The most important social statement of the Roman Catholic Church in recent centuries has been a document known as Rerum Novarum (Of New Things)* issued on May 15, 1891 by 81-year-old Leo XIII as a papal encyclical—an open letter to the bishops of the church. Dealing directly and forcibly with the social ills facing the world at the turn of the century, it condemned socialism as immoral but supported trade unions and higher wages, state regulation of industry and broader distribution of property and wealth. Brought up to date 40 years later by Pope Pius XI, it is the starting point of modern Catholic social thought, and the ideological bedrock on which today's huge Christian Democratic parties in Italy, Germany and Belgium are founded.
Last week, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope John XXIII issued his own social encyclical, a message firmly oriented toward the new problems of the mid-20th century. Titled Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher) and addressed broadly to "all Christians," it is 25,000 words long—probably the longest encyclical in history—and ranges farther and wider than either of its two predecessors. It is also more polished; John and his advisers have been tinkering with it for many months, and its publication was reportedly delayed several times for last-minute changes.
A Creation of Free Men. "Mother and Teacher of all nations," it begins, "the Universal Church has been instituted by Jesus Christ so that all who in the long course of centuries come to her for loving embrace may find fullness of higher life and a guarantee of salvation." What follows sets forth "new aspects of the social question," and recommends means for the "reconstruction of social relationships in truth, justice and love."
Mater et Magistra takes careful measure of the massive power that science and technology have given the state to raise living standards and increase social welfare. It also warns the state of the danger this power carries to restrict the freedom of the individual. The state must therefore be careful to protect "the right that individual persons possess of being always primarily responsible for their own upkeep and that of their own family, which implies that in the economic systems the free development of productive activities should be permitted and facilitated."
Pope John left no doubt that in the church's view progress and "the natural right of private ownership, inclusive of productive goods," are inseparable. But John was also aware that the set of the modern state is toward what he calls "socialization"—"the fruit and expression of a natural tendency, almost irrepressible in human beings, the tendency to join together to attain objectives which are beyond the capacity and means at the disposal of single individuals." But socialization does not necessarily turn men into automatons. "For socialization is not to be considered as a product of natural forces working in a deterministic way. It is, on the contrary, as we have observed, a creation of men, beings conscious, free and intended by nature to work in a responsible way."