1. CATHOLIC ACTION

Illuminism, rationalism, materialism, and anticlericalism take Christ away from society.  It is necessary to promote a return movement, especially among the people.  Only in unity is there strength and only in organization is unity effective.

Associationism is on the verge of becoming the sole right of the enemies of the Church.  Instead of whining, people must wake up, go out into the open and work, under the leadership of Pope and bishops.

"Jesus Christ was ostracized from society"

Since modern unbelievers are now convinced that not even they can overturn the throne of Jesus Christ, they have thought of confining, within the four walls of the church, this eternal King of souls, this invisible Sovereign of the universe, removing him from all aspects of life, private and public.  They employ every possible trick and have recourse to every possible stratagem to achieve their diabolical goal.  Unfortunately, thanks to the laziness of believers, they have succeeded.

Little by little Jesus Christ was ostracized from schools, ethics, families, and society.  But (...), with Jesus Christ gone, we realized that the soul imparting life to all things had also been removed and that no foundation remained for the scientific, domestic, and social edifice.  We realized we were on the edge of the abyss!

They had said: every school that opens is a jail that closes.  But, as a matter of fact, the enemies of the Church could not find enough convents and castles to contain the ever increasing number of criminals.  They had said: catechism in the schools is an offense against freedom of thought.  So they replaced it with the handbook of the rights of man and then a book of natural obligations in which there is no mention of God.  The result of all this?  They have brought up a bunch of bomb-throwing radicals with whom society will really have to fight the last fight.  They had said: secular science will purify the environment and infuse new blood into the veins of the new generation.  But the statistics of suicides, duels, adulteries, fraudulent bankruptcies, bank robberies, public immorality, and heinous crimes have cut short the joyful hymns extolling the new godless morality.

In our families, the devastation of the bridal chamber, the lost

peace and harmony, rebellious children, have all shown with great eloquence that only the Crucified One can save family life. ¹

"To bring Jesus Christ back to society"

The sight of the abyss before our eyes has made us recoil with horror, and we all instinctively feel the need to return to the holy traditions of our forefathers and mothers.  The blows to the edifice and the dust from the rubble have frightened us, and we all feel the need to bring things back into balance by making Jesus Christ the foundation.

Now the purpose of Catholic action is precisely this: to promote this return movement through an organization that answers the needs of our times.  The need to put Jesus Christ back in the school, in moral behavior, in the family, and in society has by now entered into the consciousness of all good people.

Hence, we have no intention of engaging in politics, as our adversaries would have people think.  We wish, above all, to work for a moral renewal and then to get busy about the legitimate economic concerns and aspirations of the working class especially.  The exploiters of the poor people have made magnificent promises up till now, but they have kept none of them.

They promised bread and justice, and today the people have neither bread nor justice.

Now, it is precisely for these people that we want to organize and expand assistance and mutual aid societies, to promote the development of industry and commerce and to develop the charitable works that are most suited for our time.  Above all, we want respect for the religion of our fathers and mothers and for their wishes.  We want respect for the Lord's Day, for our rights, for the sacred rights of the Church and her Supreme Head, respect for the rights of all.

We want the priesthood to be given its proper respect, young people to grow up with sound principles and good morals, and public offices to be held by upright and God-fearing people.

We want genuine greatness for our country.  Hence we want freedom for righteousness, not for evil; or at least the chance to enjoy as much freedom as evil does.  We want bad literature to stop disseminating errors and spewing blasphemies.  We want public scandals removed and the people no longer fooled and betrayed.

We want to open for every child the book that teaches him or her how to be a Christian and a citizen.  We want to tell the worker that he will never be happy, not even on earth, if he follows the dictates of socialism but that he will have at least a foretaste of real happiness if he follows the dictates of the Gospel.  We want to tell people in power that, unless the Lord protects a country, those who have its fate in their hands will labor in vain.  In a word, we want society to be once again what it really ought to be, that is, Christian: in its laws, institutions, and customs and in its public life. ²

"We must organize, we must unite"

The need for Catholic action is indeed urgent and clear.  But to be effective, this action must be disciplined and concerted.

Yes, we must organize and we must unite because only in unity is there strength.  Unity alone is the secret of victory.

Hence the importance of, and the need for, Catholic associations and parish committees.

I will not repeat what I have often told you before in this regard, publicly and privately, by voice and in writing.  Rather, I will tell you what the Pope desires, for he is the sure interpreter of the will of God (...).

