Four American Jesuits who sided with workers to remember on Labor Day

Among the Catholic Church’s major doctrinal developments of the past two centuries was one spurred by the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the overturning of traditional structures of labor, capital and society as a whole: Catholic social teaching. From the encyclical “Rerum Novarum” in 1891 through “Fratelli Tutti” in 2020, almost every pope of the last 150 years has promoted the rights of workers and the dignity of the human person in an increasingly industrialized world.

In the United States, the Jesuits have provided striking examples of what solidarity and upholding the rights of workers looks like in an industrial economy. In particular, four 20th-century American Jesuits made contributions through their ministries to a more just and flourishing society, challenging the economic and social structures of their day and standing up for the rights of all people.

But first, what is Catholic social teaching?

Catholic Social Teaching

As Pope Leo XIII entered his 23rd year of his papacy in 1891, he recognized that the world had changed dramatically—nearly unbelievably—since his birth in 1810. In many parts of the world, the rate of industrialization, the growing disparities between industrialists and labor, the dangers posed to workers in mills and factories and the impact on family life all called out for careful consideration in light of church teaching.

For his part, Leo, a shrewd diplomat and effective governor prior to being elected pope in 1878, knew that the church should not resist these changes simply out of a suspicion of change itself—a tendency somewhat notable in Rome during the last years of Pope Pius IX, Leo’s predecessor. But Leo saw an epochal shift occurring, one in which the church would have to maintain a clear position that presented the Gospel to a new age.

Leo knew the primary question was one of capital—those who had it, and those who did not—and its relationship to the inherent, natural rights and duties of employers and employees alike. The place of capital in contributing to a flourishing society and achieving the common good had to be demarcated carefully yet forcefully. In 1891, he issued “Rerum Novarum” (quite literally “Of New Things”). This encyclical has proven foundational to the development of Catholic social teaching, which is the church’s methodology for effectively living out the Gospels in a structured and orderly manner in society. In short, Catholic social teaching makes it clear that the church is no bystander in a world of changing mores and structures, but a crucial source of well-reasoned, charitable interventions on behalf of human dignity.

“Rerum Novarum” has also spurred other popes to produce similar documents, building the canon of Catholic social teaching: These include Pius XI’s “Quadragesimo Anno” 40 years later in 1931; Paul VI’s “Octogesima Adveniens” 80 years later in 1971; John Paul II’s “Centesimus Annus” a century later in 1991 (which led to the creation of the Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice which authoritatively promotes Catholic social teaching); and numerous encyclicals from Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Enter the Jesuits

The American industrial economy in the late 19th century was already one of the most frenetic and aggressive in the world; World War I and World War II eventually kicked it into a position of near-domination of many markets. On this scene, the disparities and abuses that Leo warned against in “Rerum Novarum” were exacerbated, particularly with regard to labor abuses and violations of human dignity. The situation was ripe for a prompt response from the church.

Four Jesuits were among the many who sought to answer that Gospel call to justice in four different ways: George Rueppel, Daniel Lord, John Corridan and Leo Brown.

Innovation

George Rueppel, S.J., (1864-1947) was a German-born Jesuit brother who became a pioneering radio broadcaster at St. Louis University in the early part of the 20th century. In addition to providing spiritual and cultural content, Brother Rueppel made a special effort to deliver his own weather reports twice a day to benefit the local farmers. Additionally, he shared significant information about agricultural news and best practices. So robust was this programming, in fact, that one U.S. secretary of agriculture sent a note recognizing the radio station as the first “Agricultural School of the Air.”

In addition to weather reports and land management tips, Brother Rueppel supplied the farmers with something perhaps just as valuable: the going rate of grain prices in surrounding counties. This allowed the farmers to have accurate, up-to-date information as they went to sell their grain, removing the advantage from the purchasers who could otherwise short the farmers. Brother Rueppel had effectively ensured that the farmers could not be so easily swindled, giving them leverage at the negotiating table.

