Continuing Encyclical
on
Social Reconstruction
by
POPE PIUS XI
May 15, 1931
                                                                                        
Remedies

    The remedies for these great evils We have exposed in the second part of the present Encyclical, where We explicity dwelt upon their Doctrinal aspect; it will, therefore, be sufficient to recall them briefly here.  Since the present economic regime is based mainly upon capital and labor, it follows that the principles of right reason and Christian social philosophy regarding Capital, Labor and their mutual cooperation must be accepted in theory and reduced to practice.  In the first place, due consideration must be had for the double character, individual and social, of capital and labor, in order that the dangers of individualism and collectivism be avoided.  The mutual relations between Capital and Labor must be determined according to the laws of the strictest justice, called commutative justice, supported however by Christian Charity.  Free competition and still more economic domination must be kept within just and definite limits, and must be brought under the effective control of the public authority, in matters appertaining to this latter's competence.  The public institutions of the nations must be such as to make the whole of human society conform to the common good, i. e., to the standard of social justice.  If this is done, the economic system, that most important branch of social life, will necessarily be restored to sanity and right order.

    Since the days of Leo XIII, Socialism too, the great enemy with which his battles were waged, has under-gone profound changes, no less than economics.  At that time Socialism could fairly be termed a single system, which defended certain definite and mutually coherent doctrines.  These days it has in the main become divided into two opposing, and often bitterly hostile camps, neither of which, however has abandoned the principle peculiar to socialism, namely, opposition to the Christian Faith.

a)   The more violent section: Communism
    One section of Socialism has undergone approximately the same change through which, as We have described, the capitalistic economic regime has passed; it has degenerated into Communism.  Communism teaches and pursues a twofold aim: Merciless class warfare and complete abolition of private ownership; and this it does, not in secret and by hidden methods, but openly, frankly, and by every means, even the most violent.  To obtain these ends, Communists shrink from nothing and fear nothing; and when they have attained to power, it is unbelievable, indeed it seems portentous, how cruel and inhuman they show themselves to be.  Evidence for this is the ghastly destruction and ruin with which they have laid waste immense tracts of Eastern Europe and Asia, while their antagonism and open hostility to Holy Church and to God Himself are, alas! but too well-known and proved by their deeds.  We do not think it necessary to warn upright and faithful children of the Church against the impious and nefarious character of Communism.  But We cannot contemplate without sorrow the heedlessness of those who seem to make light of these imminent dangers, and with stolid indifference allow the propagation far and wide of those doctrines which seek by violence and bloodshed the destruction of all society.  Even more severely must be condemned the foolhardiness of those who neglect to remove or modify such conditions as exasperate the minds of the people, and so prepare the way for the overthrow and ruin of the social order.

b)   The more moderate section which has retained the name of Socialism
    The other section, which has retained the name of Socialism is much less radical in its views.  Not only does it condemn recourse to physical force; it even mitigates and moderates to some extent class warfare and the abolition of private property if it does not reject them entirely.  It would seem as if Socialism were afraid of its own principles and of the conclusion drawn therefrom by the Communists, and in consequence were drifting towards the Truth which Christian Tradition has always held in respect; for it cannot be denied that its programs often strikingly approach the just demands of Christian social reformers.

    Class warfare, provided it abstains from enmities and mutual hatred, is changing gradually to an honest discussion of differences, based upon the desire of social justice.  If this is by no means the blessed social peace which we all long for, it can be and must be an approach towards the mutual cooperation of vocational groups.  The war declared against private ownership has also abated more and more in such a way that these days it is not really the possession of the means of production which is attacked, but that type of social rulership, which, in violation of all justice has been seized and usurped by the owners of wealth.  This rulership in fact belongs, not to the individual owners, but to the State.  If these changes continue, it may well come about that gradually the tenets of mitigated Socialism will no longer be different from the program of those who seek to reform human society according to Christian prinicples.
    For it is rightly contended that certain forms of property must be reserved to the State, since they carry with them an opportunity of domination too great to be left to private individuals without injury to the community at large.
    Just demands and desires of this kind contain nothing opposed to Christian Truth, nor are they in any sense peculiar to Socialism.  Those therefore who look for nothing else, have no reason for becomng Socialists.

