Today, 1 May, is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker -- foster father of Our Lord, husband of Our Lady, carpenter from Nazareth, and patron of the universal Church.
This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1956, and recalls, in particular, St. Joseph as the humble and competent workman and carpenter. This being "May Day," there is no better answer to the virulent falsehoods of Marxism and communism than the example of St. Joseph.
St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus, by Guido Reni, ca. 1635.
For more on this magnificent saint, the foster father of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, you might note:
Old Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Joseph
Catholic Saints Info: St. Joseph
The Popes, the Successors of St. Peter, have had much to say about communism, socialism, capitalism, and human labor. I would recommend especially these gems:
Pope Leo XIII: RERUM NOVARUM (On Capital & Labor),
1891
3.
In any case we clearly see, and on this there is general agreement, that some
opportune remedy must be found quickly for the misery and wretchedness pressing
so unjustly on the majority of the working class: for the ancient workingmen's
guilds were abolished in the last century, and no other protective organization
took their place. Public institutions and the laws set aside the ancient religion. Hence,
by degrees it has come to pass that working men have been surrendered, isolated
and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the greed of unchecked
competition. The mischief has been increased by rapacious usury, which,
although more than once condemned by the Church, is nevertheless, under a
different guise, but with like injustice, still practiced by covetous and
grasping men. To this must be added that the hiring of labor and the conduct of
trade are concentrated in the hands of comparatively few; so that a small
number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the teeming masses of the
laboring poor a yoke little better than that of slavery itself.
4. To remedy these wrongs the socialists,
working on the poor man's envy of the rich, are striving to do away with
private property, and contend that individual possessions should become the
common property of all, to be administered by the State or by municipal bodies.
They hold that by thus transferring property from private individuals to the
community, the present mischievous state of things will be set to rights,
inasmuch as each citizen will then get his fair share of whatever there is to
enjoy. But their contentions are so clearly powerless to end the controversy
that were they carried into effect the working man himself would be among the
first to suffer. They are, moreover, emphatically unjust, for they would rob
the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter
confusion in the community.
40. The working man, too, has interests in which
he should be protected by the State; and first of all, there are the interests
of his soul. Life on earth, however good and desirable in itself, is not the
final purpose for which man is created; it is only the way and the means to
that attainment of truth and that love of goodness in which the full life of
the soul consists. It is the soul which is made after the image and likeness of
God; it is in the soul that the sovereignty resides in virtue whereof man is
commanded to rule the creatures below him and to use all the earth and the
ocean for his profit and advantage. "Fill the earth and subdue it; and
rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living
creatures that move upon the earth." In this respect all men are equal;
there is here no difference between rich and poor, master and servant, ruler
and ruled, "for the same is Lord over all." No man may with impunity
outrage that human dignity which God Himself treats with great reverence, nor
stand in the way of that higher life which is the preparation of the eternal
life of heaven. Nay, more; no man has in this matter power over himself. To
consent to any treatment which is calculated to defeat the end and purpose of
his being is beyond his right; he cannot give up his soul to servitude, for it
is not man's own rights which are here in question, but the rights of God, the
most sacred and inviolable of rights.
41. From this follows the obligation of
the cessation from work and labor on Sundays and certain holy days. The rest
from labor is not to be understood as mere giving way to idleness; much less
must it be an occasion for spending money and for vicious indulgence, as many
would have it to be; but it should be rest from labor, hallowed by religion.
Rest (combined with religious observances) disposes man to forget for a while
the business of his everyday life, to turn his thoughts to things heavenly, and
to the worship which he so strictly owes to the eternal Godhead. It is this, above
all, which is the reason and motive of Sunday rest; a rest sanctioned by God's
great law of the Ancient Covenant -- "Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath
day,'' and taught to the world by His own mysterious "rest" after the
creation of man: "He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He
had done.”
