Labor priests

     Did you know that this area of southwestern Pennsylvania had a powerful Catholic presence in the labor movement?  In light of the post yesterday, and probably another before Labor Day referring to the U.S. Bishops' Labor Day Statement, I thought I might mention two prominent local figures from the clergy who were leaders in the cause.

     The first was Father James R. Cox, a Catholic priest of the Pittsburgh Diocese who lived from 1886 to 1951.  He was known for his pro-labor activism and was for a brief time a candidate for President of the United States on the Jobless Party docket in 1932, and he organized an unprecedented protest march on Washington.  In January of 1932 he led 25,000 unemployed Pennsylvanians, called "Cox's Army" on a march on Washington.  He hoped that Congress would be stirred to start a public works project and get people back to work.  The march sparked the formation of the Jobless Party, which also supported labor unions.  The Party, and Father Cox's run for President, were short lived, and support was given to the Democratic Party and FDR.  He served on a number of commissions, as was known as Pittsburgh's "Pastor of the Poor".  He died at the age of 65 in 1951.

     The second was mentored by Father Cox, and he was Father (Monsignor) Charles Owen Rice who lived from 1908 to 2005 and served as a priest in Pittsburgh for seventy years.  He began his activism in social causes and the American labor movement during the great depression.  He was involved in strikes, met Dorothy Day of the Catholic Workers Movement and was a friend of the president of the CIO.  He marched with Martin Luther King in 1967, and was a champion of causes like poverty, joblessness, workers rights, the war, civil rights and the women's movement. 

     Both of these men were leaders and champions of causes.  Both were often misunderstood, or feared, or hated, or admired.  Both gave their all in responding to the gospel message and the growing teachings that ushered in the industrial age beginning with Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII.  Should priests or Catholic lay leaders or the Church herself be involved in these social and political issues?  Many would say no ... but the gospel of Christ says yes!   Why?  Because while these issues may involve politics or policies or parties, they first and foremost involve people and ethical stands that cannot be ignored.   They are gospel issues.