Excerpt from Christian Social Reform: Program Outlined by Its Pioneer, William Emmanuel Baron Von Ketteler, Bishop of Mainz The whole life of Baron Von Ketteler, the energetic and intrepid Bishop of Mainz, is a story of absorbing interest. It is the record of a modern apostle who wrought miracles by faith and action. He was a Christian bishop who believed in the divine power and mission of the episcopate; and, aflame with the conviction that he was sent, he went forth and never rested until what he had to do was done. He was the pioneer of Christian social reform. Leo XIII did not disdain to call him his great predecessor, and framed his famous encyclical on Labor along the lines of Von Ketteler's program of action. He realized, as no other man of his day, that in the new order of conditions the Church must not only act, but lead in social action, or lose. He stood alone for years; but he could well stand alone. Later on he moved his world simply by standing firm. He was a living proof of what one resolute mind can accomplish in the face of enormous difficulties. A hostile government, a popular pagan system of social action, the inertia of the many, the excessive haste of some - these were a few of his obstacles. But he triumphed over all of them, and transformed Westphalia and the Rhine provinces into a model Catholic organization for the whole world to imitate. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.