118 A Baccalaureate Discourse
pies of Divine Revelation. Then sacred theology, by its in-
comparable nobleness as well as by the absolute certainty of
its object, surpasses all other knowledge. It associates the
earthly man to the eternal science of God Himself.”
I could continue on with this fine quotation, extracted
from an after-dinner speech, delivered by a former chancel-
lor of Quebec University, the late Cardinal Rouleau.
In Montreal, our faculty of theology has taken the means
of propagating theological doctrines among laity and put-
ting higher religious teaching within the reach of the man
on the street. It has organized public classes on liturgy,
canon law, Holy Scriptures, morals, Catholic action, and
pontifical doctrine. The late Pope Pius XI has been, in re-
cent years, the champion of Catholic action.
Catholic action is a lay move sponsored by ecclesiastical
hierarchy; it tends towards a renovation of society under the
impulse of a live faith and zeal. Its leaders require a thor-
ough training and deep convictions ; they will find them in the
teachings of our new Institute.
The pontifical doctrine issued by the Vatican comes to us,
as you know, by means of Encyclical Letters or similar offi-
cial documents, such as the one on racial theories. It deals
with dogmatical, moral, and social subjects. The four last
Popes, Leo XIII and Pius XI, in particular, were very re-
markable leaders. Their masterly writings have been hon-
ored with universal commentaries and admiration. The two
letters known as “Rerum Novarum” and uQuadragesimo
anno” constitute the charter of modern Catholic social doc-
trine. Well-informed and far-sighted, courageous and wise,
clear and moderate, they show the way to the betterment of
the economic and social world and to the healing of modern
plagues. English-speaking non-Catholics who have read
these letters, found in them statements and theses most