13.
As you know, venerable brothers, there are many seeds of public disorder in the
midst of human society. They are like fires scattered here and there, fires
which threaten a terrible conflagration. First among them is the worker
question, which preoccupies civil authorities. They search for ways to face the
imminent dangers, to block the way for sectarians who seek at every occasion to
profit from public disorder. They also try to block reforms which work for the
great detriment of the state. It is amazing how human society can profit from
the work of the Church's ministers in these cases. We have been able to observe
this in the conflagrations and catastrophes which have afflicted past times. In
effect, the priests have almost daily contact with the lower classes by virtue
of their ministry. They are accustomed to conversing familiarly and intimately
with them and know thoroughly the labours and the sorrows of the people from
this class. They see clearly their wounded hearts; drawing suitable aids and
arguments from religious sources, they are able to give consolation and
remedies to the weak in spirit. They thus lessen the present evils, revive
broken strength, and restrain minds hurtling toward seditious plots.
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