Given from the Catholic Broadcasting Station 2SM Sydney Australia
Choose a topic from Vol 4:
Since religious principles affect ethical and social principles, it is impossible for the Catholic Church not to be concerned, at least indirectly, with certain aspects of economics or politics.
Avro Manhattan's book was written with the hostile intent of showing that the Catholic Church was "Fascist," during the years of World War II, with all its particular obsessions. His book was not only full of distortions, but was out-of-date almost as soon as it was published. Douglas Hyde, in his I book, "I Believed," describes how when on the staff of a Communist paper he was given Manhattan's book to review. And he says: "Instead of gaining ammunition against the Church from Manhattan's book I learned, despite, the tendentious writing, something of the Church's social teaching. It was written to make anti-Catholics. It helped to make me 'pro' instead."
The word proletariat refers to the underprivileged classes in any given country. That there will always be underprivileged people in this world is certain. Christ was not wrong when He said that the poor we shall have always with us. Matt., XXVI, 11. But a social system which results in so uneven a distribution of benefits that an ever smaller minority enjoys the advantages whilst ever increasing numbers suffer disadvantages would undoubtedly be an unchristian system and one opposed to the natural moral law. Still more inexcusable would be any tendency on the part of the rich to treat the proletariat almost as people of a different race and as having no rights at all. It is no wonder that, in countries where such a state of affairs existed, the growing proletariat organized and aimed, not only at the elimination of the evils in such a system, but at the system's complete destruction.
Your interest deserves commendation. But whilst it is good to get a sound knowledge of social problems, one must make sure of both one's principles and of one's facts before drawing one's conclusions.
That statement invites the warning that any man with a sense of grievance must be doubly on his guard against disturbance of his judgment. There is always the danger that such a man will not be impartial; and justice, even social justice, demands impartiality. It is very easy to let the catch-cries of "Industrial Exploitation" and "Class-consciousness" become obsessions. You should check the facts and ask whether you have really been a "victim of industrial exploitation," or whether you have only imagined it. Also, what do you mean by saying that you have become "class-conscious"? Do you mean that you feel that you belong to a class of people who are suffering disabilities which you would like to see remedied? Or do you mean that you feel envy and hatred of those you think to constitute the privileged classes? The latter dispositions would certainly be wrong, and would lead to a class-warfare utterly opposed to Christian principles.
"THAT CATHOLIC CHURCH
A Radio Analysis"
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