    It must not be imagined however that all the Socialist sects or factions which are not Communist have in fact or in theory uniformly returned to this reasonable position.  For the most part they do not reject class warfare and the abolition of property, but merely are more moderate in regard to them.  Now, when false principles are thus mitigated and in some sense waived, the question arises, or is unwarrantably proposed in certain quarters, whether the prnciples of Christian Truth also could not be somewhat moderated and attenuated, so as to meet Socialism, as it were, halfway upon common ground.  Some are enticed by the empty hope of gaining in this way the Socialists to our cause.  But such hopes are vain.  Those who wish to be Apostles amongst the Socialists should preach the Christian Truth whole and entire, openly and sincerely, without any connivance with error.  If they wish in Truth to be heralds of the Gospels, let their endeavor be to convince Socialists that their demands, in so far as they are just, are defended much more cogently by the principles of Christian Faith, and are promoted much more efficaciously by the power of Christian Charity.
    But what if, in questions of class war and private ownership, Socialism were to become so mitigated and amended, that nothing reprehensible could any longer be found in it?  Would it by that very fact have laid aside its character of hostility to the Christian Religion?  This is a question which holds many minds in suspense; and many are the Catholics who, realizing clearly that Christian principles can never be either sacrificed or minimized, seem to be raising their eyes towards the Holy See, and earnestly beseeching Us to decide whether or not this form of Socialism has retracted so far its false doctrines that it can now be accepted without the loss of any Christian principle, and be baptized into the Church.  In Our Fatherly solicitude We desire to satisfy these petitions, and We pronounce as follows:  Whether Socialism be considered as a doctrine, or as a historical fact, or as a movement, if it really remain Socialism, it cannot be brought into harmony with the Dogma of the Catholic Church, even after it has yeilded to Truth and Justice in the points We have mentioned; the reason being that it conceives human society in a way utterly alien to Christian Truth.

    For, according to Christian Doctrine, man, endowed with a social nature, is placed here on earth in order that he may spend his life in society, and under an Authority ordained by God; that he may deveolp to the full all his faculties to the Praise and Glory of his Creator; and that, by fulfilling faithfully the duties of his station, he may attain to temporal and eternal happiness.  Socialism, on the contrary, entirely ignorant of or unconcerned about this sublime end both of individuals and of society, affirms that living in community was instituted merely for the sake of the advantages which it brings to mankind.
    Goods are produced more efficiently by a suitable distribution of labor than by the scattered efforts of individuals.  Hence the Socialists argue that economic production, of which they see only the material side, must necessarily be carried on collectively, and that because of this necessity men must surrender and submit themselves wholly to society with a view to the production of wealth.  Indeed, the possession of the greatest possible amount of temporal goods is esteemed so highly, that man's higher goods, not excepting liberty, must, they claim, be subordinated and even sacrificed to the exigencies of efficient production.  They affirm that the loss of human dignity, which results from these socialized methods of production, will be easily compensated for by the abundance of goods produced in common and accruing to the individual, who can turn them at his will to the comforts and culture of life.  Society, therefore, as the Socialist conceives it, is, on the one hand, impossible and unthinkable without the use of compulsion of the most excessive kind; on the other it fosters a false liberty, since in such a scheme no place is found for true social authority, which is not based on temporal and material advantages, but descends from God alone, the Creator and last end of all things. (Encycl. Divinum illud, June 29, 1881.)

    If, like all errors, Socialism contains a certain element of truth (and this the Sovereign Pontiffs have never denied), it is nevertheless founded upon a doctrine of human society peculiarly its own, which is opposed to True Christianity.  "Religious Socialism," "Christian Socialism" are expressions implying a contradiction in terms.  No one can be at the same time a sincere Catholic and a true Socialist.

