Cardinal Lienart, Bishop of Lille, and other members of the
French Hierarchy have followed the lead of Mgr. Feltin, Archbishop of Paris, in reminding Catholics of their duties in the wave of strikes and industrial unrest now sweeping the country.
Cardinal Lienart said : " Among the present claims of the workers, those which are intended to obtain a rise in wages at least to cost of living level cannot be lumped with other claims.
" Natural justice demands that these claims should be rnet."
If after assuring this basic wage, it is found that economic conditions forbid a proportionate increase in wages at higher levels, the Cardinal continued, the well-to-do should accept a reduction in their profits for the common good.
Mgr. Caillot, Bishop of Grenoble, said : "Whatever the cause of the strikes may be, the first victims are the mothers and children of workers' families.
" We must think of them at once, and help them."
impartiality
Mgr. Piguet, Bishop of Clermont, stressed the necessity for impartiality.
"It is false to say that all employers are evil. R is false to say that all workers are agitators. If everyone sweeps in front of his own house, the whole street will be clean. Mgr. Robin, Bishop of Blois, urged that neither social justice nor the common good should be forgotten. " The lengthening of the present conflict," he warned, " may plunge many homes in misery. Yet we must make it clear that if charity is called for in some cases, it must not supplant social justice." Mgr. Grente, Archbishop of Mans, has asked for an all-out " effort of understanding, a loyal and practical seeking after justice."