The Pope wants all the parishes in Italy to have their Catholic committee.  This committee must definitely be set up in every parish of the Diocese of Piacenza.  It must not only be set up but, once set up, be kept alive and active.

This time my word to you is not a word of exhortation but of command, and I address it mainly to you, my venerable co-workers in the salvation of souls, because to you especially the Pope solemnly addresses those weighty words: "In the present-day conditions of the Church, priests have to take upon themselves also this task of leading the faithful with their authority; they must do so publicly; they must do so by their example."

I have witnessed your proven filial devotion and perfect docility to the Vicar of Jesus Christ in all things.  I know you will roll up your sleeves, if you have not done so already, and get down to work with energy and determination.

Dearly beloved, let us do away with discussion, hesitation, and fear! ³

"The hour for action has struck"

In every country of the world, the working class makes up the great majority of the population.  To imbue the workers with the essentially peaceful and salutary spirit of Christianity is to save society.

Workers are the favorites of the Church, for in the Carpenter of Nazareth she discerns and venerates her own Founder (...).

I am indeed happy that in some places in our diocese, especially in Piacenza, these Workers' Organizations have been set up.  I beg the Lord to bless the wonderful priests and lay people who have promoted them.  Now I turn to all of you, beloved and venerable confreres, and I repeat that it is my consuming desire that in every parish or, where the parishioners are too few, at least in the more important centers of the vicariates, a Workers' Organization be organized and that it grow in activities, in numbers, and in fellowship (...).

Impatient to fall on its prey, Socialism raves and rants, trying to scare the whole world with its menacing roar!  It is the voice of heaven warning us that the hour for action has struck and that you can no longer lull yourselves into thinking you can save yourselves, your children, and your possession without erecting a solid dike against the impetuous torrent.  And what will this dike be if not a far-reaching, united association of people formed in the school of the Gospel (...)?

Association and Catholic action: these are the characteristics of the true children of the Church in our day; association and action which must have as their aim to endorse all the wishes of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, to restore the necessary freedom to the Church and her Head, as well as greatness, prosperity, and peace to Italy, by making families, communities, schools, laws, the people, and the workers above all, Christian once again (...).

To achieve this goal more readily, it would be very useful for you to have the Parish Committees,  which I have already recommended to you in the past and which, once again, I strongly urge upon you today.  What an immense good they do!  Make every effort to set up these committees in your parishes and get personally involved in them.  God's blessing cannot fail to descend upon institutions blessed by his Vicar!

We must unite!  We must unite!  If all the Italians who have kept the faith were to unite and work together, what great achievements they would attain!

If Parish Committees were to be set up in all Italy and if, instead of

just two thousand committees, as there are at the present time, there were ten thousand ‑-  as many as there are parishes ‑- what marvelous results would accrue to our religion and our country. ⁴

"Catholics are coming out into the open"

In fully closed ranks, Catholics are coming out into the open with their banners proudly gleaming in the sun.  They debate, make plans, take decisions, fight, and work.

And, thank God, this reviving spirit has penetrated even here among us.

The jubilant voices of the participants at the fraternal meetings of Alseno, Bedonia and Chiaravalle are still echoing in my mind.  Thanks to the enthusiasm of some very zealous pastors, we saw several Catholic Committees come to life in a short time.  We too now have our youth clubs, our Sunday oratories, our workers' organizations, and our credit unions.

But let me say it at once and say it clearly: all this is precious little compared with the needs of the present hour. ⁵

"The priest must come out of the church"

We must be deeply convinced that what was good enough in the past is no longer so today.  For new times there must be new ways of doing things; for new evils, new remedies; for new forms of war, new forms of defense.  Today, as I told you before, the priest, the pastor especially, has no choice but to come out of the church if he wants to do something worthwhile within the church.  However, let us be clear: the priest must come out of the church but only after having drawn light and strength from prayer and meditation there.  Let the priest come out of the church but let him keep his eyes always on the church.  Like the sun coming forth from its pavilion, the priest too is to come forth from the church radiant with the light of God and the fire of love that illumines, warms, and engenders life (...).

In our priestly minds and hearts there must be no hatred, no passion, no harsh zeal, no rash outburst against people, only love that suffers, weeps, and grieves over the sins the people commit to their eternal ruin.

