Leo XIII believed that Christian Democracy would allow people to 'feel themselves to be men, not mere animals; Christian men and not pagans' (Graves de Communi, 1901). He summed this up in a plea for a just social order through the improvement in the conditions of life, especially for the weak and the poor, for those most in need, and for those whose basic human dignity is most at risk. Contemporary Christian Democrat declarations project the same message. The West German Christian Democratic Union pledges: 'We respect every human as a unique and unsubordinated person. Man is created for his free development in life together with others. His freedom depends upon a reality which goes beyond the human world.'5 Whether Rerum Novarum marked a turning point or created the turning point, there is no doubting the impact which it had on its contemporary readers and the generations who have followed. This is summed up by the French novelist, Georges Bernanos, whose 1936 Diary of a Country Priest includes some narrative about the impact of the encyclical on an obscure French parish:
You read it quietly today, skimming through it, like any Lenten pastoral. But when it came out, my friend, we seemed to feel the earth rock under our feet. Talk about enthusiasm! I was parish priest at Norenfontes then, right in the coalfield. That simple idea that labour is not a commodity subject to the law of supply and demand, that it is wrong to speculate in wages or men's lives as if they were wheat or sugar or coffee - believe me it shook people's consciences.6
Catholics after Rerum Novarum
From 1919 onwards a number of Catholic-inspired workers' movements and activist groups began to emerge. In Italy, Catholic Action saw its role as religious and moral development while simultaneously preparing the Catholic laity to engage in political and social activities. Civardi, in his Manuale di Azione Cattolica,7 says its prime task had been the 'formation of consciences'. In France, Holland and Belgium Catholic farmers' organisations were established after the First World War. Young trades unionists groups were also set up. The most significant of these was the Young Christian Workers (YCW), which proved to be a revolutionary influence not only in the organisation of young workers but also in the whole conception of work. The YCW's origins go back to 1912 when Father Cardijn (later to be made Cardinal) was appointed curate at Laeken in Brussels. He began working with a group of young girls from local workshops and