The dream of re-shaping society will bring socialism
“But stranger still, alarming and saddening at the
same time, are the audacity and frivolity of men who call themselves
Catholics and dream of re-shaping society under such conditions, and of
establishing on earth, over and beyond the pale of the Catholic Church,
‘the reign of love and justice’ ... What are they going to produce?
... A mere verbal and chimerical construction in which we shall see,
glowing in a jumble, and in seductive confusion, the words Liberty,
Justice, Fraternity, Love, Equality, and human exultation, all resting
upon an ill-understood human dignity. It will be a tumultuous
agitation, sterile for the end proposed, but which will benefit the
less Utopian exploiters of the people. Yes, we can truly say that the Sillon, its eyes fixed on a chimera, brings Socialism in its train.” (Apostolic Letter Notre Charge Apostolique ["Our Apostolic Mandate"] to the French Bishops, August 25, 1910, condemning the movement Le Sillon) Pope St. Pius X