Social Study Schools Needed

Catholic Social Research

“When a system fails to feed the poor
it is time to look out
for one that does,”
says Archbishop Keating of Liverpool.
And because Archbishop Keating realized
that our modern social order
fails to feed the poor
he founded in Oxford
a Catholic Labor College.
And the Catholic Labor College
conducted in Oxford
has been going on
for the last twenty-five years.
At its last general meeting
Cardinal Bourne declared
that we are badly in need
of Catholic social research.
If there had been more Catholic social
research
Catholics would not now
pass the buck
to the politicians.

School of Social Studies

To found a School of Social Studies,
such was the aim
of Father Patrick Sheely, S.J.
In a School of Social Studies
we would be able to learn
why things are what they are.
In a School of Social Studies
we would be able to learn
how things would be
if they were as they should be.
In a School of Social Studies
we would be able to learn
how a path can be made
from things as they are
to things as they should be.
A School of Social Studies
would give us Catholic Action
based on Catholic Thought
realized in Catholic Institutions.

Putting Patches

Having no School of Social Studies,
we don’t know how to pass
from things as they are
to things as they should be.
Having no School of Social Studies
we have no Catholic social program
based on Catholic social thought.
Having no School of Social Studies,
we try to put patches
to the existing social order
and call it a New Deal.
Having no School of Social Studies.
we let college professors
carry on costly experiments
at the expense of the taxpayers.
Having no School of Social Studies,
we are not occupied
in reconstructing the social order
as the Holy Father wants us to be.

I Agree

I agree with seven Bishops,
three of whom are Archbishops,
that the Communist criticism
of modern rugged individualism
is a sound criticism.
I agree with seven Bishops,
three of whom are Archbishops,
that the main social aim
of the Communist Party
is a sound social aim.
I agree with seven Bishops,
three of whom are Archbishops,
that the Communists are not sound
when they advocate class struggle
in order to realize
their sound social aim.
I agree with the Apostolic Delegate
when he advocates the practice
of the Seven Corporal and Seven Spiritual
Works of Mercy
as the best practical means
of making man human to man.

Personal Sacrifice

To be our brother’s keeper
is what God wants us to do.
To feed the hungry
at a personal sacrifice
is what God wants us to do.
To clothe the naked
at a personal sacrifice
is what God wants us to do.
To shelter the homeless
at a personal sacrifice
is what God wants us to do.
To instruct the ignorant
at a personal sacrifice
is what God wants us to do.
To serve man for God’s sake
is what God wants us to do.

Reconstruction

The Holy Father asks us
to reconstruct the social order.
The social order was once reconstructed
after the fall of the Roman Empire.
The Irish scholars were the leaders
in the reconstruction of the social order
after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Through Round-Table Discussions
scattered all over Europe
as far as Constantinople
the Irish scholars
brought thought to the people.
Through Houses of Hospitality
the Irish scholars
exemplified Christian charity.
Through Fanning Communes
the Irish scholars
made workers out of scholars
and scholars out of workers.