Von Ketteler was keen, eager, eloquent—a valiant champion of the Church, who fought for her emancipation from state control, and obtained important concessions. His activity was remarkable, and displayed itself prominently in the foundation of numerous institutions, as monasteries, unions, schools, orphan-asylums, and houses of refuge. He understood how to make use of the press in forwarding his designs, which included plans intended to promote the welfare of the masses. After the formation of the German empire Von Ketteler took a leading position in the party of the Ultramontanes, and was ever ready with tongue and pen in all matters concerning the relations of state to Church and school.
He opposed the proclamation of the doctrine of papal infallibility as inopportune, but, after it had been proclaimed, he became its ardent supporter.
Von Ketteler’s eventful life ended in 1875, and his body now rests in the cathedral at Mainz.
Von Ketteler accepts the doctrine of the iron, cruel law of wages, and assents to many of the teachings of the social democrats, in so far as they are directed against our present social organization. He seeks salvation, however, in the Catholic Church.
He holds that God or the Church is the supreme owner of all property, and that human rights are only secondary. Men have only the right of administering what has been committed to them. The Church has always held, says he, that if a starving man took a loaf of bread to satisfy hunger which he could still in no other way, it was no theft. In that case human proprietary rights yield to the divine right of self-preservation.
The good-will of the Church is also shown in the large property which she has accumulated to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. It was not her fault that she was deprived of a great part of this by the secularization of her possessions, which took place after the Reformation. It increased the distress of the unfortunate, and the worldly powers were obliged to enact poor-laws to relieve those who had thereby been reduced to helplessness.
The misery of the present time is due to materialism and liberal politics. The state and the Church should exercise greater control over human conduct in such matters, e.g., as marriage.
“We will not deny,” says Von Ketteler, “that in various regions the contraction of marriage is made too difficult; but, on the other hand, a certain limitation is justifiable—is founded in reason as well as in Christianity—and the abolition of all limitations cannot fail to promote thoughtlessness in the contraction of marriage, and thus injure the family. Of such a character is the general effort and tendency to regard marriage as a simple civil institution, to introduce the Civilehe—i.e., marriage by civil authorities alone—and to separate it entirely from the Church. The stability of the family is based on the religious and Christian doctrine of marriage. Especially is the view of the Catholic Church that marriage is a sacrament, and can be dissolved only by death, the immovable foundation of this stability.”[210]
Von Ketteler regards the dissolution of the organic bonds, or ties of society, as one cause of our present troubles. He is, consequently, in favor of trade corporations, and has a friendly feeling for the guilds of the Middle Ages. He combats vehemently the atomism of modern liberalism. There is, in my opinion, a great deal of truth in what he says about the necessity of religion to cure the ills of modern society. He declares that “Christ is the Saviour of the world, not only because he has redeemed our souls, but also because he brought salvation for all human institutions and relations—civil, political, and social. Especially is he the Saviour of the laboring classes.... He has elevated the labor-class from servitude to its present condition;[211] without him all humanitarian tendencies of the so-called friends of the laboring man will not prevent his sinking again into a state of slavery.”
Von Ketteler mentions five remedies which the Church has to offer the laborer.