Appendix: Motu Proprio of Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius X — On Christian Popular Action

564. After our dissertation on Christian Democracy had already been printed, there was promulgated, on December 18, 1903, a Motu Proprio of Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius X, in which, in order to strengthen the concord of Catholics in action, he collected from three Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII and from an Instruction of the Congregation charged with Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs the common principles which must be properly maintained by all, and confirmed them anew by his own authority. It is useful to reproduce these most prudent norms here, in the Italian language in which they were published and—if you except a few things—with the French translation as it appeared in the periodical Revue Théologique Française (January 1904).

But first a few things seem to require notice.

565. Concerning the force of the Motu Proprio. From the occasion for writing, which was supplied by dissensions that had arisen in Italy, and from the Italian language itself, it is sufficiently evident that this syllabus was composed chiefly for the use of Italians. Nevertheless, it contains an authentic repetition of documents which are for the most part general even formally, so that by its efficacy it avails to direct Catholics throughout the whole world.

Yet this virtually general force is not, in turn, to be understood as though the evils which the Holy Pontiff proposed to meet threaten or have prevailed everywhere among the nations, or as though in the selection of the articles the principal consideration was not the circumstances of Italy.

566. Concerning its end. Norms are prescribed for the Catholic action of the laity. From this consideration it is more easily perceived why those who wish to obtain its praise must observe strict obedience toward the Bishops and the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

567. Concerning its correct interpretation. Since the Holy Pontiff openly professed that he wished to present a certain summary of things which had previously been decreed, the Motu Proprio is to be interpreted so that it is seen to confirm these things, and by no means to suppress or change them. Whatever was established from the earlier documents remains ratified and firm; and the brief rules of the most recent decree are to be understood in the manner in which they are proposed more explicitly in those documents.

Editorial note: The source prints a parallel French translation of the Italian passages on the following pages. Because it duplicates the Italian text, it is omitted here in accordance with the project instructions. Unique citations found only in the French text are retained.

568. What if it is silent concerning certain things? Nor is it lawful to use the Motu Proprio to neglect the precepts of the earlier documents which are passed over here in silence. For the Holy Pontiff did not intend to recount everything.

Yet the fact that nothing is said concerning the family wage seems to add strength to our persuasion according to which we judged that this question was not formally resolved by the Letter Rerum novarum.

569. Concerning the political counsels of the democrats. Take care lest the statements of no. XIII of the Motu Proprio give an occasion for error and for forbidding democrats, with excessive severity, every use of political arts. For we are referred back to the Instruction of the Sacred Congregation charged with Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs which was sent to the Bishops of Italy on January 27, 1902. Now that Instruction, no. I, proposes more explicitly in this manner the doctrine of the Encyclical Graves de communi (January 18, 1901) concerning our subject:

“Christian-democratic institutions, whatever their character may be, must be considered solely as manifestations of Christian popular action, founded upon natural right and the precepts of the Gospel. They are therefore not to be regarded as means directed toward political ends or destined to change any form of government.... This object (the social question) refers, it is true, to external goods, but above all it refers to religion and morals; and it is also naturally connected with the norms of civil legislation, so that, in the end, it generally concerns the rights and duties of all orders.... From this it follows that in Christian-democratic programs, conferences, and newspapers, all questions which aim at the triumph of justice and the practice of charity in favor of the people, and which constitute the true object of Christian democracy, can be treated.

“Christian-democratic newspapers can also give news and judgments concerning political facts and opinions, but without claiming to speak in the name of the Church or to impose their own opinions in a matter of free discussion, as though those who thought otherwise were not sincere Catholics. Nor is it enough that Christian democrats not speak in the name of the Church when they treat merely political matter; it is also necessary that in Italy they abstain from participating in any political action.”

To one who weighs these things, it will easily be evident that no conclusions other than these can be gathered from these documents: a) Christian-democratic action, as such, does not contain per se any political plan. b) No political end ought to be intended by this action, especially that end by which an attempt is made to change the form of the commonwealth. c) The political action of Christian democrats,¹ if they wish to exercise any, is not to be exercised in the name of the Church, as though it were forbidden to Catholics to think otherwise than they do concerning the commonwealth.

¹ I say, of the democrats. For four things are to be distinguished in this matter: what democrats do under any title, and what they do as democrats, or insofar as they carry on Christian-democratic action; then democratic action for a political end, and political action for a Christian-democratic end.

But by the same documents Christian democrats, if you except Italy, are by no means commanded to abstain from political pursuits, especially since by political action they can promote the good of the people itself, provided they use legitimate methods and do not imprudently disturb the necessary concord of Catholics. (Cf. what we have written more fully in our commentaries on the Encyclical Graves de communi, p. 24.)

