« CARITATE CHRISTI COMPULSI ». — Encyclical of Pius XI, dated 3 May 1932, on the grievous calamities that continued to weigh upon the human family (AAS, 24 [1932], pp. 177–94). Shortly before this (encycl. Nova impendet, 2 Oct. 1931), he had invited all men of good heart to unite in a crusade of charity in order to alleviate the harsh consequences of the raging economic crisis. The appeal had been heeded, but had proved insufficient to prevent the worsening of the crisis.
Pius XI pointed out its causes: 1) in the insatiable hunger for gold, the source of selfishness, distrust, inequities, and hatred; 2) in the activity of militant atheism, which, taking advantage of circumstances, was organizing itself socially and seeking to clasp all in a steel grip. Against that infernal campaign, liable to entail the most disastrous consequences even for the economy itself, he urged the adoption of the supernatural, and therefore more effective, means with which Christianity is rich: 1) a crusade of prayers, which bring hearts closer together; 2) expiation and reparation, means suited to restoring the balance overturned by the substitution of violence for law and morality.