Tag: Quadragesimo Anno

Pastor Column: The Social Question – Unions

Posted on by Father Albert
[Note: This is not the weekly homily.] This is an article from the bulletin of December 5, 2021      I mentioned two weeks ago that we’d address Labor Unions in the next article on Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quadragesimo Anno. In the letter, there are a few places where the pope address the concept of labor unions. Towards the beginning, he mentions them by name only briefly. He again addresses the idea of unions later in the letter, but calls them “syndicates”      The first mention is in the context of lamenting that various revolutions and governments have forbidden Catholic...Read More

The Social Question II

Posted on by Father Albert
[Note: This is not the weekly homily.] This is an article from the bulletin of November 14, 2021      We left off last week with Pope Pius XI reiterating Leo XIII’s teaching on private property, namely, that it is a natural right but not an absolute right. Men ought to be able to own property in providing for themselves, but this right does not justify hoarding or wastefulness and the obligation to be support those in need must always be considered. Today, we pick up with a teaching on labor and capital. “Capital,” in this context generally refers to property....Read More

Pastor Column: The Social Question I

Posted on by Father Albert
[Note: This is not the weekly homily.] This is an article from the bulletin of November 7, 2021      Now we turn to the next important document from Pope Pius XI, called Quadragesimo anno, which is Latin for “on the fortieth year.” He we published it on May 15, 1931, which was the 40th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s letter Rerum Novarum. That letter, translated “on new things,” addressed the social questions that were arising from the industrial revolution concerning labor, human rights, and society in general. It is not that the Church never talked about social issues before -...Read More