The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-03-27
DR.. RYAN answers HIS S0@ALSTG CRITICS
Rev. John Ryan D., Seminary, Position
Taken Address Before Yale Chapter in Discussion The
Catholic Church and Radical Socialism

A short time ago DR.. John A. Ryan,
of st. Paul Seminary, the we'll known
author of "a Living Wage" and of the
debate with Hillquit on Socialism, de-
livered an address before the Yale
Society for the Study of Socialism, the
Yale Chapter of the intercollegiate So
cialist Society, on "The Catholic
Church and Radical Socialism" I'm
mediately the Socialists, in their &C.
count of the affair with their fatal
propensity for getting things wrong,
gave an erroneous version of what
the speaker had said and as a result
precipitated short discussion which
has brought out in quite clear man.
ner the difference in the points OF
view of Catholic social thought and
of socialistic.
The New York Call of February "a,
in an editorial on "The Rev. Doctors
Dilemma" declared that DR.. Ryan had
said that "the teachings of Jesus have
no social or economic bearing" The
Call, of course, made much of this pur-
ported statement and dilated at some
length on the error Of such an attitude.
<'The wise old church that installed
Rev. Ryan as a teacher" declared the
Call, knew better than he, when it
combined in his person the two sub
jects of political economy and moral
theology. If there was no connection
between the two theories, why were
they given to the one man? Moral the
ology,' as the church maintains, is
founded in the last resort on the
teachings Of Christ. And what is pol
itical economy founded on? Has it a
moral basis? Rev. Ryan again and
again distinctly implied that it had,
when in his debate with Hillquit he
denounced Socialism as unjust and i'm
moral. The political economy DR.. Ryan
teaches is founded on what he constd-
ers morality, and all morality finally
finds its base in the teachings Of
Christ. And that is good Catholic doc
trine. Rev. Ryan to the contrary not
withstanding."
DR.. Ryan Immediately replied to this
editorial, his answer appearing in the
Call of March 8. It ran as follows:
'In your issue of the oath inst. you
represent me as saying at New Haven
that the teachings of Jesus have no
social or economic bearing" Had I
really uttered such stupidity as is ex-
pressed in this sentence, the greater
part of your editorial discussing it
would have been abundantly justified.
OF course, never said that, and am at
a loss to know how you attributed it
to me, since none of the printed re-
ports convey any such an impression,
and they all show that a great part of
my address was devoted to presenta-
tion of the fact that Christ's teachings
have very fundamental social and
economic implications. At the end OF
the lecture, in response to question
from the audience, I denied that Christ
was social revolutionist,' or, was put
to death for acts of sabotage com.
mitted in the temple, and I pointed
out that there is nothing in the Cos
pels or in His life to indicate that He
founded or intended to found social
or economic system, or to overthrow
the social order then existing. The
difference between this position and
the one indicated in the quotation at
the head of your editorial ought to be
obvious to any person of ordinary in
telligence." ....
The Call, in note below DR.. Ryans
letter, stated that its version of his
speech had been obtained from cor
respondent in New Haven, "the accur
acy. of whose reports it has always
found to be unimpeachable." But in
the issue of March Is we learn that the
"unimpeachable" correspondent right
honestly acknowledged himself to have
been in error and that DR.. Ryan did
not really say what had been reported
as his utterance.
DR.. Ryan experienced the same trou
BILE in New Haven where one Anthony
Demson, Socialist, in writing to the
local paper, made jumbled attack or
what had been said, although the paper
itself had given a very creditable re
port of the meeting. DR.. Ryan in an
swering this attack impliedly showed
the difference between the Catholic
view of the attitude of Jesus and tn.
Church to social and economic rela
tions and that advocated by Protestan
tism on the one hand and by So
cialism and its queer but logical OF
spring, the doctrines as put forth b!
Bouck White and others who hav'
gained inspiration from the "highe
criticism of the scriptures" on tn
other. He recommended that his az
..syoo% rood tho ovco11onf 1iff1o hoot