570. From Our first Encyclical to the Episcopate of the world, echoing what Our glorious Predecessors had established concerning the Catholic action of the laity, We declared this undertaking most praiseworthy, and even necessary in the present conditions of the Church and civil society. And We cannot but praise highly the zeal of so many illustrious persons who for a long time have devoted themselves to this noble task, and the ardor of so much chosen youth which has eagerly hastened to furnish its work in this matter. The Nineteenth Catholic Congress, recently held at Bologna and promoted and encouraged by Us, has sufficiently shown to all the vigor of the Catholic forces and what useful and salutary things can be obtained among believing populations when this action is well regulated and disciplined, and when union of thoughts, affections, and works reigns among all who take part in it.

Yet it causes Us no slight regret that some disagreement which arose among them has stirred up controversies which are unfortunately too lively and which, unless checked opportunely, could divide those same forces and render them less efficacious. We, who recommended above all the union and concord of minds before the Congress, so that what pertains to the practical norms of Catholic action could be established by common agreement, cannot now remain silent. And since divergences of views in the practical field very easily lead into the theoretical field, and indeed must necessarily have their fulcrum there, it is necessary to strengthen the principles by which the whole of Catholic action must be informed.

Leo XIII of holy memory, Our illustrious Predecessor, traced out luminously the norms of Christian popular action in the distinguished Encyclicals Quod Apostolici muneris of December 28, 1878; Rerum novarum of May 15, 1891; and Graves de communi of January 18, 1901;² and also in the particular Instruction issued through the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs on January 27, 1902.³

² Revue Théologique Française, vol. VI, p. 65.

³ Ibid., vol. VII, p. 210.

And We, who no less than Our Predecessor see the great need for Christian popular action to be rightly moderated and conducted, will that those most prudent norms be observed exactly and fully, and that no one therefore dare to depart from them in the least. And so, in order to keep them more easily alive and present, We have resolved to gather them as in a compendium in the following articles, as the Fundamental Regulation of Christian Popular Action, reproducing them from those same Acts. These must be the constant rule of conduct for all Catholics.

I. Human society, as God established it, is composed of unequal elements, just as the members of the human body are unequal. To render them all equal is impossible, and the destruction of that same society would result from it. (Encyclical Quod Apostolici muneris.)

II. The equality of the various social members consists only in this: that all men draw their origin from God the Creator; have been redeemed by Jesus Christ; and must, according to the exact norm of their merits and demerits, be judged by God and rewarded or punished. (Encyclical Quod Apostolici muneris.)

III. From this it follows that, in human society, it is according to the ordination of God that there be princes and subjects, employers and proletarians, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, nobles and commoners; all of whom, united in a bond of love, are to assist one another in attaining their final end in Heaven and, here on earth, their material and moral well-being. (Encyclical Quod Apostolici muneris.)

IV. Man has over the goods of the earth not only simple use, as do the brute animals, but also the right of stable property: not only property in those things which are consumed by use, but also in those which use does not consume. (Encyclical Rerum novarum.)

V. Private property, the fruit of labor or industry or of another's transfer or donation, is an incontestable right of nature; and each person can reasonably dispose of it as seems good to him. (Encyclical Rerum novarum.)

VI. To settle the discord between the rich and the proletarians, justice must be distinguished from charity. There is no right to a claim unless justice has been violated. (Encyclical Rerum novarum.)

VII. The obligations of justice on the part of the proletarian and the worker are these: to furnish wholly and faithfully the work which was freely and equitably agreed upon; not to damage the property or injure the person of employers; in the very defense of their own rights, to abstain from violent acts and never to transform that defense into mutinies. (Encyclical Rerum novarum.)

VIII. The obligations of justice on the part of capitalists and employers are these: to render a just wage to workers; not to damage their just savings by violence, fraud, or manifest or concealed usury; to give them liberty to fulfill their religious duties; not to expose them to corrupting enticements and dangers of scandal; not to alienate them from the spirit of family and the love of saving; and not to impose upon them labors disproportionate to their strength or ill-suited to their age or sex. (Encyclical Rerum novarum.)

IX. The obligation of charity on the part of property-holders is to assist the poor and the needy according to the evangelical precept. This precept binds so gravely that, on the day of judgment, an account will be demanded in a special manner concerning its fulfillment, according to the words of Christ Himself. (Matt. 25.) (Encyclical Rerum novarum.)