45. Let the working man and the employer
make free agreements, and in particular let them agree freely as to the wages;
nevertheless, there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient
than any bargain between man and man, namely, that wages ought not to be
insufficient to support a frugal and well behaved wage-earner. If through
necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accept harder conditions because
an employer or contractor will afford him no better, he is made the victim of
force and injustice. In these and similar questions, however -- such as, for
example, the hours of labor in different trades, the sanitary precautions to be
observed in factories and workshops, etc. -- in order to supersede undue
interference on the part of the State, especially as circumstances, times, and
localities differ so widely, it is advisable that recourse be had to societies
or boards such as We shall mention presently, or to some other mode of
safeguarding the interests of the wage-earners; the State being appealed to,
should circumstances require, for its sanction and protection.
46. If a workman's wages be sufficient to
enable him comfortably to support himself, his wife, and his children, he will
find it easy, if he be a sensible man, to practice thrift, and he will not
fail, by cutting down expenses, to put by some little savings and thus secure a
modest source of income. Nature itself would urge him to this. We have seen
that this great labor question cannot be solved save by assuming as a principle
that private ownership must be held sacred and inviolable. The law, therefore,
should favor ownership, and its policy should be to induce as many as possible
of the people to become owners.
Pope Pius XI: QUADRAGESIMO ANNO (On Reconstruction of the Social Order), 1931
44. But to come down to
particular points, We shall begin with ownership or the right of property.
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, you know that Our Predecessor of happy
memory strongly defended the right of property against the tenets of the
Socialists of his time by showing that its abolition would result, not to the
advantage of the working class, but to their extreme harm. Yet since there are
some who calumniate the Supreme Pontiff, and the Church herself, as if she had
taken and were still taking the part of the rich against the non-owning workers
- certainly no accusation is more unjust than that - and since Catholics are at
variance with one another concerning the true and exact mind of Leo, it has seemed
best to vindicate this, that is, the Catholic teaching on this matter from
calumnies and safeguard it from false interpretations.
45. First, then, let it
be considered as certain and established that neither Leo nor those theologians
who have taught under the guidance and authority of the Church have ever denied
or questioned the twofold character of ownership, called usually individual or
social according as it regards either separate persons or the common good. For
they have always unanimously maintained that nature, rather the Creator
Himself, has given man the right of private ownership not only that individuals
may be able to provide for themselves and their families but also that the
goods which the Creator destined for the entire family of mankind may through
this institution truly serve this purpose. All this can be achieved in no wise
except through the maintenance of a certain and definite order.
46. Accordingly, twin
rocks of shipwreck must be carefully avoided. For, as one is wrecked upon, or
comes close to, what is known as "individualism" by denying or
minimizing the social and public character of the right of property, so by
rejecting or minimizing the private and individual character of this same
right, one inevitably runs into "collectivism" or at least closely
approaches its tenets. Unless this is kept in mind, one is swept from his
course upon the shoals of that moral, juridical, and social modernism which We
denounced in the Encyclical issued at the beginning of Our Pontificate. And, in
particular, let those realize this who, in their desire for innovation, do not
scruple to reproach the Church with infamous calumnies, as if she had allowed
to creep into the teachings of her theologians a pagan concept of ownership
which must be completely replaced by another that they with amazing ignorance
call "Christian."
72. In determining the amount of the wage, the condition of a business
and of the one carrying it on must also be taken into account; for it would be
unjust to demand excessive wages which a business cannot stand without its ruin
and consequent calamity to the workers. If, however, a business makes too
little money, because of lack of energy or lack of initiative or because of
indifference to technical and economic progress, that must not be regarded a
just reason for reducing the compensation of the workers. But if the business
in question is not making enough money to pay the workers an equitable wage
because it is being crushed by unjust burdens or forced to sell its product at
less than a just price, those who are thus the cause of the injury are guilty
of grave wrong, for they deprive workers of their just wage and force them
under the pinch of necessity to accept a wage less than fair.
