Joseph Cardinal Höffner CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ... - Ordo Socialis

ture victors. ..1 believe that we have entered into the darkest period of our history.“ 7 In addition,
technological and industrial development is reproached with having ruined the biosphere
through destructive exploitation, waste, and pollution and thereby having seriously damaged
the physical bases of life on earth. Technical progress at any cost has sacrificed the future for
the present. Developing countries in particular are indignant that, after having attained their
independence, they find an environment that has suffered almost irreparable damage through
pollution of the seas, rivers, and air. An uninhibited development in the realms of nuclear energy
will have simply catastrophic consequences. I am here not only thinking of a nuclear
war, but also of the dangers that are connected with the establishment of nuclear power plants
as an energy supply. It is conjectured, for example, that the 'breakdown' of atomic waste will
take 20.000 years. Pope Pius XII warned again and again against the „immeasurable immediate
damage“ and against the „biological consequences, especially those of an hereditary nature.“
8 C.G. lung writes: „Let one only amass the suitable materials, and the demonic will
infallibly take possession of man and run away with him.“ 9
c) The basic power structure of the business enterprise
The mechanized manufacturing process can only work with the most precise co-ordination of
all those involved. From this it follows that the modem factory (something similar holds for
offices, stores, and administrative centers) must by inner necessity have a basic power structure
with functional authority reposed in the factory hierarchy and corresponding subordination
of the employees. Arnold Gehlen is of the opinion that „such a hierarchy meets with practically
no resentment among the subordinates“ since it is evident to all „that a factory without
such graduated control centers would not work.“ Nevertheless, there is consider- able matter
for dispute here since in no way are all superiors equal to the demands made on them. The
lower authorities of the factory hierarchy especially can be reproached with exercising their
power in a vexatious and intrusive way.
§ 2 Conclusions from the Viewpoint of Christian Work and Professional Ethics
With respect to the three tensions and matters of dispute mentioned above, which are founded
in the characteristic features of the working and professional world, the following is to be
noted from the viewpoint of Christian social teaching.
1. The Compatibility of the Wage Contract with the Christian Image of Man
According to the Christian understanding, the wage system cannot be designated as immoral
and contrary to human dignity. The assertion that the wage contract is „unjust of its own nature“
is, according to Quadragesimo anno, not only „certainly in error“, but also gravely misrepresents
Leo XIII who in the encyclical Rerum novarum „not only accepts working for
wages or salaries but deals with some length with its regulation in accordance with the rules
of justice“ (Quadragesimo anno, 64; Rerum novarum, 44 f). „One would not remain in the
truth“, Pius XII explained on May 7, 1949,“ if one wished to assert that every private enterprise
was a society by nature.“ The wage earner is „indisputably a subject and not an object of
the national economy in the same way as the employer“; the wage contract contains nothing
„that would contradict this fundamental equality“ (Pius XII, June 3, 1950). In the wage contract,
man makes his work available in exchange for a just remuneration, which is no contradiction
to the Christian image of man. Leo XIII did, however, reject the widespread conception
of that time (1891) that the employer has fulfilled his obligation when he has paid the
7
25 Uhr, 3rd ed (Stuttgart, 1951), 62ff.
8
Cf the addresses of Pius XII of February 21, 1943; February 8, 1948; April 10, 1955; April 24, 1955; April 1,
1956; Apri114, 1957.
9
C G Jung, Mensch und Seele, selections by J Jacobi (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1971), 225. 128
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