X. The poor, in turn, must not blush at their poverty or disdain the charity of the rich, having in view above all Jesus the Redeemer, who, though able to be born amid riches, made Himself poor in order to ennoble poverty and enrich it with incomparable merits for Heaven. (Encyclical Rerum novarum.)

XI. Capitalists and workers themselves can contribute greatly to the solution of the labor question by institutions ordered to furnish opportune assistance to the needy and to draw the two classes together and unite them with one another. Such are mutual-aid societies, the many private insurance associations, patronages for children, and above all corporations of arts and trades. (Encyclical Rerum novarum.)

XII. Toward this end Christian popular action, or Christian Democracy, with its many and varied works, is especially directed. This Christian Democracy must be understood in the sense already authoritatively declared, which, being most remote from that of Social Democracy, has as its basis the principles of the faith and of Catholic morals, and above all the principle of not injuring in any manner the inviolable right of private property. (Encyclical Graves de communi.)

XIII. Moreover, Christian Democracy must never involve itself in politics, nor must it ever serve parties and political ends: this is not its field. Rather, it must be a beneficent action in favor of the people, founded upon natural right and the precepts of the Gospel. (Encyclical Graves de communi; Instruction of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.) Christian democrats in Italy must abstain entirely from participating in any political action, which in present circumstances, for reasons of the highest order, is forbidden to every Catholic. (Instruction cited.)

XIV. In discharging its functions, Christian Democracy is under the strictest obligation to depend upon ecclesiastical authority, rendering full subjection and obedience to the Bishops and to those who represent them. It is not meritorious zeal or sincere piety to undertake even things beautiful and good in themselves when they have not been approved by one's own Pastor. (Encyclical Graves de communi.)

XV. In order that such Christian-democratic action may have unity of direction in Italy, it must be directed by the Work of Catholic Congresses and Committees. This Work, by so many years of praiseworthy labors, has deserved well of the Holy Church, and to it Pius IX and Leo XIII of holy memory entrusted the office of directing the general Catholic movement, always under the auspices and guidance of the Bishops. (Encyclical Graves de communi.)

XVI. Catholic writers, in everything that touches religious interests and the action of the Church in society, must submit fully, in intellect and will, like all the other faithful, to their Bishops and to the Roman Pontiff. Above all, they must guard against anticipating the judgments of the Apostolic See concerning any grave subject. (Instruction of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.)

XVII. Christian-democratic writers, like all Catholic writers, must submit to the prior censorship of the Ordinary all writings which concern religion, Christian morality, and natural ethics, by force of the Constitution Officiorum et munerum (art. 41). Moreover, according to the same Constitution (art. 42), ecclesiastics, even when publishing writings of a merely technical character, must first obtain the consent of the Ordinary. (Instruction of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.)

XVIII. They must also make every effort and every sacrifice so that charity and concord may reign among them, avoiding every insult or reproach. When causes of disagreements arise, instead of publishing anything in the newspapers, they must have recourse to ecclesiastical authority, which will provide according to justice. Then, when reproved by that same authority, they are to obey promptly, without evasions and without making public complaints; except, in the proper manner and when the case requires it, for recourse to the higher authority. (Instruction of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.)

XIX. Finally, Catholic writers, in defending the cause of the proletarians and the poor, must guard against employing language which can inspire aversion among the people toward the higher classes of society. They are not to speak of claims and justice when the matter concerns mere charity, as was explained above. Let them remember that Jesus Christ willed to unite all men by the bond of reciprocal love, which is the perfection of justice and which carries the obligation to labor for mutual good. (Instruction of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.)

We, of Our own motion and certain knowledge, by Our Apostolic authority renew the aforesaid fundamental norms in every part, and command that they be transmitted to all Catholic Committees, Circles, and Unions of whatever nature and form. Such societies must keep them posted in their meeting places and reread them often in their assemblies. We further command that Catholic newspapers publish them in full and declare that they observe them, and that they in fact observe them religiously; otherwise, let them be gravely admonished, and if, after being admonished, they do not amend, they shall be interdicted by ecclesiastical authority.

Since, moreover, words and vigor of action avail nothing unless they are constantly preceded, accompanied, and followed by example, the necessary characteristic which must shine forth in all the members of any Catholic Work is openly to manifest the faith by holiness of life, purity of morals, and scrupulous observance of the laws of God and of the Church. And this because it is the duty of every Christian, and then also so that “he who is against us may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of us” (Titus 2:8).

From these Our solicitudes for the common good of Catholic action, especially in Italy, We hope, with the divine blessing, for abundant and happy fruits.

Given at Rome, at Saint Peter's, on December 18, 1903, the first year of Our Pontificate.

PIUS X, POPE.