The Church and charity


THE CATHOLIC HOUR ^3 7t5DT

THE CHURCH AND
CHARITY

BY

REV. WILLIAM A. O'CONNOR,
Archdiocesan Supervisor of Charities, Chicago, Illinois

The third in a series of nine addresses on THE CHURCH IN ACTION,
delivered in the Catholic Hour, broadcast by the National Broadcasting Com-
pany, in cooperation with the National Council of Catholic Men, on Septem-
ber 19, 1943.

National Council of Catholic Men
Washington, D. C.



THE CHURCH
The Cross is the hallowed sign of

the love of Christ for men. It is

a symbol as well of His command-

ment of charity which is to unite

all men, brothers to one another

and brothers to Christ, in the love

of God. The Cross points upward

to God. But its arms are an in-

tegral part of the Cross itself. The

arms reach out to bring all men
into corporate union of brother-

hood and submission to God, where-

in is the hope of salvation for man
and for society.

Apart from the love of God there
is no bond to unite all men as
brothers. Blood, birth, race, na-

tion, caste, condition, divide from
the rest of men those they join to-
gether. Nor can there be true love
of God without love and service of
our neighbor. Under Christ's pre-
cept we bear a personal responsi-
bility towards our fellowman. He
is our neighbor. He is the brother
of Christ, Who will accept our ser-
vice to one another as done to Him-
self.

This is the charity of Christ.

This is the timeless and universal
teaching of His Church. It is not a
fanciful aspiration. It is God’s

mandatory way of living for men.
It is the commandment of charity
which Christ enjoined at the Last
Supper: “A new commandment I
give unto you: That you love one

DwefcRRer’

AND CHARITY
another, as I have loved you, that

you also love one another. By this
shall all men know that you are my
disciples, if you have love one for

another” ( John 13:34-35).

The charity of Christ has power

to remake the world as it remade

the first Christians. The love of

man for man in God can yet bring
the world peace with justice, a sur-

cease of rancor, freedom without

abuse, order without despotism.

Inseparably joined to the Chris-

tian obligation to love all men in
God is the duty to love and care

for the poor which the Church has

faithfully taught by word and,

more forcibly, by her example. The

compulsion which is upon the

Church to show forth Christ to

every age engages her energies and

resources in the service of the poor.

Christ loved the poor. He chose
poverty for Himself. He chose the
poor for His friends. He went
about among them doing good. He
had “compassion on the multitude”

{Mark 8:2). By inspiring her
children to give their personal ser-

vice to the poor and to support her

works of charity, the Church is

faithful to her mission which, Pope

Leo XIII says, “essentially consists

in the sanctifying of souls and the

doing of good to humanity“ (Au

Milieu )

.



The notable distinction of Cath-

olic charity is not found in many
centuries of service to the poor,

nor in hundreds of properties and

buildings dedicated to charity, nor

in the rich variety of the Church's

provision for the care of the needy.

The shining ornaments of the

Church's charity are the many who
are served in their need and afflic-

tion and the spirit of dedication in

those who serve them.

The charity of the Church is

pre-eminently the work of our reli-

gious Sisterhoods. Without our

Sisters, who have left all things to
follow after Christ, the Church

could not begin to perform her

great mission of charity. Like

Christ, the Catholic religious has

deliberately chosen poverty for her-

self. She serves Christ daily in

serving His brethren, the poor.

There is nothing spectacular about

her quiet, beneficient work. She

seems, as Cardinal Newman says,
to “have determined, through God's

mercy, not to have the praise or

popularity that the world can give,

but ... To love to be unknown' ".

She has not chosen an easy life.

Long hours of the day and often
late into the night, she washes and
cooks and sews, welcomes and shel-

ters the homeless and the abandon-
ed, comforts the helpless aged, con-

soles the incurably sick, protects

and guides the children in her
charge, gives strength to the weak,

courage to the despairing, sympa-

thy and understanding to the af-

flicted. She knows weariness and

fatigue. Yet hers is a life of deep

peace and lasting joy, born of for-

getfulness of self and devoted

thoughtfulness of others in the ser-

vice of Christ. In her humility,

her diligence, her devotion, and her

joy she is the expression of the

spirit of Catholic charity.

In our own country and in our

time, zeal and ardor for the cause

of charity have set in motion one

of the most momentous forces with-

in the Church. For more than

thirty years bishops, priests, mem-
bers of religious communities, men
and women of every condition, have
studied, planned, and worked to-

gether to improve, to perfect, and

to extend the work of Catholic

charity. Their united and cooper-

ative effort merits the title of the

Catholic Charity Movement in the

United States. The spirit of devo-

tion, the intense vigor, and the

solid accomplishment of this move-

ment are as noteworthy as its pro-

gressive character, its courageous

self-appraisal, and its dissatisfac-

tion with mediocrity in the service

of the poor.

The most faithful achievements

of the Catholic Charity Movement

are the organization throughout the

country of diocesan charity offices

and the founding and development

of the National Conference of



Catholic Charities and of Catholic

schools of social work.

The Bishop in each diocese is

responsible for the efficient admin-

istration of the charitable activit-

ies of the Church. The Bishop is

called, “The Father of the Poor.”

