of workers' organizations who, disregarding
their own personal advantage and concerned solely about the good of their
fellow members, are striving prudently to harmonize the just demands of their
members with the prosperity of their whole occupation and also to promote these
demands, and who do not let themselves be deterred from so noble a service by
any obstacle or suspicion. Also, as anyone may see, many young men, who by
reason of their talent or wealth will soon occupy high places among the leaders
of society, are studying social problems with deeper interest, and they arouse
the joyful hope that they will dedicate themselves wholly to the restoration of
society.
141. The present state of affairs, Venerable
Brethren, clearly indicates the way in which We ought to proceed. For We are
now confronted, as more than once before in the history of the Church, with a
world that in large part has almost fallen back into paganism. That these whole
classes of men may be brought back to Christ Whom they have denied, we must
recruit and train from among them, themselves, auxiliary soldiers of the Church
who know them well and their minds and wishes, and can reach their hearts with
a tender brotherly love. The first and immediate apostles to the workers ought
to be workers; the apostles to those who follow industry and trade ought to be
from among them themselves.
142. It is chiefly your duty, Venerable Brethren,
and of your clergy, to search diligently for these lay apostles both of workers
and of employers, to select them with prudence, and to train and instruct them
properly. A difficult task, certainly, is thus imposed on priests, and to meet
it, all who are growing up as the hope of the Church, must be duly prepared by
an intensive study of the social question. Especially is it necessary that
those whom you intend to assign in particular to this work should demonstrate
that they are men possessed of the keenest sense of justice, who will resist
with true manly courage the dishonest demands or the unjust acts of anyone, who
will excel in the prudence and judgment which avoids every extreme, and, above
all, who will be deeply permeated by the charity of Christ, which alone has the
power to subdue firmly but gently the hearts and wills of men to the laws of
justice and equity. Upon this road so often tried by happy experience, there is
no reason why we should hesitate to go forward with all speed.
143. These Our Beloved Sons who are chosen for so
great a work, We earnestly exhort in the Lord to give themselves wholly to the
training of the men committed to their care, and in the discharge of this
eminently priestly and apostolic duty to make proper use of the resources of
Christian education by teaching youth, forming Christian organizations, and
founding study groups guided by principles in harmony with the Faith. But above
all, let them hold in high esteem and assiduously employ for the good of their
disciples that most valuable means of both personal and social restoration
which, as We taught in Our Encyclical, Mens Nostra,[78]
is to be found in the Spiritual Exercises. In that Letter We expressly
mentioned and warmly recommended not only the Spiritual Exercises for all the
laity, but also the highly beneficial Workers' Retreats. For in that school of
the spirit, not only are the best of Christians developed but true apostles
also are trained for every condition of life and are enkindled with the fire of
the heart of Christ. From this school they will go forth as did the Apostles
from the Upper Room of Jerusalem, strong in faith, endowed with an invincible
steadfastness in persecution, burning with zeal, interested solely in spreading
everywhere the Kingdom of Christ.
144. Certainly there is the greatest need now of
such valiant soldiers of Christ who will work with all their strength to keep
the human family safe from the dire ruin into which it would be plunged were
the teachings of the Gospel to be flouted, and that order of things permitted
to prevail which tramples underfoot no less the laws of nature than those of
God. The Church of Christ, built upon an unshakable rock, has nothing to fear
for herself, as she knows for a certainty that the gates of hell shall never
prevail against her.[79] Rather, she knows full
well, through the experience of many centuries, that she is wont to come forth
from the most violent storms stronger than ever and adorned with new triumphs.
Yet her maternal heart cannot but be moved by the countless evils with which so
many thousands would be afflicted during storms of this kind, and above all by
the consequent enormous injury to spiritual life which would work eternal ruin
to so many souls redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
145. To ward off such great evils from human
society nothing, therefore, is to be left untried; to this end may all our
labors turn, to this all our energies, to this our fervent and unremitting
prayers to God! For with the assistance of Divine Grace the fate of the human
family rests in our hands.
146. Venerable Brethren and Beloved Sons, let us
not permit the children of this world to appear wiser in their generation than
we who by the Divine Goodness are the children of the light.[80] We find them, indeed, selecting and training with
the greatest shrewdness alert and resolute devotees who spread their errors
ever wider day by day through all classes of men and in every part of the
world. And whenever they undertake to attack the Church of Christ more
violently, We see them put aside their internal quarrels, assembling in fully
harmony in a single battle line with a completely united effort, and work to
achieve their common purpose.
