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| 66. COMMUNISM AND CATHOLICISM believe.in God and pay Him homage.11 (#72). Our present Holy father, in another context and dealing with a different evil, went even further to solicit the aid of all "men of good will." Under the leadership of these great Pontiffs, our task is to "come out of the foxholes.," abandon the defensive, and pass over to the offensive. The call is for direct participation of the Catholic laity, trained in the ftanner to be suggested presently, in presenting the glorious truths of our Faith to a world which too often knows not the truth. As a general blueprint, the encyclical "On Atheistic Communism" should be the master plan. It is not dated in any important way by the march of events since 1937. Every major item in the subsequent recommendations about social education and social action is contained at least implicitly in this Encyclical. As a special blueprint for American conditions, the article "V7hat About the Hundred Million?" by Rev. James G. Keller, M.M*, in the May 1945 Ecclesiastical Review is stimulating and suggestive. Fr. Keller has circulated reprints of this article, and has discussed his ideas with individual bishops. It is recommended that in any educational program aimed at getting Catholic truth to the American public and as part of that program of counter- ing Communist propaganda by telling the truth about world events, Fr. Keller be asked for specific suggestions and plans. Many of these plans are already contained in the article cited, and we can only refer to it for fuller treat- ment. In brief his program calls for: training some diocesan priests for specialized work, not merely for home missions as he suggests, but also for general liaison work in getting the truth to the hundred million who often are without any religion. His emphasis is on apologetics, but some should be trained for social action, as suggested in many Papal encyclicals. These priests, he notes, could through, the laity work among frur channels; education, communications, personal influence in the community; and labor and government* Of course, his recommendations go far beyond the problem of Communism. But it is doubtful whether any program aimed merely at Communism will be success- ful. Certainly the objectives suggested in "On Atheistic Communism" were much more extensive. To do all this, we must abandon the "foxhole" position of being merely defensive, negative, and critical, and go forth with the supernatural confidence of a St. Paul or a St. Francis Xavier. It is better to make occasional mistakes doing something positive, than to be fighting a perpetual defensive and delaying action. Education of Catholics. Pope Pius XI wrote two major encyclicals on the social question. In "On Reconstructing the Social Order" he outlined Catholic social principles as remedies for world problems. In "On Atheistic Communism" he presented the sa/iie principles as the primary remedy against Communism, in the sense that remedying social injustice removes one of the great lures used by Communists; our interest in the masses of the people will win them to us and away from the Communists; and our trained organizations and our trained laity can counter intelligently Communist organization and Communist propaganda. It is on this authority, as well as on the basis of arguments given in this report, that we emphasize primarily positive programs of social education and social action. Even though the main weapon of American Communism is propaganda for Soviet imperialism, and social justice by itself is not a complete answer, yet individuals trained for positive and dynamic ideals will also be in a position to handle the Communist problem. |