I'm reading Thomas Woods' book on the Progressive Era and one of the things that struck me was just how church philanthropy of that era so intertwined the physical and spiritual. Relief of poverty was viewed as a means to an end, not an end in itself - it was the means which would enable the poor to pray:
...Leo XIII was only reiterating the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas when he observed that for most men physical misery was destructive of the interior life and perilous to their supernatural destiny, and that alleviation of such distress would conduce to the salvation of a greater number of souls. Sound psychology taught that the condition of the body affects the operations of the soul; hence the Church's concern for both bodily and spiritual health. One should, therefore, work to alleviate the extreme poverty that existed in America's major cities, but with supernatural ends in mind.
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