The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-05-06
FATHER O'RYAD
ON SOCIAL ISM
Address by the Reverend
Gentleman in the
Temple.
Trades Guilds in the Middle
Ages Organized by the
Catholic Church.
Popes end Car dina Raised The ir
Voices on Behalf of Down
trodden Humanity.

Rev. Father Philip Organ, spiritual
adviser of the League of the Cross. deliv-
cred lecture last night before the Social
ist Labor party, at the TEMPLE, III Turk
street. His subject was 1.-The Catholic
Church and the Social Problem" The
hall was crowded, and the lecture gave
rise to much discussion.
The speaker began by saying that the
world had to confront and solve the great
social problem during the coming cen
fury. At the present time, he said, CAPT.
tai had gathered to itself all the wealth
and all the productive machinery of the
world. Ali these things were in the hands
OF the few, while the masses of the people
were poor and their faces were trodden
upon by the feet OF the rich.
The Catho Ollie church had been in exist
ence for nineteen centuries. during the
whole of which time she had been the
church OF the people, and such she would
and must continue to be. The seat of the
highest dignity of the church is called
1.-The Throne of the Fisherman
The speaker argued that the labor prob
lem was solved in the Middle Ages, when
the church was supreme all over the CIV
ilized world by the workmen's guilds or
ganized under the auspices of the church,
and every trade and profession throughout
Europe when Europe was Catholic had
it's guild. These guilds bound all classes
together in the practice of religion and
morality, for that was possible when all
Europe was Catholic. They defended the
innocent and helped to punish the guilty.
They visited and conf orted the sick and
buried the dead. They covered the face
of Europe with a netword of sym patty,
benevolence and charity.
The speaker said that in 1885, where q
concerted invasion OF Africa was made by
Europeans partly for the purpose of &C
quiring choice territory and partly for the
purpose of gathering slaves tor sale, Pope
Leo sent one of his Cardinals through
| Europe demanding that they should put
| down the slave traffic. AT the Congress
of Nations soon after his voice was heard
| and needed ana traffic in negroes aDol-
ished. Pope Leo soon after that event
! issued his famous encyclical on the con-
dition of the working people. lie was de.
nounced for that by the conservatives and
he was called socialist.
Pope Leo's solution of the labor ques-
ton was founded on the Gospel of Christ;
justice and charity founded on religion,
binding on every man, employer and en-
should rejuvenate the world; they are the
great and the only virtues that can bring
material prosperity to the world again.
When the Pope said that in case OF ex-
treme destltution, when men were brought
to the verge of starvation, property then
became common, and there could be o
robbery, he was denounced as being worse
than a socialist, in fact an anarchist. The
Pope held that the employer should prac-
tice justice. and that there should be a
fair days wages for fair days work
wages sufficient to support himself and
family in decent and respectable man.
ner. He said:
1T is neither justice nor humanity to
grind down men with excessive labor so
as to stupefy their minds and wear out
their bodies. Daily labor must be so reg
uated that it may not be protracted dur
ing longer hours than strength permits
Cardinal Gibbons defense of the Knights
of Labor was spoken of as beins In line
with the sentiments and policy of The
church.