    All that We have thus far laid down and established by Our Sovereign Authority bears application also to a certain new Socialist phenomenon, hitherto little known, but these days common to many sections of Socialism.  Its main aim is the formation of minds and manners. Under the appearance of friendship, it attracts little children in particular and attaches them to itself, though its activity extends to all the people, to make of them convinced Socialists, upon whom to build society modeled on Socialistic principles.
    In Our Encyclical Divini Illius Magistri, (Encycl. Divini illius Magistri, December 31, 1929.)  We have expounded at length the true principles on which Christian education rests and the end which it pursues; the contradiction between these and the actions and aims of cultural Socialism is so clear and evident as to require no comment.  Nevertheless, the formidable dangers which this form of Socialism brings in its train seem to be ignored or under-estimated by those who are little concerned to resist it with strength and zeal, as the gravity of the situation demands.  It is a duty of OurPastoral Office to warn these men of the grave danger which threatens.  Let all bear in mind that the parent of this cultural Socialism was Liberalism, and that its offspring will be Bolshevism.

    This being so, you can understand, Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, with what grief We perceive, in certain countries particularly, not a few of Our children, who, while still preserving, as We are convinced, their True Faith and good will, have deserted the camp of the Church and passed over to the ranks of Socialism.  Some openly boast of its name and profess Socialistic doctrines; others, either through indifference or even almost in spite of themselves, join associations which, in theory or in fact, are Socialist.
    In Our Paternal solicitude, therefore, We have meditated and sought to understand what can have been the reason of their going so far astray; and We seem to hear what many of them allege in excuse:  The Church and those professing attachment to the Church favor the rich and neglect workingmen and have no care for them; the Socialist ranks.
    What a lamentable fact, Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, that there have been, and that there are even now some who, while professing the Catholic Faith, are well-nigh unmindful of that Sublime Law of Justice and Charity which binds us not only to give each man his due, but to succor our brethren as Christ Our Lord Himself; worse still, that there are those who out of greed for gain, do not shame to oppress the workingman.  Indeed there are some who even abuse Religion itself, cloaking their own unjust imposition under its name, that they may protect themselves against the clearly just demands of their employees.  We shall never desist from gravely censuring such conduct.   Such men are the cause that the Church, without deserving it, may have the appearance and be accused of taking sides with the wealthy, and of being little moved by the needs and sufferings of the disinherited.  That these appearances and accusations are underserved and unjust, the whole history of the Church clearly shows; the very Encyclical, the Anniversary of which We are celebrating, affords the clearest evidence that these calumnies and contumelies have been most unfairly cast upon the Church and upon her teaching.

    But We are far indeed from being exasperated by these injustices or dejected by Our Pastoral sorrow.  We have no wish to drive away or repel Our children who have been so unhappily deceived, and who are wandering so far from the paths of Truth and Salvation.  On the contrary, We invite them with all possible solicitude to return to the maternal bosom of the Church.  God grant that they listen to Our voice!  God grant that whence they set out, thither they may return, to their father's house; that where their true place is, there they may remain, amongst the ranks of those who, zealously following the directions promulgated by Leo XIII and Solemnly repeated by Ourselves, unremittingly endeavor to reform society according to the mind of the Church on a firm basis of social justice and social Charity.  Let it be their firm persuasion that nowhere, even on earth, can they find an ampler happiness than in company with Him, Who being rich became poor for our sakes, that through His poverty we might become rich; (2 Cor. 8, 9.)  Who was poor and in labors from His youth; Who invites to Himself all who labor and are burdened, that He may refresh them bounteously in the Love of His Heart. (Cf. Luke, 12, 8.)  Who, in fine, without any respect for persons, will require more of him to whom more has been given, (Cf. Matth. 7, 24.)  and will render to every man according to his works. (Matth. 11, 28.)

