The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-05-01
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH THE
FRIEND OF LABOR


pion, the real friend of the work
ingman, that organization is the
Catholic Church.
Her history is one continuous
series of acts in which the Church
has fearlessly declared and main
tanned by every means IN her
power that the laboring man, the
man Of the people, is entitled to a
square deal. Here are a lew re-
Elections:
|. The Venerable Founder or
the Church was an humble artisan
Himself. working daily as a car
renter, and the foster-Son OF a
carpenter.
2. The Apostles were poor hsh,
ermcn. and st. Paul supported
himself as tent-maker.
3. The early Christians, to a
great extent, were drawn from the
ranks of the working classes, even
Of slaves.
4. Christ passed His mortal
life chiefly in the company OF the
common people. His few refer
ences to the wealthy were seldom
complimentary.
). From the first ages the Su-
preme Pontitfs labored for the
overthrow of slavery, following
the doctrine Of st. Paul, that be-
fore God there is neither bond nor
free man, but all arc equal, that is,
all are free.
6. When the barbarians over
ran the Roman empire, the author
tiles Of the Church curbcd the fc-
rocity of the fierce invaders, and
taught them that their vasSals
were on an equal Christian plane
with all. She grouped them to-
gcther in the same church, admit
ted them to equality in the recep-
ton of the same sacramcntS, and
recruited her clergy, even her
Popcs, from the ranks of poverty
as well as of wealth. The poorest
man who became bishop or Pope
enjoved the honors and the dig
nifty superior to kings and cmper-
ors. Gregory VII, the son OF q
poor artisan, deposed the rabld
King Henry " from the throne.
7. The Church always upheld
the sacred dignity Of labor. The
monks of the middle ages consc-
Grated manual toll anew when
they engaged in reclaiming vast
marshes for cultivation and de-
voted themselves to every branch
of what is known as skilled and
unskilled labor. The monk who
daily titled the soil was invested
with as much honor and dignity
before the Church and before God
as he who transcribed learned vol
umes for the benefit Of posterity.
8. The guilds Of the middle
ages were the apothcoscs of labor.
Every trade and profession was
organized under the auspices of
the Church. Priests directed the
energies of the members; prayers
were said and sacraments rccei wed
in common; Masses were offered
and aims bestowed for the repoSe
OF deceased members; every guild
had it's patron Saint, and the men
composing the various societies
were impressed with the impor-
lance and the value of their work.
.. The greatest and the most
effective friend that Labor ever
has had in human annals was the
late lamented and glorious Pope
Leo XIII. No individual, no gov
eminent ever had gone so far as
to pen the words which Pope Leo
sent out to the world about con-
ditions in his day, when he de-
clared that a yoke little better
than slavery had been placed up
OH the necks Of the toiling classes
Leo XIII laid down the deep and
broad principles Of the Catholic
Church and of reason herself
when he issued his immortal cncy-
cllcal on the rights of Labor. He
but summed up in a trenchant
manner the doctrines Of all his
predecessors. From that day
more than twenty-five years ago
priests and bishops the world over
| have taken a fresh stand for the
rights Of the workingman. re
speak only of this country, the
American clergy, from the great
est prelate down to the last or
dalned priest, stands as a unit fol
the inalienable rights Of the labor.
ing man. America s foremost so
cial economist, Rev. DR.. John A
Ryan, the recognized leader in his
field, stands forth as the protag
onist, the admitted champion oil
the rights and the privileges oil
Labor.
| 10. The. Catholic Church has
sworn antagonism to the prlncl