Pius XII, in his Christmas message of 1939, outlined a five-point programme for peace which has been acclaimed by thinking men the world over. Catholic Action finds its programme indicated in the fourth and fifth points of the Pope's proposal. In his fourth point, as a means to order in the world, the Pope proposes justice and charity. He wants not a League of Nations but a league of logic and law and love. Where rights are clear, duties are equally clear; and justice demands the rights be respected and duties enforced. Where rights are obscure, duties are doubtful; and in this case only human benevolence and Christian charity can serve the cause of peace.
In his last point, the Pope insists that peace will not endure without a solid motive. He appeals, therefore, to the conscience of the' world, to ihe sense of responsibility of the leaders of nations. It is only when statesmen are convinced that agreements between nations have a biding force, that law is not merely a convenience but an obligation, that we can hope for a durable peace, Here, then, is a programme that calls for action. That Catholic Action must really be action and not merely something passive, is clearly brought out by the following words of Pope Pius XI: "Catholic Action will not please certain timid souls, who, though living good lives, are so at-lached to their habitual quiet and so afraid of every innovation that they believe it is quite sufficient to pray. because God knows best how to defend the faith and humiliate His enemies, and make the Church triumphant. But these good people, whom I would call optimists, will wait in vain for society to re-christianize itself simply by the prayers of the good. It is necessary to join prayer with action,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.