    However, if We examine matters diligently and thoroughly, We shall perceive clearly that this longed-for social reconstruction must be preceded by a profound renewal of the Christian spirit, from which multitudes engaged in industry in every country have unhappily departed.  Otherwise, all Our endeavors will be futile, and Our social edifice will be built, not upon a rock, but upon shifting sand. (Matth. 16, 27.)
    We have passed in review, Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, the state of the modern economic world, and have found it suffering from the greatest evils.  We have investigated anew Socialism and Communism, and have found them, even in their mitigated forms, far removed from the Precepts of the Gospel.
    "And if society is to be healed now" -- We use the words of Our Predecessor -- "in no way can it be healed save by a return to Christian life and Christian institutions," (Encycl. Rerum novarum, Para. 22.)  for Christianity alone can apply an efficacious remedy for the excessive solicitude for transitory things, which is the origin of all vices.  When men are fascinated and completely absorbed in the things of the world, it alone can draw away their attention and raise it to Heaven.  And who will deny that this remedy is not urgently needed by society?

    For most men are affected almost exclusively by temporal upheavals, disasters and ruins.  Yet if we view things with Chritian eyes, as we should, what are they all in comparison with the ruin of souls?  Nevertheless, it may be said with all truth that these days the conditions of social and economic life are such, that vast multitudes of men can only with great difficulty pay attention to that one thing necessary, namely their eternal salvation.
    Constituted Pastor and Protector of these innumerable sheep by the Prince of Pastors Who Redeemed them by His Blood, We can scarcely restrain Our tears when We reflect upon the dangers which threaten them.  Our Pastoral Office, moreover, reminds Us to search constantly, with Paternal solicitude, for means of coming to their assistance, appealing to the unwearying zeal of others who are bound to this cause by justice and Charity.  For what will it profit men that a more prudent distribution and use of riches make it possible for them to gain even the whole world, if thereby they suffer the loss of their own souls? (Cf. Matth. 16, 28.)  What will it profit to teach them sound principles in economics, if they permit themselves to be so swept away by selfishness, by unbridled and sordid greed, that "hearing the Commandments of the Lord, they do all things contrary"? (Cf. Judges, 2, 17.)

    The fundamental cause of this defection from the Christian Law in social and economic matters, and of the apostasy of many workingmen from the Cathoic Faith which has resulted from it, is the disorderly affection of the soul, a sad consequence of Original Sin, the source of these and of all other evils.  By Original Sin the marvelous harmony of man's faculties has been so deranged that now he is easily led astray by low desires, and strongly tempted to prefer the transient goods of this world to the lasting goods of Heaven.  Hence comes that unquenchable thirst for riches and temporal possessions, which at all times has impelled men to break the Law of God and trample on the rights of their neighbor; but the condition of the economic world today lays more snares than ever for human frailty.  For the uncertainty of economic conditions and of the whole economic regime demands the keenest and most unceasing straining of energy on the part of those engaged therein; and as a result, some have become so hardened against the stings of conscience as to hold all means good which enable them to increase their profits, and to safeguard against sudden changes of fortune the wealth amassed by unremitting toil.  Easy returns, which an open market offers to any one, lead many to interest themselves in trade and exchange, their one aim being to make clear profits with the least labor.  By their unchecked speculation prices are raised and lowered out of mere greed for gain, making void all the most prudent calculations of manufacturers.  The regulations legally enacted for corporations, with their divided responsibility and limited liability, have geven occasion to abominable abuses.  The greatly weakened accountability makes little impression, as is evident, upon the conscience.  The worst injustices and frauds take place beneath the obscurity of the common name of a corporative firm.  Boards of Directors proceed in their unconscionable methods even to the violation of their trust in regard to those whose savings they administer.  In the last place must still be mentioned the unscrupulous but well-calculated speculation of men who, without seeking to answer real needs, appeal to the lowest human passions.  These are aroused in order to turn their satisfaction into gain.
    A stern insistence on the moral law, enforced with vigor by civil authority, could have dispelled or perhaps averted these enormous evils.  This, however, was too often lamentably wanting.  For at the time when the new social order was beginning, the doctrines of rationalism had already taken firm hold of large numbers, and an economic science alien to the true moral law had soon arisen, whence it followed that free rein was given to human avarice.
    As a result, a much greater number than ever before, solely concerned with adding to their wealth by any means whatsoever, sought their own selfish interests above all things; they had no scruple in committing the gravest injustices against others.
    Those who first entered upon this broad way which leads to destruction, (Cf. Mattth. 7, 13.)  easily found many imitators of their iniquity because of their manifest success, their extravagant display of wealth, their derision of the scruples of more delicate consciences and the crushing of more cautious competitors.
    With the leaders of business abandoning the true path, it is not surprising that in every country multitudes of workingmen, too, sank in the same morass; all the more so, because very many employers treated their workmen as mere tools, without any concern for the welfare of their souls, indeed, without the slightest thought of higher interests.  The mind shudders if We consider the frightful perils to which the morals of workers (of boys and young men particularly), and the virtue of girls and women are exposed in modern factories; if We recall how the present economic regime and above all the disgraceful housing conditions prove obstacles to the family tie and family life; if We remember the insuperable difficulties placed in the way of a proper observance of the Holy Days.  How universally has the true Christian spirit become impaired; which formerly produced such lofty sentiments even in uncultured and illiterate men!  In its stead, man's one solicitude is to obtain his daily bread in any way he can.  And so bodily labor, which was decreed by Providence for the good of man's body and soul even after Original sin, has everywhere been changed into an instrument of strange perversion: for dead matter leaves the factory ennobled and transformed, where men are corrupted and degraded.

