This is a legitimate development of doctrine, not denying anything that was authoritatively said in the past, but, in response to new questions and conditions, bringing out the implications of earlier teaching. His statement here ought to be sufficient to silence those who have sometimes claimed that popes have no business speaking about such matters. I discussed this point at length in the first article in this series. Next Pius XI takes up the question of property. One can see from this discussion, that the Church does not teach a right of private property that is absolute.
Property also has duties toward the common good.
After this, the Pontiff discusses wages. Here, as in many other points of their teaching, one can wonder whether the popes' commands have yet been put into effect. In the next article, I will conclude our survey of Pius XI's social teaching. Thomas Storck is a writer living in Maryland. The text and numbered divisions of encyclicals are taken from Seven Great Encyclicals, Paulist Press, originally published as Five Great Encyclicals.