This is part 8 of a series on Catholic Action, the seventh is on Charity.
Thus far, we have been speaking about Catholic Action in broad lines. We have seen the nature of Catholic Action, some of its ends, its attributes, etc. Now, we need to descend further into its particulars. We have seen that Catholic Action is not only Action, but also Action which is organized. So, how is this organization supposed to look.
As St. Pius X said, “even as Catholic Action has its own proper nature and end, so it must have its proper organization, unique, disciplined, and able to co-ordinate all other Catholic forces.” (Letter to Cardinal Segura)
It is not optional for Catholic Action to be organized, it is organized by its very nature. To be an organization requires a few things. It can be summed up thus, an organization is a voluntary union of several individuals ordered towards the same end. An organization requires that there be a unity of several wills working together for the same purpose.
It is important to note this idea of order towards an end. Each individual expends his proper energies in the task of achieving the same end, yet each in his own way. Thus, this work must be coordinated. As you may remember above, when we look at an Apostolate, we see that each member has his own immediate end. Yet, each of their energies are united as coordinated insofar as they combine their energies towards the same common end.
The Church has consecrated this idea of organization into particular voluntary societies with the notion of a right. We have a right to use all those lawful means necessary for and useful in protecting our rights and carrying out our duties. Now, the organization of men into particular voluntary societies for the ends of Catholic Action is a necessary and useful means for carrying out Catholic Action. Therefore, in the truest sense, man possesses the right and duty to organize in such a way. There is no state on earth who can suppress this right.
The utility and efficacy of such an organization should be obvious to everyone who considers the matter. To organize is not simply to aggregate forces, it is to multiply forces. To have a number of individuals with their own proper talents and powers to come together is to create a sum that is greater than any one of its parts. This organization and co-ordination is not only internal, within the organization itself, but also external, between the various forces of Catholic Action in a society.
It was an error of a former age, especially in Catholic Politics, to assume that the unity of Catholic Action required an internal unity. Thus, they assumed, that there needed to be a single party under a single organizational structure. Yet, this is neither necessary or advisable. A balance must be struck.
First, there needs to be sufficient workers internal to an organization so that it is effective for its particular end.
Second, there cannot be so many workers internal to an organization that it is weakened in carrying out its particular end by the dissipation of energies.
Yet, as we saw above, the coordination of energies, uniting to a single end strengthens the Apostolate. So, in order to have the best of both worlds, both to strengthen by union and to avoid the dissipation of energies, there needs to be co-ordination between various groups, which does not require a single organizational structure.
To give an example that has been relevant recently. Scholastic Answers and Catholic Answers are both organizations that focus on Catholic Apologetics and theological education. Our intermediate end is basically the same. Yet, our immediate or proximate ends are very different. We have different audiences and different goals, thus we use different methods and have a different structure. It would be completely disadvantageous to Catholic Action if either of our groups decided to take upon the immediate end or structure of the other.
Rather, what is best is for there to be some degree of co-ordination between what we do. The immediate end changes the character of the organization and the means of Catholic Action employed. So, it is disastrous to try to be a jack of all trades, smashing together every organization into one massive Catholic Action group.
Yet, we have to be careful of another pitfall, which is to atomize Catholic Action. As we saw above, there is a uniting of energies that takes place in organization that goes beyond mere co-ordination. If we all attempt to atomize Catholic Action so that each man does it on his own, then this also saps our effectiveness. It is good to have an organizational structure with a head who leads and guides members through their immediate ends to an intermediate end. So, a balance between all these considerations must be struck by prudence.
For, even if we are to have great masses of people, without organization and co-operation in achieving our ends, it would be absolutely nothing. As Pius XI put it, “without union, even the most generous forces are wasted, and provide but a small percentage of the great fruit they could produce.”
This leads us to another set of fundamental considerations. We have seen the nature, necessity, and ends of Catholic Action, now it is time to consider the relations of Catholic Action, to the Hierarchy, Clergy, Politics, and the Economy.
First, the hierarchy. The hierarchy has the power and authority from Christ himself to teach and govern the flock. This hierarchy expresses itself at a number of different levels, everywhere from the Pope himself to the pastor of the parish.
Laymen have a two-fold duty towards this hierarchy, to learn and obey. This takes place in different ways depending on the character of the specific apostolate. For example, the educational apostolate has a much more direct and immediate dependence on the hierarchy and its explicit authorization than the media apostolate. Generally, in the words of St. Pius X, this dependence is one of the “counsel and supreme direction of ecclesiastical authority.” This is called indirect dependence on the Church. Clearly, there are other Apostolates that come under a more direct dependence, such as, e.g., the apostolate of education or the parochial apostolate.
It is the duty of all to attentively listen to the hierarchy to learn what the marching orders are from them at each and every level. It is in this way that we can come to understand what the Church specifically desires from us in Catholic Action. Yet, unlike those acts done by the Hierarchy directly, the Lay Apostolate is something that is directed and coordinated by laymen who are in indirect dependence on the guidance and leadership of the hierarchy. This is called a subordinate direction.
According to the older parlance, it is actually the decree of relation to the hierarchy that distinguishes the lay apostolate (which is a more general term) from Catholic Action (which is a more particular term), the latter manifesting a greater degree of structural and organizational dependence on the hierarchy. Although, today the two terms are usually used in an interchangeable way, taking Catholic Action in the broad sense of the Lay Apostolate.
It can be difficult to understand how these two authorities in an Apostolate relate to one another, yet, if we carefully consider the nature of the Lay Apostolate, it becomes clear. The Lay Apostolate is something that is in the practical order. Those things in the practical order require us to act in concrete circumstances on basis of certain principles. For example, we know the principle that we should not murder. Now, someone is breaking into our house. Would it be murder to kill that person? This is an executive action in the practical order. When it comes to this executive action in the practical order, it is the lay director or coordinator who has the proper and direct competence. It is the layman who is thrust into the temporal order and lives within it, intimately understanding it. The hierarchy gives us those principles and general direction, but it is the job of the lay director to apply those principles into practical action on the basis of concrete circumstances.
As an analogy, we can think of the building of a house. There are three levels of worker in the building of the house. At the highest level, you have the architect. The architect is responsible for drawing up the blueprint of the house and gives general direction. At the lowest level, you have the laborers. The laborers get the work done. Yet, intermediately, you have the foremen. The foremen are meant to make decisions of the practical order, who works on what part of the house, when it gets done, how it gets done, etc. The architect has a primordial and hands off approach, but the foremen are the ones who make the decisions on the building of the house itself.
This is the relationship between the hierarchy and lay directors in Catholic Action. The pastors, bishops, and pope are like architects of Catholic Action, giving us general guidance and direction, pointing at certain aims and giving broad principles. It is the job of the laymen to actually make it happen in the practical order. In fact, this direction is called by some the ‘lay hierarchy’ which is distinguished from the ‘ecclesiastical hierarchy.’
It is necessary and advantageous for the lay apostolate to always stay in union with the hierarchy to ensure the correctness of our action and its continual fruitfulness.