117. We make this pronouncement: Whether considered as a doctrine, or
an historical fact, or a movement, Socialism, if it remains truly Socialism,
even after it has yielded to truth and justice on the points which we have
mentioned, cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because
its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth.
120. If Socialism, like all errors, contains some truth (which,
moreover, the Supreme Pontiffs have never denied), it is based nevertheless on
a theory of human society peculiar to itself and irreconcilable with true
Christianity. Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory
terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.
Pope Pius XI: DIVINI REDEMPTORIS (On Atheist Communism), 1937
Pope St. John Paul II, Laborem Exercens (On Human Labor), 1981
19….It should also be
noted that the justice of a socioeconomic system and, in each case, its just
functioning, deserve in the final analysis to be evaluated by the way in which
man's work is properly remunerated in the system. Here we return once more to
the first principle of the whole ethical and social order, namely, the principle of the common use of
goods. In every system,
regardless of the fundamental relationships within it between capital and
labour, wages, that is to say remuneration
for work, are still a practical means whereby the vast majority of
people can have access to those goods which are intended for common use: both
the goods of nature and manufactured goods. Both kinds of goods become
accessible to the worker through the wage which he receives as remuneration for
his work. Hence, in every case, a just wage is the concrete means of verifying the justice of the whole socioeconomic system
and, in any case, of checking that it is functioning justly. It is not the only
means of checking, but it is a particularly important one and, in a sense, the
key means.
This means of checking
concerns above all the family. Just remuneration for the work of an adult who
is responsible for a family means remuneration which will suffice for
establishing and properly maintaining a family and for providing security for
its future. Such remuneration can be given either through what is called a family wage-that is, a single
salary given to the head of the family fot his work, sufficient for the needs
of the family without the other spouse having to take up gainful employment
outside the home-or through other
social measures such as
family allowances or grants to mothers devoting themselves exclusively to their
families. These grants should correspond to the actual needs, that is, to the
number of dependents for as long as they are not in a position to assume proper
responsibility for their own lives.
Experience confirms that
there must be a social
re-evaluation of the mother's role, of
the toil connected with it, and of the need that children have for care, love
and affection in order that they may develop into responsible, morally and
religiously mature and psychologically stable persons. It will redound to the
credit of society to make it possible for a mother-without inhibiting her
freedom, without psychological or practical discrimination, and without
penalizing her as compared with other women-to devote herself to taking care of
her children and educating them in accordance with their needs, which vary with
age. Having to abandon these tasks in order to take up paid work outside the
home is wrong from the point of view of the good of society and of the family
when it contradicts or hinders these primary goals of the mission of a mother.
In this context it should
be emphasized that, on a more general level, the whole labour process must be
organized and adapted in such a way as to respect the requirements of the
person and his or her forms of life, above all life in the home, taking into
account the individual's age and sex. It is a fact that in many societies women
work in nearly every sector of life. But it is fitting that they should be able
to fulfil their tasks in
accordance with their own nature, without
being discriminated against and without being excluded from jobs for which they
are capable, but also without lack of respect for their family aspirations and
for their specific role in contributing, together with men, to the good of
society. The true advancement
of women requires that labour
should be structured in such a way that women do not have to pay for their
advancement by abandoning what is specific to them and at the expense of the
family, in which women as mothers have an irreplaceable role.
Pope St. John Paul II: Centesimus Annus
(On the 100th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum), 1991
44. Pope Leo XIII was aware of the need for a sound theory of the State in order to ensure the normal
development of man's spiritual and temporal activities, both of which are
indispensable. For this reason,
in one passage of Rerum
novarum he presents the
organization of society according to the three powers — legislative, executive
and judicial — , something which at the time represented a novelty in Church
teaching. Such an ordering
reflects a realistic vision of man's social nature, which calls for legislation
capable of protecting the freedom of all. To that end, it is preferable that
each power be balanced by other powers and by other spheres of responsibility
which keep it within proper bounds. This is the principle of the "rule of
law", in which the law is sovereign, and not the arbitrary will of
individuals.
