Rerum Novarum: On The Condition of Labor

RERUM NOVARUM
On the Condition of Labor

• HISTORY
• MEANING AND PURPOSE
• CONTENT
• SEE-JUDGE-ACT
• PLAN OF ACTION
• May 15, 1891 - Pope Leo XIII issued the seminal encyclical for
workers Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of Labor).
• This memorable encyclical officially ushered in the transition in

Catholic social thought - (agrarian economy - industrial evolution)
throughout the world through manufacturing and other industries.
• Pope Leo XIII - secured the foundation that work is at the center of
the church's reflection on human identity and activity.
• Rerum Novarum and many papal encyclicals for the past 125 years have argued
for the protection of workers and the right to form a union. With each encyclical,
each generation addresses the challenge of the central nature of work within the
changing and ever complex situation of its time.
• Before it was popularly defined, the concept of globalization was addressed in

the first paragraph of Rerum Novarum in connection with new development of
industry, new techniques striking out new paths, changed relations of employer
and employee, abounding wealth among a very small number and destitution
among the masses. This was written in the context of the industrial revolution.
Since 1891, each generation is faced with a similar challenge in its efforts to
evaluate how developments in industry and technology affect "the condition of
the worker."
Meaning
Rerum Novarum Encyclical - issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 and considered by
many conservative Roman Catholics to be extremely progressive. It enunciated
the late 19th-century Roman Catholic position on social justice, especially in
relation to the problems created by the Industrial Revolution, and it emphasized
the church’s right to make pronouncements on social issues as they related
to moral questions.https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rerum-Novarum
It refutes the theories of the socialists and defends the rights of private
ownership. It advises employers and workers to organize into both mixed and
separate associations for mutual help and self-protection.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=36057
Purpose
Many church historians claim that Rerum Novarum is the starting point of an
important tradition of Catholic social teaching on the economy, politics, world
order, and peace that has served as a compelling alternative to secular politics.
Rerum Novarum Threefold Effect

1. It was seen as a reformist rather than a radical document by workers'
associations.
2. Priests, not laity, were urged to take up the cause of the workers. (That has
practically reversed itself in 2016. There is a scarcity of labor priests but a
surplus of committed lay Catholic labor leaders.)
3. The encyclical took on secular socialism as well as rampant capitalism.
Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor
That the spirit ofrevolutionary change, which has long been disturbing the nations of the
world,should have passed beyond the sphere of politics and made its influence felt inthe
cognate sphere of practical economics is not surprising. The elements of theconflict
now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrialpursuits and the
marvellous discoveries of science; in the changed relationsbetween masters and
workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals,and the utter poverty of the
masses; the increased self reliance and closermutual combination of the working
classes; as also, finally, in the prevailingmoral degeneracy. Themomentous gravity of
the state of things now obtaining fills every mind withpainful apprehension; wise men
are discussing it; practical men are proposingschemes; popular meetings, legislatures,
and rulers of nations are all busiedwith it - actually there is no question which has taken
deeper hold on the public mind.
SEE
Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XII writes, ". . .by degrees it has come to pass that working men have been
surrendered, isolated and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the greed of unchecked competition."
Leo XIII warned of the injustices created by the reliance on the free market while at the same time warning of the
dangers of state socialism.
JUDGE
The right of workers to freely choose unions necessarily involves their right to decide how they shall decide for or against
a union. They should have given the freedom to not controlled by their employer and that should be supported by both
society and catholic teaching.This gave the rights of workers to organize into implementing corrective reform and
encouraging social betterment. The changing conditions in society have continual development of this tradition to keep
current aspect of church teaching.
ACT
We support the purpose of unions is not simply to defend existing wages and prerogatives of the fraction of workers who
belong to them, but also to enable workers to make positive and creative contributions to the firm, the community, and the
larger society in an organized and cooperative way. As a students, we should be aware of change in the working
environment especially that new technology had evolve.
PLAN OF ACTION

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RERUM NOVARUM

On the Condition of Labor

• This memorable encyclical officially ushered in the transition in

• Before it was popularly defined, the concept of globalization was addressed in

Rerum Novarum Threefold Effect

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