Dear Friends and Benefactors,

Everywhere today, we hear men speaking about the prevention of crime. Whether it be domestic violence, sexual abuse, extortion or war crimes, many think they can prevent crime by enacting more laws, by increasing security or simply by force. Sometimes what they say can be good; the only trouble is it is too late. To prevent crime, timely action is necessary. If we wait till the criminal has developed, then we have an almost impossible task before us. But if we begin with the child and by careful training so shape nature that the criminal instincts are gotten under control then success may be hoped for.

"Train their [youths’] hearts. Frequently the decision of a man’s destiny, the ruin of his character, or a grave danger threatening him, may be traced to his childish years when his heart was spoiled by the fond flattery, silly fussing and foolish indulgence of misguided parents. This impressionable little heart became accustomed to see all things revolve and gravitate around it, to find all things yielding to its will and caprice, and so there took root in it that boundless egoism of which the parents themselves were later to become the first victims." (Pius XII, Guiding Christ’s Little Ones)

All men are the creatures of God, and are made to His image and likeness. Their striving for natural and supernatural perfection can be accomplished only in accordance with the principles of morality that bear God’s blessing. Belief in this morality is really the only true way of preventing crime and thus bringing to the world true peace.

"An education that prescinds from morality and religion is deprived of its best and principal part, neglects the noblest faculties of man, is deprived of the most efficacious and the most vital forces, and results in bankruptcy, by mixing uncertainty and error with truth, vices with virtue, good with evil. Today the best educators realize it, feel it and strive to remedy past errors by perfecting their methods and sometimes by striving with great pains to renew their education. But there is only one true morality and one true religion as there is but one fundamental and substantial truth, which is God; one revealed truth which is Christ; one truth only that is preserved and taught without errors and omissions, which is the Catholic Church. It was not a Catholic thinker who said, 'Catholicism is the greatest and holiest school of respect that the world has ever seen (Guizot, quoted by Dupanloup, l’Education, I, p. 113).'" (Pius XII, Integral Formation of the Adolescent)

If we hope to train and shape the child successfully we must first understand him correctly. To do this we must take man as he is —a fallen creature. He is not only liable to commit evil, but he is even prone to it and that even from his youth. "There remain, therefore, in human nature the effects of original sin, the chief of which are weakness of will and disorderly inclinations." (Pius XI, Christian Education of Youth.)

In asking ourselves, then, how we are to go about this great work of rehabilitating nature, we must above all be determined to influence growing youth. "The education of man begins at the cradle; and the first school, which nothing can replace, is that of the domestic hearth. ‘No matter how early one begins, it is never too early to mold the character and habits of the child,’ pagan wisdom once said (Plutarch, De Educat. Puerorum, n.V.). As in the sciences, likewise, proportionally, in life everything depends on first principles." (Pius XII Integral Formation of the Adolescent).

Moreover, we must remember that such influence will be possible only if we succeed in gaining youth. Every youth must be convinced of the good of morality, its necessity, its place in life, its temporal and eternal effects. Relationships of respectful obedience and well-balanced love should exist between young people and their authorized elders. Love guided by reason and reason enlightened by faith will teach adults the proper balance between weak indulgence and sharp severity, between thoughtless yielding to children’s requests and impetuous correction for childish faults. Youth prefer consistency rather than sentimentality from those who are training them. They also respect the justice in a set norm of behavior and they find stability in the sanctions of rewards or punishments for their violations.

"With love guided by reason and reason enlightened by faith, the home education will not be subject to those deplorable extremes that so often imperil it: alternating weak indulgence with sharp severity, going from culpable acquiescence which leaves the child unguided to severe correction that leaves him helpless. On the other hand, the affection shown by parents, to which there is corresponding confidence on the part of the child, distributes with equal moderation because it is master of itself, and with complete success because it has the child’s love, due praise and merited correction. ‘Try to make yourself loved,’ St. John Bosco used to say, ‘and you will be obeyed.’" (Pius XII, Educational Influence of St. John Bosco)

Encourage them [youth] and tell them that Church and society expect great things of them and that there is much good to be done and that many noble undertakings await them.

Religious, honest, cultured, frank and industrious: such, on leaving school, we desire those young people to be whom their families and society have entrusted to you; or better, whom God has confided to you, since, before even being of the family and of society they are of God, of Christ and of the Church. (Pius XII, Union of Italian Teachers)

Another point that is going to help in attaining this purpose is to bring Christ more into our whole social structure. The principles Christ taught are able to guide every man rightly; His example is powerful to move; His grace is sufficient to inspire.

