There are many who profess Catholic Doctrine concerning:

the respect due to society,
the rights of property,
the rights and duties of workers
the relation between capital and labour,
the relation between Church and State,
the rights of Christ Our Redeemer over all men,

but these same many in their words, writings and whole tenor of life behave as if the teaching of Leo XII, Pius X and Benedict XV were no more than a dead letter void of all authority.

(Ubi Arcano.)

These words were among the first published by Pius XI and yet the indictment is still as true to-day, despite all that the Holy Father has done in the last thirteen years to make it inexcusable. Quite obviously the trouble is that the majority of Catholics do not even know that the Church has and propounds a specific social doctrine. And of the small minority which is aware of the existence of the encyclicals Rerum Novarum and Casti Conubii, how many consider these to be enunciations of principles rather than practical instructions?

It remains for the few who have mastered the teaching and applied it to extant conditions to disseminate the precious fruit of their study. The task is indeed herculean and would seem to be too great for early realization but for the signs of active assistance from unexpected sources. The most encouraging of these is the curiosity shown by secular experts; for economists, lawyers and politicians who have been impressed by the claims of Catholic authors are beginning to study the encyclicals in both the old and the new world. Whether they be favourable or otherwise, their reactions should prove of great value to sociology. But it will be some time yet before the result of this interest can be assessed, and meanwhile it is imperative that Catholics of every kind, and clerics in particular, should be increasingly well-informed on this most important topic.