The Popes and Democracy - Part III. On the Effects of Modern Ideas 33. Pius XII and the Rights of Man

In his 1942 Christmas message, Pius XII stated that every man had the right to own his own home, and that the herding together of human beings should be avoided. Is it not a fact that large blocks of high-rise flats and enormous factories are a creation of modern economic planning? The Pope reaffirmed the right to religious education. Is it not a fact that all schools were run by the Church in the past, and that modern Democracy not only upholds secularism, but also obliges Catholic parents to pay taxes for the maintenance of the pagan education system? The Pope asserted the right to the attainment of the purpose of marriage. Is it not a fact that modern economic conditions prevent families from having as many children as they would like? Is it not a fact that the "engineering of the community" is moving towards the introduction of laws for the compulsory limitation of births? And what of Divorce and Abortion, Euthanasia and Eugenics? The community concept in democratic societies threatens the most basic liberties of the human person. Thus, Pius XIl condemned all the evils to which modern ideas have given rise. But, significantly, in the Rights of Man which he listed, he did not mention at all the right to vote!