During the last twenty-five years

the Bishops of the United States

have organized central offices to co-

ordinate and to supervise varied

and multiple works of charity, to

determine deficiencies, and to de-

velop what was wanting. Their

characteristic and now familiar

name, The Catholic Charities,

points to a common source of in-

spiration. It is an interesting and

arresting thought that this modern

and American developmentsan of-

fice for charity through which the

Bishop fulfills his grave obligation

to care for the poor, is so close a

counterpart to the system in the

early Church.

The National Conference of Cath-

olic Charities, the first fruit of the

Catholic Charity Movement, has

grown to be its voice and the in-

strument of its functioning. In the

National Conference there are

brought together and shared the

traditions, the experience, the anxi-

eties, and the hopes of Catholic

Charities. Through the National

Conference and in the Catholic

schools of social work Catholic

thought and ideals of charity find

national expression, and study is

fostered of the social sciences and

of the modern developments of im-

proved methods in caring for the

poor. All that is found good and

true in what is new is eagerly and
quickly incorporated into the prac-

tice of Catholic charity and into

the training of those to whom Cath-
olic Charities owes so great a debt,

the Catholic laymen and women
who have chosen charity for their
life work.

Our agencies and institutions of
charity are necessary and indispen-

sable in meeting urgent and desper-

ate needs. But it is their place in

the field of Catholic charity to sup-

plement and complete, never to re-

place, that neighborly service of

personal, individual charity which

in country-side, town, or city is the

American way, and in the parish is

the Catholic way, of relieving the

wants of the poor. Neighborly as-

sistance given from a sense of per-
sonal responsibility to the unfor-

tunate is the most fundamental and

cherished form of Christian char-
ity. We know best and love easiest
what is close to us. In the full
flowering of Catholic charity in

this country every parish will be a

center of charitable activity. It

will have a deep Catholic sense of

parish responsibility for its own
poor and will foster and express

the religious life of its people

through its own works of charity.
On that blessed day not only indi-



vidual members of the parish but

organized groups of parishioners

will stand ready to serve the poor,

gladly giving their time and ser-

vice, but above all, themselves. This

is the ideal of Catholic charity.

The founders of the Catholic

Charity Movement were, for the

greater part, members of the Soci-

ety of St. Vincent de Paul, the

noble organization of Catholic men

who follow Christ into the homes of

the poor, which Frederic Ozanam

founded in Paris over a century

ago and which spread rapidly over

the whole Catholic world. The Soci-

ety has but one aim, to sanctify its

members through their personal

service to the poor. In the United

States more than twenty-five thous-

and members of the Society are

actively serving the poor in their

parishes, visiting the sick in hos-

pitals, visiting prisoners in jails

and in many other ways giving
themselves generously and unobtru-

sively to the friendless and neglect-

ed. Today is Ozanam Sunday. The

third Sunday of September has

been especially dedicated by the

Society of St. Vincent de Paul to

earnest prayer that in God's wise

and holy providence, Frederic Ozan-

am may be raised to the altars of
the Church as a Saint, a model for

the Catholic layman, whose person-

al service of the poor will bring

him to holiness of life by the very

path which Christ loved to walk.

Thoughtful men and women are

seriously concerned that private

charity and welfare associations of

a voluntary character may not con-
tinue to enjoy in our beloved coun-

try that sympathetic welcome, gen-

erous support, and position of hon-

or which they have received in the

past. A growing tendency of the
State to exercise an exclusive mon-

opoly as it enters into every field

of welfare is fraught with danger

to the best interests of our coun-

try and to the free exercise of reli-

gion. Our American and demo-

cratic tradition favors and supports

a benevolent and sympathetic part-

nership of private and public care

for the poor. Unquestionably there

is an obligation on the State to pro-

mote the welfare of its citizens and

especially of the poor. But the

State exercises this important

function of government in fullest

and most harmonious accord with

American tradition when it encour-
ages self help and the assistance of

private citizens and voluntary as-

sociations before acting directly to

bring public aid. Public welfare

programs should supplement, not

compete with or submerge, private

charity in its traditional fields of

work.

Welfare is not the exclusive con-

cern of government. He is surely
as good a citizen who helps the poor
personally or through private agen-

cies as he who pays taxes collected



for the same purpose. It is un-

seemly that in caring for the poor

rivalry and struggle for place

should develop after so many years
of understanding and cooperation.

Yet a very grave and critical issue

is beginning to emerge which must

be faced.

The dignity and destiny of each

individual person and his relation-

ship as a brother of Christ are reli-

gious concepts fundamental to the

practice of charity. The free exer-

cise of religion includes the free-

dom to practice charity. The de-
fense against every force of the

right and duty of private charity

to serve the poor is a defense of

our American heritage as well as

of the charity of Jesus Christ.

v

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THE CATHOLIC HOUR
1930—Thirteenth Year—1943 -

The nationwide Catholic Hour was inaugurated
on March 2, 1930, by the National Council of Cath-
olic Men in cooperation with the National Broad-
casting Company and its associated stations. Radio
facilities are provided gratuitously by NBC and the
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and produced by NCCM.

The Catholic Hour was begun on a network of
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lic truth on each Sunday of the year (and Good
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A current average of 41,000 audience letters a month,
about twenty per cent of which come from listeners
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