Creeds of the Church

To the Archbishops and Bishops of Italy

Venerable Brothers, We Give You Greetings and Our Apostolic Blessing.

You know as We do, venerable brothers, the recent wrongdoing which has strengthened some wretched enemies of all truth, justice and honor, who strive both openly and deceitfully with plots of every sort to spread their disorders everywhere among the faithful people of Italy. These disorders include the unbridled license of thinking, speaking and hearing every impious matter. They spread these like the foaming waves of a savage sea, and they exert themselves not only to shake the Catholic religion in Italy itself, but if possible to utterly destroy it. The method of their diabolical design has been made very clear both elsewhere and particularly here in this fair city, the seat of Our pontificate, where upon Our forced withdrawal, they gave free rein to their rage, although only for a few months. Here, in their wicked recklessness, as they cast divine and human affairs into confusion, they finally grew enraged enough to interfere with the work of the respected clergy of the city, disregarding the authority of their superiors, who, on Our orders, were attending fearlessly to religious matters. Consequently, when some of their own number fell sick and struggled with death, they were deprived of all the helps of religion and compelled to breathe their last in the arms of a wanton prostitute.

2. Subsequently, the city of Rome and the other provinces of the Papal State were restored to Our civil authority by God’s mercy and the arms of Catholic nations. The disturbance of wars ended in the other parts of Italy as well. Nonetheless, those wicked enemies of God and men still continue their lawless work, if not by open force, at least in other deceitful ways which are not always concealed. We find it formidable to be responsible for the supreme care of the whole of the Lord’s flock in these difficult times, and We are greatly pained by the particular dangers which beset the churches of Italy. However, We are powerfully consoled in Our sufferings by your pastoral zeal, venerable brothers, which you not only proved to Us in the full blast of the recent storm, but which you continue to demonstrate. However, the very gravity of this affair compels Us to exhort you further, since you must steadfastly fight the battles of the Lord with Us. We must make all prudent provision for offsetting the losses already incurred by most holy religion throughout Italy and for guarding against dangers which threaten in the future.

3. These enemies of the Church usually employ a variety of deceits for turning the spirits of the Italian people away from the Catholic faith. For instance, they shamelessly affirm and cry it abroad that the Catholic religion is opposed to the glory, greatness and prosperity of the Italian nation. So they say that Protestantism should be brought in, set up and increased to replace Catholicism. Then Italy could once more acquire its former splendor of ancient, that is, pagan, times. It is hard to decide which is the more hateful aspect of this fiction of theirs — the malice of their raving impiety or the effrontery of their lying wickedness.

4. In fact, there is great spiritual advantage in being transferred from the power of darkness to the light of God, thereby being justified by grace and becoming heirs of Christ in our hope of eternal life. This advantage for souls is, of course, so worthwhile that all the glory and blessedness of this world must be reckoned as nothing in comparison with it. “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul? Or what exchange will a man make for his soul?”[1] But it is untrue that the temporal losses of the Italian race occurred because they professed the true faith. This race should indeed reckon among the benefits it received from the Catholic religion the fact that at the collapse of the Roman Empire, it did not decline as much as the peoples of Assyria, Chaldaea, Media, Persia and Macedonia did when an alteration of the times ended their dominion. In fact, every wise man knows that Catholicism not only rescued Italy from the darkness of the many errors which were overwhelming it, but that amid the ruins of the ancient empire and the invasion of the barbarians, it raised Italy nonetheless to a glory and a greatness beyond all the other nations of the world. Thus, because Christ placed the holy See of Peter there, Italy exercises a more widespread and more real leadership by its divine religion than it once exercised by its earthly empire.

5. From this exceptional privilege of possessing the Apostolic See and the consequent deep roots which the Catholic religion has put down among the people of Italy, very many other remarkable benefits have accrued. Christianity is the teacher of true wisdom, the defender of mankind, and the fertile mother of all virtues. Thus, it rejects the splendor of the unhappy glory of the Italian people. Their ancestors established that unhappy glory by an unending tumult of wars, by conquering foreigners, and by very harshly imprisoning a great number of men; they could do this since their empire flourished by the law of war. But the religion of Christ enlightened the Italians in truth, justice, and mercy; and consequently they became zealous in outstanding works of piety towards God and in beneficent works towards men. So, in the chief Italian cities, many holy temples and other reminders of Christian times have been erected not by the bloody toil of men groaning in captivity, but sincere and life-giving charity. Pious institutions exist for religious exercises and for the education of the young and the proper study of literature, arts and disciplines. They also exist for relieving the illness and want of the wretched. This then is the divine religion on which, quite simply, the safety, prosperity and glory of Italy depends. Is this the religion which those men call on the Italian people to reject? We cannot restrain Our tears, when We see that some Italians now are so wicked and so wretchedly deceived that they admire the vile teachings of impious men. In fact, they are not afraid to plot with them for this great destruction of Italy.

6. You are aware indeed, that the goal of this most iniquitous plot is to drive people to overthrow the entire order of human affairs and to draw them over to the wicked theories of this Socialism and Communism, by confusing them with perverted teachings. But these enemies realize that they cannot hope for any agreement with the Catholic Church, which allows neither tampering with truths proposed by faith, nor adding any new human fictions to them. This is why they try to draw the Italian people over to Protestantism, which in their deceit they repeatedly declare to be only another form of the same true religion of Christ, thereby just as pleasing to God. Meanwhile they know full well that the chief principle of the Protestant tenets, i.e., that the holy scriptures are to be understood by the personal judgment of the individual, will greatly assist their impious cause. They are confident that they can first misuse the holy scriptures by wrong interpretation to spread their errors and claim God’s authority while doing it. Then they can cause men to call into doubt the common principles of justice and honor.