a)   Economic life must be inspired by Christian Principles
    For this pitiable ruin of souls, which if it continue, will frustrate all efforts to reform society, there can be no other remedy than a frank and sincere return to the Teaching of the Gospel.  Men must observe anew the  Precepts of Him Who alone has the words of Eternal Life, (Cf. John, 6, 70.)  words which, even though Heaven and earth be changed, shall not pass away. (Cf. Matth. 24, 35.)  All those versed in social matters demand a rationalization of economic life which will introduce sound and true order.  But this order, which We Ourselves desire and make every effort to promote, will necessarily be quite faulty and imperfect, unless all man's activities harmoniously unite to imitate and, as far as is humanly possible, attain the marvelous unity of the Divine Plan.  This is the perfect order which the Church preaches, with intense earnestness, and which right reason demands: which places God as the first and Supreme End of all created activity, and regards all created goods as mere instruments under God, to be used only in so far as they help towards the attainment of our Supreme End.  Nor is it to be imagined that remunerative occupations are thereby belittled or deemed less consonant with human dignity.  On the contrary, we are taught to recognize and reverence in them the manifest Will of God the Creator, Who placed man upon earth to work it and use it in various ways in order to supply his needs.  Those who are engaged in production are not forbidden to increase their fortunes in a lawful and just manner: indeed it is just that he who renders service to society and develops its wealth should himself have his proportionate share of the increased public riches, provided always that he respects the Laws of God and the rights of his neighbor, and uses his property in accord with faith and right reason.  If these principles be observed by all, everywhere and at all times, not merely the production and acquisition of goods, but also the use of wealth, now so often uncontrolled, will within a short time be brought back again to the standards of equity and just distribution.  Mere sordid selfishness, which is the disgrace and the great crime of the present age, will be opposed in very deed by the kindly and forcible law of Chritian moderation, whereby man is commanded to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Justice, confiding in God's liberality and definite promise that temporal goods also, so far as he has need of them, will be added unto him. (Cf. Matth. 6, 33.)

b)   The law of Charity must operate
    Now, in effecting this reform, Charity "which is the bond of perfection", (Coloss. 3, 14.)  must play a leading part.  How completely deceived are those inconsiderate reformers, who zealous only for commutative justice, proudly disdain the help of Charity.  Clearly Charity cannot take the place of justice unfairly withheld, but, even though a state of things be pictured in which every man receives at last all that is his due, a wide field will nevertheless remain open for Charity.  For, justice alone, even though most faithfully observed, can remove indeed the cause of social strife, but can never bring about a union of hearts and minds.  Yet this union, binding men together, is the main principle of stability in all institutions, no matter how perfect they may seem, which aim at establishing social peace and promoting mutual aid.  In its absence, as repeated experience proves, the wisest regulations come to nothing.  Then only will it be possible to unite all in harmonious striving for the common good, when all sections of society have the intimate conviction that they are members of a single family and children of the same Heavenly Father, and further, that they are "one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another", (Rom. 12, 5.)  so that "if one member suffer anything, all members suffer with it", (1 Cor. 12, 26.)  then the rich and others in power will change their former negligence of their poorer brethren into solicitous and effective regard; will listen with kindly feeling to their just complaints, and will readily forgive them the faults and mistakes they possibly make.  Workingmen too, will lay aside all feelings of hatred or envy, which the instigators of social strife arouse so skillfully.  Not only will they cease to feel weary of the position assigned them by Divine Providence in human society; they will become proud of it, well aware that every man by doing his duty is working usefully and honorably for the common good, and is following in the Footsteps of Him, Who, being in the form of God, chose to become a Carpenter among men, and to be known as the Son of a Carpenter.

