American Catholic History Classroom: The Catholic Church and the Knights of Labor: Document 3

Document 3: Pastoral Letter of the Third Plenary Council, 1884

As noted in the introduction to the previous document (#2, Adelphon Kruptos), the Catholic Church prohibited secret society membership among Catholics. Worried about Catholics joining such societies, the archbishops and bishops of the United States sent a letter-called a "Pastoral Letter" because it was from the pastor to the church membership-to the laity of the church clarifying, among other things, the problems with forbidden society membership.

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Questions:

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Read the sections of the pastoral letter of 1884 titled "Forbidden Societies" and "Dangers of Secrecy in Societies" then consider the following:

1. Why was the practice of banding together in societies so common?
2. Did the church object to all such societies?
3. Describe the letter's description of the difference between good societies and evil societies.
4. What were the dangers of secrecy in societies?
5. Do you think the Knights of Labor was a dangerous secret society according to the pastoral letter's criteria? Why or Why not?

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URL: http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/Knights/kol_doc3.html

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MODIFIED: March-19-2007