"If we stop to reflect for a moment that these ideals and doctrines of Christ, for example, His teaching on the necessity and value of the spiritual life, on the dignity and sanctity of human life, on the duty of obedience, on the divine basis of human government, on the sacramental character of matrimony and by consequence the sanctity of family life —if we stop to reflect, let Us repeat, that these ideals and doctrines of Christ, which are in fact but a portion of the treasury of truth which He left to mankind, were confided by Him to His Church and to her alone for safekeeping, and that He promised that His aid will never fail her at any time, for she is the infallible teacher of His doctrines in every century and before all nations, there is no one who cannot clearly see what a singularly important role the Catholic Church is able to play, and is even called upon to assume, in providing a remedy for the ills which afflict the world today in leading mankind toward a universal peace." (Pius XI Ubi Arcano)

It is a great pity and misfortune that, instead of making progress in this area, we moderns are really going backward. Ease, pleasure and plenty are the advertised needs and the accepted goals today. Half-truths and soft living have invaded education disguised as modern "progress." Because of the increase in youth’s softness of moral fiber and widespread juvenile delinquency, we must realize the need for motivated self-discipline and sound character formation in their training. If a child is allowed to have his own way too easily, he will grow up without self-control, and the result will be, in too many cases, crime. If you have a young horse, as yet untamed, and do nothing to tame him, like putting a bit in his mouth, you will labor hard, and perhaps in vain, to make him gentle. And this self-control is necessary for us all; without it we adults give bad example and cause scandal in our young.

"Train the character of your children. Correct their faults, encourage and cultivate their good qualities and coordinate them with that stability which will make for resolution in after life. Your children, conscious, as they grow up and as they begin to will and think, that they are guided by a good parental will, constant and strong, free from violence and anger, not subject to weakness or inconsistency, will learn in time to see therein the interpreter of another and higher will, the will of God, and so they will plant in their souls the seeds of those early moral habits which fashion and sustain a character, train it to self-control in moments of crises and to courage in the face of conflict or sacrifice, and imbue it with a deep sense of Christian duty." (Pius XII, Guiding Christ’s Little Ones)

Our youth should enjoy a certain freedom from care and have a moderate youthful mirth, nevertheless they must be trained to restrain their desire to indulge in many of the things they might look at, hear, taste or touch. Youth must be taught to accept correction, respect their elders and face privations with a sense of obedience and duty. Self-centered egoism in youth training must yield to a respect for the rights of others, even to self-sacrifice for others. The Church insists on spiritually motivated self-control, not for the suppression of personality, but for its perfection. For their own good, young people must learn to control unreasonable requests for independence, to lessen costly desires for possessions, to guard against sexual stimulation, to curb disrespectful tempers, to refrain from soft living. They must learn to be content with the family income and to stir themselves from excessive laziness while attending to their duties. Young people should be expected to practice self-control, at least within the capacity of their temperament and their age.

With the current of false thinking and loose living so powerful in the world the only alternatives for the growing youth of today are Christ or chaos, self-discipline or unhappiness.

Of course at the bottom of many crimes is a lack of charity. Social life in general is at a low ebb on this account, namely that charity is so weak. People respect and please others for policy’s sake, but that is all. If policy suggests, on the other hand, a lie, or a dishonest act, or worse, they think nothing of injuring their best friends. The criminal will reach his end, even if he has to kill an innocent person or persons in doing so. Rich men often care nothing for the sufferings of the poor, influential men turn a deaf ear to the cries of the oppressed.

On the other hand, where true love for God reigns in the heart there good deeds are performed, not bad ones. These good deeds which show our love by our willful submission to His most holy will. "If you love me keep my commandments." (John XIV, 15)

His will is the only true solution to crime prevention and it is imperative that we conform to His will in all things. The Oratio of Pope Clement XI shows the extent of this conformity: "Volo, quod vis; volo, quia vis; volo, quomodo vis; volo, quamdiu vis." "I will what Thou willest; I will because Thou willest; I will in whatever manner Thou willest; I will for as long as Thou willest." Likewise St. John Eudes, who said: "The accomplishment of the divine will is the sole end for which we are in the world."

We all need to be concerned with preventing crime; not only by the proper training of our youth but also by striving to root out sin from our own souls through practicing virtue in submission to His most holy will. Thus in our souls will "His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,