Twentieth century encyclopedia of Catholicism

Examines the concept of integration, as it is defined in the Old and New Testaments and in the teachings of Pope Pius XII, and all that it implies in the modern world. The author deals with war--the prime disintegrator--with "nationalism" and patriotism. He draws a clear picture of today's world and the place that every Christian must find in it.

The purpose of this book is to describe the teaching of the Catholic Church on economics--the effect which the Catholic Church has had and ought to have had on the development of the world's economy. However, there is in fact nothing in the Gospels to suggest that the Lord was at all interested in setting out an economic system. The Church does not have a specific economic position, but it does point out the immoral and anti-religious aspects that pervade systems such as fascism and communism, and which are sometimes present in other doctrines.

"This book is not concerned with a description of personalities or to any large extent with a description of how things happened. Its task is the rather pedestrian one of summarizing what was decided at the Council translated, as it were, into unofficial language. We think that behind the generalities there is room for such a work, for many have found it difficult to follow its unfamiliar proceedings, so different from those of a parliament or a congress." [Chapter 1].

The relationship of law to morals is indissolubly connected with that existing between religion and the law. Both religion and law foster moral codes, the former under the authority of God and the latter under the authority of the State. The law and religion do not always agree on what is and what is not moral. Largely for this reason history has witnessed the separation of Church and State. Emphasizing this Church-State dichotomy, the author provides a penetrating analysis of the Catholic attitude on moral questions as opposed to the attitude of the law. His work presents a fine balance between factual and statistical data, between Christian opinion and moral principles and between the theological and legal sides of the question.