« QUADRAGESIMO ANNO ». — Encyclical of Pope Pius XI commemorating the Rerum novarum (“de ordine sociali instaurando et ad evangelicae legia normam perficiendo,” 15 May 1931).
Its three major divisions deal respectively with the great benefits that have accrued from the encyclical of Leo XIII to the Church, indeed to the whole of human society; with the vindication of its doctrine concerning the social and economic question against certain doubts that have arisen in recent times, and with developing it more fully at one point or another; and finally, after a careful examination of the modern economy and of socialism, with the root of contemporary social malaise and, at the same time, the sole path toward a salutary restoration, namely, the Christian reform of morals.
Having reaffirmed the right and duty to judge with supreme authority concerning social and economic questions, various problems are set forth and their correct solutions indicated. Thus, among other matters, with regard to ownership or the right of property, its individual and social character, the related duties, the powers of the State, and the grounds of acquisition. As for relations between capital and labor, after mentioning the unjust claims of both, the guiding principle of a just distribution is enunciated, and the elevation of the proletariat is encouraged. Concerning a just wage (given that a wage is not unjust by nature), emphasis is placed on three points: the support of the worker and his family, the conditions of the enterprise, and the necessity of the common good. The guiding principle of the economy is then stated: it is constituted by social justice and charity, and not by free competition alone, still less by economic supremacy.
The encyclical examines the changes that have occurred since Leo XIII, both, for example, in the economic order and in the socialist movements, in order to reaffirm the necessity of the renewal of morals, the Christianization of economic life, and the application of the law of charity. Without concealing the difficulties of the undertaking, and while unifying the path to be followed, it recommends the union and cooperation of all good people. V. RERUM NOVARUM.