THESE “four fundamental truths” come from a 1934 pastoral letter by the Austrian hierarchy of the Catholic Church in response to National Socialism.** Reflect on this simple and beautiful statement, which can be applied to any nation, as you peruse the Internet with its serious errors on these issues from both the left and right:

“1. Mankind is one family built upon justice and love. Therefore, we condemn racial obsession which leads to racial hatred and conflict. Likewise, to be condemned, is the sterilization law, as it is contrary both to Catholic law and to Nature.

“2. True Christian nationalism is of God and the Church; and love of one’s people and country is ingrained in the nature of man. We preach the virtue of Christian patriotism and we condemn treason against one’s country; and we also condemn radical, racial anti-Semitism.

“3. Nation and State are different, and the State is above the Nation. Therefore, we condemn extreme nationalistic principles, defend the historic rights of our country, and favour the cultivation of the Austrian conception.

“4. Over and above nationalism is religion, which is supernatural, and ennobles every nation.”

[Emphases added]

**Quoted in The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World by Denis Fahey, C.S.Sp. (Christian Book Club of America), First Printed, 1935; p. 314.

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