The Irish standard., 1919-09-27

variety of definitions. The Catholic
Encyclopedia, in it's excellent article
on the subject, sums up three ex-
plantations in this way: Socialism is
a system of social and economic or
ganization that would substitute state
monopoly for private ownership of
the sources of production and means
of distribution, and would concen-
trate under the control of secular gov
erning authority the chief activities
of human life. The term is often
used vaguely to indicate any increase
of collective control over individual
action, or even any revolt of the dis
possessed against the rule of the pos
sessing classes. But these are undue
extensions of the terms, leading to
much confusion of thought. State
control and even state ownership are
not necessarily Socialism,; they be-
come so only when they result in or
tend toward the prohibition of pri-
vate ownership not only of natural
sources of wealth. Nor is mere re-
volt against economic inequality So
cialism; it may be anarchism; it may
resistance to oppression. Nor is it
changes in the social structure as
would Danish property" Socialism is
this and much more. 1t is also a
philosophy of social life and action,
regarding all human activities from
definite economic standpoint.
What the Popes Have Said.
Every Pope who has reigned since
Socialism became a world question
N0%1 101S
Church is quick to recognize social
them, Plus TX, Leo XIII and Plus X,
the present pontiff, specifically taught
against Socialism. The reigning
Pope, Benedict XIV, in his first ency-
clical, commended the attitude taken
by Leo XIII. It is utterly impossible
to be good Catholic and a Socialist
at the same time. Socialists say that
the Church has no right to interfere
with purely political questions. But
Catholics answer that Socialism is
not purely political. It mixes with
religion. Socialism, as shown by it's
own writers-and these books are dis
tributed by the official party in the
United States, so that the party must
be held absolutely responsible for
them-teaches free love, which means
the end of Christian marriage and the
family; teaches the materialistic con-
ception of history, which denies that
man has free will; teaches that the
holding of certain property is not
moral, in opposition to orthodox
Christian beliefs.
Church UphoIds Social Reform.
But, while the Catholic Church
fights Socialism, it does not fight So
cial reform 1t enthusiastically up
holds such work. A man who says
that it has even done otherwise does
not know history. In the United
States the American Federation of
Catholic Societies maintain bureaus
for the study of social problems for
suggesting of solutions. Each of these
bureaus maintains free press service,
sent to the seventy-five or more Cath
olic newspapers of this country. The
Knights of Columbus in some states
and other societies take direct in
terest in solving the social problems
of our day. The Catholic Church real
ICES that there is reason for the So
cial unrest that is prevalent today
and she opposes no plan for it's ameli.
grafton when the reformers do not
try to overthrow orthodox religious
principles in their reforms.
It must not be forgotten that all
the civilization we have today is owed
directly to Christianity Erase Chris
tianity, and you would be faced by
anarchy. When the hordes of saw
ages from Northern Europe swept
down and destroyed the old civiliza
tion that had come from pagan Rome
it was the Catholic clergy that re
civilized the world. It was monk!
and bishops who carried civilization
for the first time to all Northern Eu
rope. 1t was the Catholic mission