Singulari quadam (Pius X.)

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The encyclical Singulari quadam is a circular sent by Pope Pius X in 1912 only to the German bishops . The encyclical deals with the situation of trade union organizations in Germany .

Historical background

According to the encyclical Rerum novarum by Pope Leo XIII. (1891) there was an explosion of the labor movement in Germany . In Germany at the end of the 19th century there was a dispute among Catholics about whether Catholic workers should be organized in interdenominational trade unions. The emerging Christian trade unions separated themselves from the free and socialist trade unions. In the trade union dispute that followed, it had to be clarified whether Catholic workers were only allowed to work in the "specialist departments" of their workers' associations or whether they were also allowed to actively join the other unions. With the Fulda Pastorale of August 22, 1900, the German bishops stipulated that only the “specialist departments” within the workers' associations led by priests (compare Kolping Society / Adolph Kolping ) should represent the workers. However, this recommendation was not approved by all bishops and they turned to Pope Pius X to clarify the trade union issue . On September 24, 1912, he issued the encyclical Singulari quadum to the German bishops.

presentation

First, Pius X called the German Catholics and their bishops to unity, he reminded of duties and earthly things.

Then he again pointed out the development of the trade unions and the differences to the workers' associations. He underlined the differences that stand out from a Christian point of view.

In his final consideration he left it to the German bishops to “tolerate” the membership of Catholic workers in interdenominational trade unions.

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