Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/50

 36 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

Even in the Spanish peninsula, where all characteristically Catholic activities are greatly impeded by the condition of ser- vitude to the state from which the churches of Spain and Portu- gal have suffered for centuries, the new movement is beginning to find a foothold, and is represented, in a mild way, by the Revista Catolica de las Cuestiones Sociales, of Madrid, and the Soluciones Catolicas, of Valencia.

One of the most marked characteristics of the Catholic social movement, as the reader will have already gathered, is the close bond which exists in it between science and action. Much of its vitality is due to the revival of Catholic philosophy, and there are a number of special magazines devoted to this subject, in the French, German, Italian, Hungarian, and other languages, particularly notable among which are the Revue thomiste (Domini- can), of Paris; the Revue nio-scholastique, of the University of Louvain, and the Philosophisches Jahrbuch, the organ of the philo- sophical section of the Gorres-Gesellschaft.

The Catholic theological magazines, of which there are at least a dozen in Germany alone, also contribute largely to the intellectual and theoretical side of the movement. The prin- ciples of Catholic theology and scholastic philosophy are elabo- rated and applied to the social sciences in the scientific societies, congresses, and organizations devoted to this subject ; while in the general Catholic congresses (in which bishops, priests, nobles, and representatives of all classes of the people meet together on equal terms) and organizations for practical social reform they are carried out in active reconstructive work ; and while the greater part of the vast weekly and daily Catholic press, as well as the numerous Catholic periodicals of a general character, on the European continent, contribute more or less directly and earnestly to the propagation of the movement.

It is of interest to note that since 1888 hundreds of Catholic scientific men from all parts of the world have assembled at intervals of three years in the "International Congress of Catho- lic Scientists," which has met successively at Paris, Brussels, and Fribourg, and will hold its sessions at Munich next year. This