147. Surely there is not one that does not know
how many and how great are the works that the tireless zeal of Catholics is
striving everywhere to carry out, both for social and economic welfare as well
as in the fields of education and religion. But this admirable and unremitting
activity not infrequently shows less effectiveness because of the dispersion of
its energies in too many different directions. Therefore, let all men of good
will stand united, all who under the Shepherds of the Church wish to fight this
good and peaceful battle of Christ; and under the leadership and teaching
guidance of the Church let all strive according to the talent, powers, and
position of each to contribute something to the Christian reconstruction of
human society which Leo XIII inaugurated through his immortal Encyclical, On the
Condition of Workers, seeking not themselves and their own interests, but those
of Jesus Christ,[81] not trying to press at all
costs their own counsels, but ready to sacrifice them, however excellent, if
the greater common good should seem to require it, so that in all and above all
Christ may reign, Christ may command to Whom be "honor and glory and
dominion forever and ever."[82]
148. That this may happily come to pass, to all of
you, Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, who are members of the vast
Catholic family entrusted to Us, but with the especial affection of Our heart
to workers and to all others engaged in manual occupations, committed to us
more urgently by Divine Providence, and to Christian employers and managements,
with paternal love We impart the Apostolic Benediction.
Given
at Rome, at Saint Peter's, the fifteenth day of May, in the year 1931, the
tenth year of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XI
1. Encyclical, Arcanum,
Feb. 10, 1880.
2. Encyclical, Diuturnum,
June 20, 1881.
3. Encyclical, Immortale
Dei, Nov. 1, 1885.
4. Encyclical, Sapientiae Christianae, Jan. 10, 1890.
5. Encyclical, Quod Apostolici Muneris, Dec. 28, 1878.
6. Encyclical, Libertas, June 20, 1888.
7. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, May 15, 1891, 3.
8. Encyclical, On the Conditions of Workers, cf. 24.
9. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, cf. 15.
10. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, cf. 6.
11. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 24.
12. Cf. Matt. 7:29.
13. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 4.
14. St. Ambrose, De excessu fratris sui Satyri 1, 44.
15. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 25.
16. Let it be sufficient to mention some of these only: Leo XIII's
Apostolic Letter Praeclara, June 20, 1894, and Encyclical Graves de Communi,
Jan. 18, 1901; Pius X's Motu Proprio De Actione Populari Christiana, Dec. 8,
1903; Benedict XV's Encyclical Ad Beatissimi, Nov. 1, 1914; Pius IX's
Encyclical Ubi Arcano, Dec. 23, 1922, and Encyclical Rite Expiatis, Apr. 30,
1926.
17. Cf. La Hierarchie
catholique et le probleme social depuis l'Encyclique "Rerum Novarum,"
1891-1931, pp. XVI-335; ed. "Union internationale d'Etudes sociales
fondee a Malines, en 1920, sous la presidence du Card. Mercier." Paris,
Editions "Spes," 1931.
18. Isa. 11:12.
19. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 48.
20. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 54.
21. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 68.
22. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 77.
23. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 78.
24. Pius X, Encyclical, Singulari Ouadam, Sept. 24, 1912.
25. Cf. the Letter of the Sacred Congregation of the Council to the
Bishop of Lille, June 5, 1929.
26. Cf. Rom. 1:14.
27. Cf. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 24-25.
28. Pius XI, Encyclical,
Ubi Arcano, Dec. 23, 1922.
29. Encyclical, Ubi Arcano, Dec. 23, 1922.
30. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 35.
31. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 36.
32. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 14.
33. Allocation to the Convention of Italian Catholic Action, May 16,
1926.
34. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 12.
35. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 20.
36. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 67.
37. Cf. St. Thomas, Summa theologica, II-II, Q. 134.
38. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 51.
39. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 28.
40. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 14.
41. II Thess. 3:10.
42. Cf. II Thess. 3:8-10.
43. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 66.
44. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 61.
45. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 31.
46. Cf. Encyclical, Casti Connubii, Dec. 31, 1930.
47. Cf. St. Thomas, De regimine principum I, 15; Encyclical, On the
Condition of Workers, 49-51.
48. Cf. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 31. Art. 2.
49. St. Thomas, Contra Gentiles, III, 71; cf. Summa theologica,
50. Encyclical, Immortale Dei, Nov. 1, 1885.
51. Cf Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 76.
52. Eph. 4:16.
53. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 28
54. Cf. Rom. 13:1.
55. Cf. Encyclical, Diuturnum illud, June 29, 1881.
56. Encyclical, Divini illius Magistri Dec 31 1929
57. Cf. Jas. 2.
58. II Cor. 8:9.
59. Matt. 11:28.
60. Cf. Luke 12:48.
61. Matt. 16:27.
62. Cf. Matt. 7:24ff.
63. Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, 41.
64. Cf. Matt. 16:26.
65. Cf. Judg. 2:17.
66. Cf. Matt. 7:13.
67. Cf. John 6:69.
68. Cf. Matt. 24:35.
69. Cf. Matt. 6:33.
70. Col. 3:14.
71. Rom. 12:5.
72. I Cor. 12:26.
73. Encyclical, Ubi Arcano,
Dec. 23, 1922.
74. Cf. Act. 20:28.
75. Cf. Deut. 31:7.
76. Cf. II Tim. 2:3.
77. I Tim. 2:4.
78. Encyclical, Mens
Nostra, Dec. 20, 1929.
79. Cf. Matt. 16:18.
80. Cf. Luke 16:8.
81. Cf. Phil. 2:21.
82. Apoc. 5:13.
