Alfonso Capecelatro e la questione sociale

As exponent of the conciliatory movement, Alfonso Capecelatro, Archbishop of Capua, stood out for his moderate and balanced position, showing more and more interest in the social issue. In the essays dedicated to it, he asserted that the social issue was a deeply religious and moral matter, so its solution had to be inquired into the Christian doctrine rather than in the vain promises of socialists and communists. For the Archbishop, the social issue did not require any transformation of the classes, nor their elimination, but instead it required the replacement of the class struggle with the pacification between the economic and social forces, both through the charity of the wealthy on the most needy’s behalf, and through the poor’s Christian acceptance of their own condition. As for other Italian Catholics, Capecelatro reckoned that private charity was the only real remedy against class hatred because it could foster the sense of benevolence and gratitude that bound the rich class to the poor one.