„Rerum novarum” na tle epoki – jej znaczenie wówczas i dziś

Abstract

The Congress of Vienna (1815) restored ancien regime. The conservatives were opposed by the bourgeoisie, who attempted to release people from the burden of tradition and monarchic absolutism, and to introduce free competition in the economy through the abolition of guild restrictions. It was then that socialism entered history and strove to protect the rapidly increasing working class against economic exploitation (liberalism). The economic crisis in Europe caused revolutionary turmoil among workers, who demanded change of their hopeless situation, which meant social transformations. Revolutionary movements had always resulted from social needs: the bourgeoisie sought influence on political affairs; peasants demanded the abolition of serfdom; while ordinary people wanted freedom from poverty and factory owner rule. Important outbreaks of people’s anger included the July Revolution of 1830, the Spring of Nations in 1848, the workers’ strikes in 1871–1914 and the Russian Revolution of 1905. All this boosted class awareness and subsequent economic crises indirectly helped social-democratic parties grow in prestige and number. They were directed by the International Workingmen’s Association (First International), founded in 1864, whose Statute and Manifesto referred to the 1848 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. “Class struggle leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat” (K. Marx), which will be achieved through revolutionary means, as demonstrated by the October Revolution in Russia in 1917. During the July Revolution, a small group of priests and laypeople (Father H. Lacordaire and Blessed F. Ozanam) understood that social structural reforms were necessary (Father Féicité de Lamenais) since charity actions and moral admonitions did not suffice though ordinary Catholics did not notice the true dimensions of workers’ problems. The secularisation of the intelligentsia and the working class made the Church introduce new forms of pastoral care to activate ordinary believers (catechisation), as a result of which ordinary Catholics strengthened their faith and took greater responsibility for the Church. Moreover, the Church had to take a stand on social issues; therefore, on 19 February 1878 the conclave elected Cardinal J. Perci as Pope Leo XIII (died 1903), who had previously written several pastoral letters related to this issue. After three years of his pontificate, on 15 May 1891 he published his encyclical Rerum Novarum, whereas socialists had received their manifesto in 1848, which demonstrates that the Church lagged far behind in terms of workers’ social problems. Some say the document constituted “a timid attempt by the papacy to grasp the meaning of working class issues and a wish to actively participate in their development,’(R. Aubert). The pope’s voice was significant as the supreme moral authority officially proclaimed workers’ rights and stated the injustice of the liberal system. He rejected capitalism with its principle of unconditional profit at the expense of merit pay as well as socialism with its necessity to conduct revolutionary changes through collective ownership of property. From now on many conscious Catholics began to take active involvement in various social activities. An insight into the present labour market reveals that today’s employee has to cope with almost the same issues as a 19th century worker did. These include unemployment; high food prices; low wages insufficient to provide for the family; high rent rates; and the abuse of workers’ rights by extending their daily working hours without remuneration, making them work on Sundays and on public holidays, leave refusal and reduction, non-acceptance of trade unions and serious restrictions on their operations. Those are just some of the ailments of present-day reality.