The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-10-28

Communism, but in the struggle tt build c new, lasting social ordel there must be an attitude of toler, aHlce until "labor is able to root out all that conflicts with the Christian and American principals"
 Today Christianity faces . moS' serious crisis, Father Donnelly dc. clared and that the welfare oi church and country hangs In thu balance. The text Of his address t LaS follows:
 In his Christmas allocution to thu College of Cardinals Plus XII uset these words: '"Today there opens fol the Church c period comparable t that hour when Christ went fortt to meet the ancient paganism." TwS years ago the American hierarchy in an oflcial statement used thes' words: "Today Christianity faces itI most serious crisis since the Churcf came out of the catacombs."
 We might augment these state ments or take them from othel sources but all of them would adt to an affirmation by the leaders aI1c great scholars of the Church tha' we Catholics living in the year oi i043 are living in the greatest crisis of Christian history and that we are fated to decide the position of the Church for generations aac perhaps centuries.
 The world we have known hal fallen shattered at our feet. A new world must be built, and that world must be built not by putting to- gether the shattered pieces of the past but by choosing only those parts of the shattered structure which respect the rights of God and the rights of man and leaving to Q deserved fate those parts the in. justice of which was the great weakness of our civilization. Chiei among those parts, which we must insist be made not only part of the new world but the very framework of the entire structure, is that con. cept of justice which we call social justice, that justice between the the source of the little luster that various strata of society which waa shone in growing degree during the past decade from our now crashed world. Today . social revolution is rumbling in mems hearts. They are filled with the determination to bring to an end the economic 1nse- curity of the masses which in the past has bred nothing but misery. poverty, slums and starvation.
 The Working Man
 Playing 0 major role, perhaps playing the hero's role, in the build- ing of the new world will be the man who works with his hands for c living. For the first time in his- tory he in aware of his power to have Q say in the shape of the future world. But what will be hii model2 What will be the blue print he will follow2 The Church alont has the one complete and adequate program and today our obligation to that program is an obligation tc God, our country and humanity.
 Conscious of that obligation we look to the Guild program. Where does it it in the Guild program? How important Q place must 1t be given? Specifically how important Q place should be given to the social teachings of the Church and par ticularly those teachings eS they are related to labor since that is the immediately necessary first step2
 It would seem that this organiz- ation which has devoted itself to the noble work of going boldly, ''in- to the highways and byways and compel them to come in," which reaches out to the unanchored mil- lions who are spiritually drifting with the stream, should find in the social teachings of the Church an arresting and major chapter of it's program. It would seem further that this organization is in 0 posi- ton to give far more than little aid in the propagation of these principles.
 Two Requisites
 To that end two things are nec- essary: First, the firm personal conviction of the urgent need of bringing these teachings to both Catholics and non- Catholics; sec- ond, the practical means of bring ing this teaching into the airy pul- pits Of the Guild apostolate.
 First we say that we must be personally convinced that this phase of the Church's teachings is one of immediate and strategic necessity for the salvation of souls. Today the shape of 8 new world is being hammered out in many parts of the world. Without question the most powerful forces in the hammering will determine the shape of the new world. Without question, too, that new world will be built with God or without God, and if we, to whom is entrusted this obligation do not see that this new world is built with God 1t will be built without Him, or at least with God regulated to a convenient corner where He will not too greatly interfere with the rulers of new City of Man.
 But long ago Our Blessed Lord laid out the framework of justice and charity which He taught must hold society together. Repeatedly officially the Church has outlined in the past these social teachings of Christ and applied them to our fumbling world. But the world did not listen, and perhaps because we were not sufficiently determined that 1t should listen. If fifty years ago the world had needed Leo XIII, the need of building @ new order might never have been launched. as now it must be. on Q sea of blood and tears.
 But now the task has been start ed. And to us Christians have been committed Christ's hopes for a true Christian social order. Only if enough of us are awake to the eacrednesg of that trust can VIC