In modern times, this concept has been opposed by
totalitarianism, which, in its Marxist-Leninist form, maintains that some
people, by virtue of a deeper knowledge of the laws of the development of society,
or through membership of a particular class or through contact with the deeper
sources of the collective consciousness, are exempt from error and can
therefore arrogate to themselves the exercise of absolute power. It must be
added that totalitarianism arises out of a denial of truth in the objective
sense. If there is no transcendent truth, in obedience to which man achieves
his full identity, then there is no sure principle for guaranteeing just
relations between people. Their self-interest as a class, group or nation would
inevitably set them in opposition to one another. If one does not acknowledge
transcendent truth, then the force of power takes over, and each person tends
to make full use of the means at his disposal in order to impose his own
interests or his own opinion, with no regard for the rights of others. People
are then respected only to the extent that they can be exploited for selfish
ends. Thus, the root of modern totalitarianism is to be found in the denial of
the transcendent dignity of the human person who, as the visible image of the
invisible God, is therefore by his very nature the subject of rights which no
one may violate — no individual, group, class, nation or State. Not even the
majority of a social body may violate these rights, by going against the
minority, by isolating, oppressing, or exploiting it, or by attempting to
annihilate it.91
45. The culture and praxis of totalitarianism also involve
a rejection of the Church. The State or the party which claims to be able to
lead history towards perfect goodness, and which sets itself above all values,
cannot tolerate the affirmation of an objective
criterion of good and evil beyond
the will of those in power, since such a criterion, in given circumstances,
could be used to judge their actions. This explains why totalitarianism
attempts to destroy the Church, or at least to reduce her to submission, making
her an instrument of its own ideological apparatus.92
Furthermore, the totalitarian State tends to absorb within
itself the nation, society, the family, religious groups and individuals
themselves. In defending her own freedom, the Church is also defending the
human person, who must obey God rather than men (cf. Acts 5:29), as well as
defending the family, the various social organizations and nations — all of
which enjoy their own spheres of autonomy and sovereignty.
46. The Church values the democratic system inasmuch as it
ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees
to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those
who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate.93 Thus she cannot encourage the
formation of narrow ruling groups which usurp the power of the State for
individual interests or for ideological ends.
Authentic democracy is possible only in a State ruled by
law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person. It requires
that the necessary conditions be present for the advancement both of the
individual through education and formation in true ideals, and of the
"subjectivity" of society through the creation of structures of
participation and shared responsibility. Nowadays there is a tendency to claim
that agnosticism and sceptical relativism are the philosophy and the basic
attitude which correspond to democratic forms of political life. Those who are
convinced that they know the truth and firmly adhere to it are considered
unreliable from a democratic point of view, since they do not accept that truth
is determined by the majority, or that it is subject to variation according to
different political trends. It must be observed in this regard that if there is
no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and
convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history
demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly
disguised totalitarianism.
16. That is why pastors
must look after the quality and the content of catechesis and formation which
should always present the 'whole message of salvation' and the imperatives of
true liberation within the framework of this whole message.
17. In this full presentation of
Christianity, it is proper to emphasize those essential aspects which the
"theologies of liberation" especially tend to misunderstand or to
eliminate, namely: God and true man; the sovereignty of grace; and the true
nature of the means of salvation, especially of the Church and the sacraments.
One should also keep in mind the true meaning of ethics in which the
distinction between good and evil is not relativized, the real meaning of sin,
the necessity for conversion, and the universality of the law of fraternal
love. One needs to be on guard against the politicization of existence which,
misunderstanding the entire meaning of the Kingdom of God and the transcendence
of the person, begins to sacralize politics and betray the religion of the
people in favor of the projects of the revolution.
May Saint Joseph intercede for us, for workers, for families, and for for the conversion of socialists!
Live well!
Live well!
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