It is with these sentiments, venerable brothers, that we must enter the field of Catholic action.  I repeat: we have no choice but to enter there because today this is our principal and essential task.  He who judges otherwise shows himself to be very superficial, very thoughtless, not to say, of little faith!

We must not fool ourselves.  If we do not act, others will act without us and against us.  I could not care less if some people accuse me of ulterior motives and worldly designs.

Some hurled this accusation against Jesus Christ before hurling it against us.  Even though he taught that we should give to Caesar what is Caesar's, Jesus was still called a seducer of the people.  It just is not possible to do one's duty and be at peace with everybody.  You can be sure of that.⁶

"With all my heart I recommend the young people to your care"

Once again, with all my heart I especially recommend the young people to your care.

Once you have admitted the children to First Holy Communion after loving care and preparation, you have surely fulfilled a very serious duty.  But a pastor's responsibility does not end there.  In fact, now is the moment when it becomes heavier, because now is the time when the passions begin to awaken in the heart of a young man or woman.  Now is the moment when error, prejudice, scandal, and the allurements of the world begin to severely test the virtue of the young.  Woe to the pastor who is so careless and heartless as to leave these young people to their own devices!

If at all possible, we must stand at their side.  We must enlighten them, support them, encourage them, and spur them on to goodness, gently holding them close to the Church and to their religious practices.

The best thing to do is to organize a Youth Section alongside the Parish Committee.  Some, even among us, have tried this and have had excellent results.  I urge all of you to follow this example.

Of course, you will run into aggravations, but you will be repaid with great consolations.  If you do not do this, how will you replenish the Committee itself and the other Catholic associations?

To keep these associations flourishing and active, it would help very

much if every dean were to appoint some able priest to give these associations simple conferences several times a year, going from parish to parish in the Vicariate.  Better still, the dean himself might want to take this task himself. ⁷

"Dependence on the shepherds"

If we want our action to be truly Catholic, we must remember to act, at all times and in all things, in a disciplined and orderly way.  Soldiers must not presume to go ahead of their officers.  In our field, especially, discipline is everything.  Without discipline, without that full, strict, and constant dependence on their shepherds, priests can easily fall into an excess of individual zeal, which, in turn, brings about discontent and discord, divides and weakens people of good will, leads astray and disgusts the better people, and corrupts with the disintegrating venom of self-love the reasons for giving orders, as well as for obeying them. ⁸

"Strict dependence on the hierarchical principle"

I want everything to be done in the strictest dependence on the hierarchical principle.  If they want to be instruments of salvation in the hands of God, lay Catholic people must keep to their place.  They are not officers in the Church but soldiers, not teachers but disciples, not shepherds but sheep.  Their eyes should be fixed on the bishops, especially on the Bishop of bishops, the Roman Pontiff, and on no one else.  We do not know Paulinus; we do not know Meletius.  I do not want to hear any ifs, ands, and buts, objections, disagreements, or mental reservations of any kind.  God never blesses works that have not first been blessed by his legitimate representatives.  A parish committee acting against or without the approval of the pastor, a diocesan committee daring to assume the slightest initiative or taking the smallest decision independently of the bishop would ipso facto cease being Catholic and at once incur my denunciation. ⁹

"Two hundred Seventeen Parish Committees"

Count Paganuzzi suggested I send you a brief report on the 4th Regional Meeting of the Catholics of Emilia, held here in Piacenza under my chairmanship on June 14 and 15.  I do so willingly, knowing that Your Holiness will be pleased to receive this report.

Because of the presence of almost all the bishops of the Region and the attendance of so many priests and lay people, the meeting could not have been more successful.

Pursuant to my Pastoral Letter of Oct. 16, 1896 (of which I respectfully submit a copy), in addition to the Youth Sections, the Workers Associations, etc., we organized in our Diocese two hundred seventeen parish committees, all of them well represented at this meeting.  The priests of the city and diocese were also very well represented at the meeting.  In this matter, as in all others, they were truly exemplary and worthy of praise.

Everything went along in peace and harmony, with great order and discipline.  The decisions regarding Catholic Organizations, Decent Literature, Administrative and Political Elections, the establishment and expansion of Rural Banks, etc., were eminently practical and timely.  Even more importantly, they were imbued with a spirit of sincere submission to the bishops, which is so necessary especially in our day and so dear to the heart of Your Holiness. ¹⁰