Mass communication

Daniel Lord, S.J., (1888-1955) is a figure that most folks have never heard of in their day-to-day life—an irony because he was perhaps one of the greatest and most formative communicators of the last century. Father Lord, a native of Chicago, was a significant leader in the Sodality movement (more commonly known today as the Christian Life Community movement) and produced 32 books and countless pamphlets and articles on every manner of subject, with a special focus on youth, morality and Christian discipleship. He also produced over 70 plays, musicals and pageants (including the insanely complicated “City of Freedom,” featuring a cast of 1,500 actors, a 100-voice chorus and a 34-piece orchestra across five stages). Father Lord was also instrumental in drafting the “Hays Code,” which set moral standards for motion picture studios in the United States from 1930 to 1968.

One of Father Lord’s greatest commitments in all of this work was to the labor movement. For example, he wrote and produced a play at St. Louis University on labor rights, depicting Jesus as the laborer and the corporations as the Pharisees. It was performed to packed houses. This only added to the strong tradition of St. Louis University being a hub for labor studies and rights.

On the docks

John Corridan, S.J., (1911-1984) is famously known as the inspiration for the character of “Father Barry,” played by Karl Malden in “On the Waterfront.” The son of a New York City cop, Father Corridan entered the Society of Jesus shortly after high school. After he completed his Jesuit formation, he was assigned to the Xavier Institute of Industrial Relations, one of over 80 Catholic schools or institutes in the United States dedicated to ministering to workers; they could be found in Philadelphia, St. Louis, New Orleans and elsewhere.

It was here that Father Corridan became heavily involved with the International Longshoremen’s Association and their waterfront union. Through this work, Father Corridan became an arbiter and advocate for rooting out crime and corruption on the waterfront. He collaborated with Malcolm Johnson on articles that eventually culminated into a 24-part series in the New York Sun, “Crime on the Waterfront,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting in 1949.

Allen Raymond’s 1955 book, Waterfront Priest, profiled Father Corridan; the introduction was penned by Budd Schulberg, screenwriter of “On the Waterfront.” Mr. Schulberg described Father Corridan as an “energetic, ruddy-faced Irishman whose speech was a fascinating blend of Hell’s Kitchen jargon, baseball slang, the facts and figures of a master in economics and the undeniable humanity of Christ.”

Father Corridan’s work on the waterfront contributed to a precipitous decline in organized crime on the docks. He was also instrumental in the creation of what is now known as the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a commission dedicated to rooting out corruption on the harbor docks in New York and New Jersey.

Academia and government

Leo Brown, S.J., (1900-1972) arbitrated, mediated and settled over 4,000 labor disputes in his lifetime. A union man prior to entering the Jesuits, Father Brown went on to study economics at Harvard University and was subsequently appointed to lead the Institute for Social Order at St. Louis University. There, he was known as a “free rein” advisor, who encouraged others to pursue their interests under the direction of top-flight faculty.

During the Second World War, Father Brown was appointed to the War Labor Board by President Franklin Roosevelt. After becoming acquainted with the leaders of labor and industry on a national level, Father Brown was invited to represent the public as a member of the National Wage Stabilization Board during the Korean War. President Dwight D. Eisenhower later appointed Father Brown to the Atomic Energy Labor Management Relations Panel, of which he would eventually become chairman.

In his ministry, Father Brown mediated labor disputes that had the potential to cripple the nation, including the famous 150-day strike in 1945 at the Granite City Steel Company and the 90-day walkout at Monsanto Chemical in 1958. On his wall hung a mandate drawn from the Book of Leviticus: “You must not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must neither be partial to the little man nor overawed by the great.”

What did these four Jesuits have in common, other than their commitment to the dignity of their fellow Americans and an uncanny degree of industriousness? All four heard and answered the church’s call through its social encyclicals and other documents to stand for justice and equity, and all sought to put into place a new way of responding to the dizzying changes in almost every aspect of American life in the 20th century. Probably none of the four would have known what we mean by the phrase “Catholic social teaching.” And yet all four were exemplars of how to put that teaching into action.