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IHS Press was founded for the express purpose of re-popularizing the works of Catholic Social Thought by the great Social Catholics of the early 20^th century. The Editors are firmly convinced that the wisdom of Catholic  Social Thought is, today, largely a buried treasure, relatively untapped and almost wholly neglected.  Nevertheless, it offers to a troubled world the solutions for a whole  host of social ills.

Far  from being pie-in-the-sky dreaming, the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church is the only consistent body of political thought which is both  compatible with the truths of Revelation, of reason, and of common  sense, and also sufficiently practical and concrete in nature to be of  real use as a guide to the solution of nearly all of the ills which  plague our society.

Hilaire Belloc 1870-1953

Drawing upon the papal encyclicals, allocutions, and pronouncements that addressed social problems and the  nature of society, as well as upon the great theologians of the Church,  the Social Catholics of last century produced a magnificent collection  of both scholarly and popular writings  on a vast range of topics, all of which in one way or another elaborated and explained the Social Doctrine. These militant, uncompromising  Catholics wrote works of truly impressive foresight and convincing  argument, subjecting society as they found it to the scrutiny of  critical reason and the light of Divine Faith. From such serious reflection ushered forth – sometimes in truly  incomparable prose – seminal volumes challenging the complacent  assumptions of the modern world and advocating both a return to sane thinking and true progress towards a better world.

G.K. Chesterton 1874-1936

Unfortunately, most of these great works are out of print, and are today available – if at all – only through expensive second-hand bookshops.  Furthermore, few if any scholars, thinkers, and journalists are tackling modern problems in light of the traditional Social Doctrine of the  Church. Thus, IHS Press was  established to make these classic expositions of Catholic Social  Doctrine from last century available again to the current generation, at reasonable prices, and in very high quality packages. Moreover, IHS  Press was created in order to provide a venue for the publication of  serious works by modern authors which address current problems in light  of Catholic Social Principles.

Heinrich Pesch, S.J. 1850-1926

The republication of classic, out-of-print texts inspired by Catholic  Social Doctrine is certainly a primary focus for IHS Press. Yet it  remains, ultimately, a means to an end. That greater end, which may be  achieved, we hope, by God’s help, is the wholesale rehabilitation and  re-popularization of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Not for its own  sake, but for what it may provide by way of a  direction and a guiding light for a society which has – in spite of its  advanced technology and high-speed communications and transportation – for the most part lost its way. Thus if our endeavor succeeds, we  envision not merely the re-publication of old classics, but the  first-time publication of new texts which chart a course for the repair  of modern society by the sure Light of the Social Doctrine of the  Church.

Vincent McNabb, O.P. 1868-1943

  IHS Press aims not only to be a truly Social Catholic Press, but to become the Social Catholic Press. Not that we wouldn’t be happy to have competition – the more people and organizations that are  discussing the Social Doctrine, the better it is for society and the  world. But what IHS Press hopes to do is fill a void which exists to some  extent in the both the academic and publishing worlds. Admirers of  Chesterton can and should join the American Chesterton Society; Belloc  afficionados can visit a number of good Belloc websites; but true  students of the entire Social Doctrine of the Church are all too frequently left to fend for themselves. Few alive today are  conscious of a mission to preserve the memory of the great Social  Catholics for current generations. There are none who feel called to  bring their ideas and their Vision into the world with a view towards making that Vision into a vital force for the re-conversion of the Social Order.

IHS Press, however, is just such an organization. We intend to pick up  where the Distributist, the Solidarist, the Corporatist Catholics of all nations left off before the war, and, God willing, to deliver to the  world once again the hope of a peacful and fruitful existence, free from both the excessive power of the state and the ruthless injustice of an  untamed market.

Thus do we hope to provide not just printed books – new and re-published – but also a forum for a deepening of knowledge and appreciation of the Social Teachings as well as a practical discussion on how they should  be implemented, so that their wisdom can be brought to bear on a world sorely in need of it. We hope,  with God’s help, that such a forum will grow and expand, to include  conferences, workshops, journals, etc. There is no limit to what can be  done and what should be done to make the Social Doctrine once again an  intellectual force to be reckoned with.