    Because of this new diffusion throughout the world of the Gospel spirit, which is a spirit of Christian moderation and of universal Charity, We confidently look forward to that complete and much desired renewal of human society, and to "the Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ", to which We firmly resolved at the very beginning of Our Pontificate to devote all Our care and all Our Pastoral solicitude. (Encycl. Ubi arcano, December 23, 1922.)  You, Venerable Brethren, who by Ordinance of the Holy Ghost rule with Us the Church of God, (Acts, 20, 28.)  are laboring strenuously and with admirable zeal in all parts of the world, not exclusive of the Sacred Missions among the pagans, towards this same end of capital importance and necessity today.  Receive your well-deserved meed of praise: and with you all those, of the Clergy and laity, whom We rejoice to see daily taking part in this great work and affording valuable help, Our beloved sons devoted to Catholic Action, who with extraordinary zeal aid Us in the solution of social problems, in so far as the Church in virtue of her Divine Institution has the right and the duty to concern herself with them.  With repeated insistence We exhort all these in the Lord to spare no labor and be overcome by no difficulty, but daily more to take courage and be valiant. (Cf. Deut. 31, 7.)  The task We propose to them is truly difficult for well do We know that many are the obstacles to be overcome on either side, whether amongst the higher classes of society or the lower.  Still, let them not lose heart, nor in any way allow themselves to be diverted by any art from their purpose.  To face stern combats is the part of a Christian: and to endure labor is the lot of those, who, as good soldiers of Christ, (2 Tim. 2, 3.)  follow closely in His Footsteps.
    Relying therefore solely on the assistance of Him Who "will have all men be saved", (1 Tim. 2, 4.)  let us devote all our energies to helping those unhappy souls who are turned away from God; let us withdraw them from the temporal cares in which they are too much involved, and teach them to aspire with confidence to things that are eternal.  At times, indeed, this will be easier to accomplish than appears at first sight: for if in the depths of even the most abandoned hearts, there lurk, like sparks beneath the ashes, spiritual forces of unexpected strength -- a clear testimony of a "naturally Christian soul" -- how much more then must these abide in the hearts of the many who largely through ignorance and unfavorable surroundings have wandered into error!
    For the rest, the associations of the workingmen themselves provide glad signs of coming social reconstruction.  To the great joy of Our heart We discern amongst them dense masses of young workers who listen readily to the call of Divine Grace and strive with splendid zeal to win their fellows to Christ.  No less praise is due to those leaders of workingmen's organizations who, sacrificing their own interests, and anxious only for the good of their companions, strive with prudence to bring their just demands into harmony with the prosperity of their entire vocational group, nor by any obstacle or misgiving do they permit themselves to be deterred from this noble task.  Further, many young men, destined soon by reason of their talents or their wealth to hold distinguished places in the foremost ranks of society, are studying social problems with growing earnestness.  These youths encourage the fairest hopes that they will devote themselves wholly to social reforms.

