Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/665

 CHARITY

60.3

CHARITY

mates, and 1054 other charitable institutions. The Report of the Superior Council of New York for the year 1905 informs us that there were in the United States 443 conferences of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, whose combined membership was 7,423. During that year they assisted 19,193 families and expended 233.69S dollars.

If the charitable work of the Church since the Reformation seems to compare unfavourably with her record before the Middle Ages, and during the latter half of the Middle Ages, and if in some places and times it seems to have lacked energy, foresight, vigilance, and progressiveness — these appearances are almost wholly explained by the obstacles that have confronted her during that period. The most serious hindrance was, of course, the confiscation of monastic and other church properties from which the poor had been relieved. This occurred not merely in places where the Reformation triumphed, but in Catholic countries also, as in France and Spain during the eighteenth century, and in Italy during the nine- teenth. Civil legislation in general has likewise been frequently obnoxious. A great part of the Church's energies both in Catholic and non-Catholic lands has been absorbed in defending the Faith. The policy of state support of the poor through taxation, which has everywhere been increasing its scope, has not only diminished the field of Catholic charity, but has in- flicted serious injury upon the spirit of charity among all classes. The trend of political economy, especially in its popularized forms, during the greater part of the nineteenth century, was strongly against charitable activity, on the ground that compulsory self-reliance would in practically all cases best develop strength of character and capacity for self-support (cf. Warner, American Charities, ch. i). Finally, the materialistic theory of life, according to which the supreme good is abundant and diversified satisfaction of the senses, has produced an immense increase of self-love and selfishness, and a profound diminution of love of God and effective love of the neighbour. While these de- plorable conditions have been most general among persons outside the Church, they have seriously af- fected a large proportion of the Catholic populations everywhere. Surveying the whole historical field of Catholic charity, we are justified in saying that, in proportion to her resources, the Church met the various forms of distress of every age more adequately than any other agency or system ; that her shortcom- ings in charitable activity were due to the nature of the peoples and civilizations, and to the political, social, economic, and religious conditions in which she worked; that the instances of heroic charity which stand to her credit surpass by an immeasurable dis- tance all instances of that class outside her fold; that the individual gifts to charity which she has inspired are likewise Bupereminent; and that, had she been permitted to reorganize and develop her charities without the interference of the Reformation, the amount of social distress, and of social injustice as well, would be much smaller than it is to-day.

Place of Catholic Ch.vhity in Present So- ciety. — Before the Reformation all charities were administered by the Church; to-day most of them are under the control of the State. Nevertheless the field still open to ( 'atholic charity is neither small nor likely to become smaller. The limitations and de- fects of public charity are well known: it is almost inevitably more mechanical and less sympathetic than private charity; it is more wasteful, not only because it is les- carefully administered, but also on accounl of the readiness of many persons to claim public relief as a right: and, inasmuch as it supplants appeals to the individual conscience by the imposition of a tax, it inflicts a mortal injury upon the spontaneity of rharity and the sense of personal responsibility towards the unfortunate. The inferiority of state-adminis-

tered charity, so far as outdoor relief is concerned, has received striking illustration in the achievements of Dr. Chalmers in Glasgow more than half a century ago, in the experiment of substituting voluntary for public relief in Whitechapel and Stepney, London, and in the policy of refusing public outdoor relief which prevails in Brooklyn and Philadelphia (cf. Bliss, Encyclopedia, s. v. Chalmers: Mackay, The State and Charity, pp. 164 sq. : and Warner, Ameri- can Charities, pp. 162-176). The general principles underlying the whole problem of state charity would seem to be these: instead of assuring every person a living, the State ought so to regulate economic condi- tions that every person able to obtain a livelihood be- labour should have that opportunity; that it should have charge of certain extreme forms of distress, such as virulent disease and insanity; and that in general it should co-operate with voluntary charitable agen- cies, and stand ready to relieve all serious want which is not met by them. At any rate, students and work- ers in the field of charity seem to be practically unani- mous in the belief that the scope of private charity ought to be extended rather than restricted. In this field Catholic charity should occupy the foremost place, and do by far the largest and most effective work. The principles of Catholic charity, concerning the ownership and use of goods, the true equality ana brotherhood of men, spontaneity in giving, and the motives for giving, are supremely great. Especially is this true of the motives. The neighbour ought to be assisted out of love of God. As the highest form of this is to love God for His own sake, so the highest form of fraternal charity is that which is motived by the thought that the neighbour is the creature, the image, the child of God, and the brother of Christ. Inasmuch as this motive points to a worth and sacred- ness in the individual which is higher than anything that he possesses when considered in himself, it is more effective and more comprehensive than the motive which is restricted to love of the neighbour for his own sake. Many needy individuals are in themselves repellent rather than sympathy-compell- ing. While the second form of fraternal charity for love of God. namely to obtain the spiritual rewards which God has annexed to this form of good works, is lower than the first, it is entirely natural, entirely praiseworthy, and has the approval of Christ Him- self. This motive appeals to multitudes who would rarely be able to rise to the higher one, and is occa- sionally effective in the ease of the least selfish. Warner declares that, "of all the churches the one that still induces the largesf amount of giving in pro- portion to the means of those who give is no doubt the Roman Catholic" (op. cit.. p. 316). To a large extent this fact is due to the Church's practice of insisting upon both motives, and thus touching all the springs of charity in man's complex nature. At the same time it is a patent fact that large numbers of men and women devote themselves and their means to works of charity solely out of love for the neighbour regarded in himself. This motive is like- wise in harmony with the promptings of human nature. It is particularly effective in lofty souls who, lacking any positive religious faith, find in works of charily satisfaction of the desire to serve and worship something outside of themselves. \\ bile (he number of such persons will in all probability be largely aug- mented in the near future, neither in numbers nor in achievements will they be worthy of comparison with those who come under the influence of the motives supplied by Christianity.

I be second advantage possessed by Catholics in the work of charity lies in their ecclesiastical organi- zation. Relief can be i tidi viduali /.<■< 1 by means of the parish, and centralized by means of the diocese. In many places Catholics are. moreover, co-operating with non-Catholics through the charity organization