Catholic Problems in Western CanadaDaly, George Thomas
Religion
Catholic Problems in Western Canada
Daly, George Thomas
Catholic Church -- Canada
Mr. Lloyd George himself, addressing a religious gathering in Wales on
June 9, 1920, recognized Religion as the only bulwark able to resist
the rising tide of anarchy. "Bolshevism is spreading throughout the
world," said the British Premier, "and the churches can alone save the
people from the disaster which will ensue, if this anarchy of will and
aim continues to spread." The task of the churches, he continued, was
greater than that which came within the compass of any political party.
Political parties might provide the lamps, lay the wires and turn the
current on to certain machinery, but the churches must be the power
stations. If the generating stations were destroyed, whatever the
arrangements and plans of the political parties might be, it would not
be long before the light was cut off from the homes of the people. The
doctrines taught by the churches are the _only_ security against the
triumph of human selfishness, and human selfishness unchecked will
destroy any plans, however perfect, which politicians may devise.
This period of history, to quote Gladstone, is "an agitated and
expectant age." The world is travelling fast into a new era. The
modern social fabric, built on the shifting sands of selfishness and
injustice is rocking on its foundations. Amid accumulated ruins
nations are searching for the basic principles of true Reconstruction.
This period of unrest is in itself a challenge to Christianity, to the
Church. But the vitalizing force of Christianity can solve these
problems of a decrepit civilization just as it solved the problem of
tottering Rome. Problems therefore must be faced and solved. Every
Catholic has his place in this world-wide work. If our religion does
not make its influence felt in every phase of our life's activities, it
is--as far as our life and its influence on others is concerned--a
gigantic fraud. Bishop Kettler understood this pressing obligation
when, breaking away from a too conservative programme of action, he was
the first in the Church to give an impetus to the study of the modern
social problem. His policy and action were said to have prompted the
celebrated letter of Leo III, _Rerum Novarum_. The words of this great
democratic Bishop still bear his timely message to Catholics of to-day,
"To save the souls of countless workmen entrusted to her by Christ, the
Church must enter the field of Social reform, armed with extraordinary
remedies. She must exert herself to the utmost to rescue the workmen
from a situation which constitutes a real proximate occasion of sin for
them, a situation which makes it morally impossible for them to fulfill
their duties as Christians."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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