    Present circumstances therefore, Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, indicate clearly the course to be followed.  These days, as more than once in the history of the Church, we are confronted with a world which in large measure has almost fallen back into paganism.  In order to bring back to Christ these whole classes of men who have denied Him, we must gather and train from amongst their very ranks auxiliary soldiers of the Church, men who know their mentality and their aspirations, and who with kindly fraternal Charity will be able to win their hearts.  Undoubtedly the first and immediate apostles of the workingmen must themselves be workingmen, while the apostles of the industrial and commercial world should themselves be employers and merchants.  It is your chief duty, Venerable Brethren, and that of your Clergy, to seek diligently, to select prudently, and train fittingly these lay apostles, amongst workingmen and amongst employers.
    No easy task is here imposed upon the Clergy, wherefore all Candidates for the Sacred Priesthood must be adequately prepared to meet it by intense study of social matters.  It is particularly necessary, however, that they whom you specially select and devote to this work should show themselves endowed with a keen sense of justice ready to oppose with real manly constancy unjust claims and unjust actions; that they avoid every extreme with consummate prudence and discretion; above all, that they be thoroughly imbued with the Charity of Christ, which alone has power to incline men's hearts and wills firmly and gently to the laws of equity and justice.  This course, already productive of success in the past, we must follow now with alacrity.
    Further, We earnestly exhort in the Lord the beloved sons who are chosen for this task to devote themselves whole-heartedly to the formation of the men entrusted to them.  In the execution of this most Priestly and apostolic work, let them make opportune use of the powerful resources of Christian training, by instructing youth, by founding Christian associations, by forming study-circles on Christian lines.
    Above all, let them hole in high esteem and employ with diligence for the benefit of their disciples the spiritual exercises, a most precious means of personal and of social reform, as We said in Our Encyclical Mens Nostra.  These exercises We declared in express terms to be most useful for the laity in general and especially for workingmen, and We warmly recommended them; for in the school of the spirit not only are excellent Christians formed, but real apostles of every state of life are trained and enkindled with the fire of the Heart of Christ.  From that school they will go forth, as the Apostles from the Cenacle in Jerusalem, strong in Faith, unconquerable in steadfastness under trials, aflame with zeal, eager only for the spread in every way of the Kingdom of Christ.
    And in truth, these days the world has sore need of valiant soldiers of Christ, who strain every thew and sinew to preserve the human family from the dire havoc which would befall it, were the teachings of the Gospel to be flouted, and a social order permitted to prevail, which spurns no less the laws of nature than those of God.  For herelf the Church of Christ, built upon the solid Rock, has nothing to fear, for she knows that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her: (Matth. 16, 18.)  and the experience of centuries has taught her that storms, even the most violent pass, leaving her stronger and triumphantly victorious.  But her maternal bosom cannot but be stirred at the thought of the countless ills which tempests of the kind would occasion to so many thousands; at the thought, above all, of the immense spiritual evils which would ensue, entailing the eternal ruin of so many souls redeemed by the Blood of Christ.
    No stone, then, must be left unturned to avert these grave misfortunes from human society; towards this one aim we must tend all Our effort and endeavor, supported by assiduous and fervent prayers to God.  For, with the assistance of Divine Grace, the destiny of the human family lies in Our hands.

                                                                                                    POPE PIUS XI

    As Peter was given a new name so does the new Supreme Pontiff become known by another.  After the election he extends his first blessing to the people -- a Benediction which was not given in the open for years until Pope Pius XI established the custom.
    The Coronation, one of the most magnificent of Vatican Ceremonies, takes place shortly after the election.  With the Pope carried high in a golden chair and attended by brilliantly attired chamberlains and soldiers, the Coronation Mass is an unrivaled spectacle of beauty, dignity, and ancient pageantry.  At the Coronation, in the midst of the pomp and splendor, a master of ceremonies recites in Latin: "Holy Father, thus does the glory of the world pass away."  As the first Cardinal Deacon places the three-crowned Tiara on the head of the Pope, he says: "Receive the three-crowned Tiara, and know that thou are the Father of Princes and Kings, the Pastor of the earth, and Vicar of Jesus Christ, to Whom be honor and glory forever.  Amen."
    The CORONATION of the Pope Pius XII took place on the balcony of St. Peter's in March 1939.  (From the book "The Vatican and Holy Year" by Stephen S. Fenichell & Phillip Andrews. -- 1950 edition.)

    (Tradition is an equal part [along with the Bible] of the Authoritative Teaching of the Church -- From the book "The Immaculate Way" by Brian Farrely, S.S.M. -- 1963 edition.)

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