The Pope didn’t work in a factory

William’s, though a protestant, is very generous to the Pope(s) in his church history. He always assumes the best of them unless their actions consistently prove otherwise. Nevertheless, on the occasions when his holiness decided to digress into political socialism, he points it out.

[Pope] Leo XIII in the very noble Encyclical Rerum Novarum of 1891 demanded that the capitalist should deal justly by his workers. But he also demanded that the capitalist should see that the worker “be not exposed to corrupting influences and dangerous occasions, and that he be not led away to neglect his home and family or to squander his earnings.” Workers do not usually look with gratitude on employers who take care that they do not squander their earnings, or who attempt to shield them from corrupting influences.

The receipt of a fair wage was to take with it the liberty to do as one chose with a fair wage, or it was meaningless. The Pope, no doubt, meant nothing but good. But the Pope was not a factory worker.

-Charles Williams, The Descent of the Dove, p.226

Making a higher wage isn’t of much use if someone is telling you what you can and can’t spend it on. It’s funcionally the same as more taxes witheld from your check.