7. But do not let Italy, which other peoples have used as a paradigm ever since the Holy See was established in Rome, be to them a stone of offense and a rock of scandal in the coming time. Do not let this portion of the Lord’s vineyard be given as prey to all the beasts of the field: do not let the Italian people, maddened by draughts from the poisoned goblet of Babylon, take up deadly arms against their mother the Church.

8. By the secret judgment of God, We and you have been detailed to fight this critical danger. We must beware of dreading the deceit and attacks of the men who plot against the faith of Italy, as if they had to be vanquished by our own strength. For our counsel and our bravery is Christ, without Whom we can do nothing but through Whom we can do all things.[2] So, watch zealously over the flock entrusted to you and protect it energetically from the plots and attacks of ravening wolves. Share your counsels with one another; continue to meet with one another so that by sharing the inquiry, you may detect the main causes for the start of these dangerous evils in different districts. Thus you will be able to provide more timely remedies for them under the authority and guidance of this Holy See. In this way, in union with Us you should attempt to nullify every attack, artifice, plot and endeavor of the enemies of the Church.

9. So that all their efforts may be fruitless, sufficiently instruct the laity in Christian doctrine and the law of the Lord. Hopefully, they are not too weakened by long license in manifold and increasing vices to be able to recognize the snares laid for them and also the vileness of the errors proposed to them. So We earnestly require you, in your pastoral care, to ceaselessly ensure that the faithful entrusted to you are carefully taught the holy doctrines and precepts of our religion in accordance with their individual capacity; exhort and inspire them in every way to conform their lives and morals to these norms. For this purpose, inflame the zeal of the Churchmen, who care for these souls. Instruct them to reflect seriously on their ministry, to keep in view the prescripts of the Council of Trent,[3] and to devote great energy to instructing the Christian people, as the state of the times demands. Let them be eager to sow in all hearts the words of God and the precepts of salvation. This they can accomplish by declaring in concise and comprehensible sermons the vices Christians should avoid and the virtues they should practice in order to escape eternal punishment and gain eternal glory.

10. In particular, ensure that the faithful are deeply and thoroughly convinced of the truth of the doctrine that the Catholic faith is necessary for attaining salvation.[4] The Catholic laity and clergy should repeatedly offer special thanks to God in public prayers for the priceless gift of the Catholic religion. They should also beseech God to protect the profession of this faith in our country and to keep it unharmed.

11. Meanwhile, ensure that all the faithful receive from you at the proper time the sacrament of Confirmation; this confers the strength of special grace for the steadfast profession of the Catholic faith in times of trouble. It would also be helpful if the faithful, cleansed of their sins by the sacrament of Penance, devoutly receive more frequently the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist contains spiritual food and the antidote to free us from daily faults and keep us from mortal sin. Furthermore, it is the symbol of Christ’s Church which He hopes will unite us by faith, hope and charity; as the result of this unity, we should all say the same thing and there should be no divisions among us.[5]

12. Indeed, We do not doubt that parish priests and their helpers, and other priests who are usually appointed to the ministry of preaching on particular days, especially in periods of fasting, will earnestly aid your labor in all these affairs. Still their efforts should be supplemented from time to time by the extraordinary measures of spiritual exercises and holy missions. These will nourish the piety of good people and stir sinners to saving penitence, even those who have been depraved for a long time. As a result, the faithful people will grow in the knowledge of God, bear fruit in every good work, and steadfastly abhor the perverted teachings of the Church’s enemies.

13. But in all these affairs, one of your aims should be to instill in the faithful a greater aversion for sins which scandalize others; your priests should share this aim. You are aware of the increase in the number of those who sin in a scandalous manner: those who blaspheme the

heavenly saints and the holy name of God as well; those who live in concubinage and sometimes in incest; those who openly do servile work on holy days; those who despise in the presence of many the precepts of the Church on fasting and the selection of food; and those who shamelessly commit various other sins in the same way. So, make the faithful consider the seriousness of sins of this kind and the heavy penalties for them, both for the guilt of the sin itself and for the spiritual danger in which they place their brothers by the infection of their bad example. For it is written: “Woe to the world because of scandals . . . Woe to that man by whom the scandal comes!”[6]

14. The crafty enemies of the Church and human society attempt to seduce the people in many ways. One of their chief methods is the misuse of the new technique of book-production. They are wholly absorbed in the ceaseless daily publication and proliferation of impious pamphlets, newspapers and leaflets which are full of lies, calumnies and seduction. Furthermore, under the protection of the Bible Societies which have long since been condemned by this Holy See,[7] they distribute to the faithful under the pretext of religion, the holy bible in vernacular translations. Since these infringe the Church’s rules,[8] they are consequently subverted and most daringly twisted to yield a vile meaning. So you realize very well what vigilant and careful efforts you must make to inspire in your faithful people an utter horror of reading these pestilential books. Remind them explicitly with regard to divine scripture that no man, relying on his own wisdom, is able to claim the privilege of rashly twisting the scriptures to his own meaning in opposition to the meaning which holy mother Church holds and has held. It was the Church alone that Christ commissioned to guard the deposit of the faith and to decide the true meaning and interpretation of the divine pronouncements.[9]

15. In order to check the contagion of bad books, it would be useful if your clerics who are renowned for sound doctrine likewise publish short works, to build up the faith to instruct the people. You would, of course, have to approve these before publication. Distribute these works and other useful and doctrinally sound authors among the faithful.

16. All who defend the faith should aim to implant deeply in your faithful people the virtues of piety, veneration, and respect for this supreme See of Peter. Let the faithful recall the fact that Peter, Prince of Apostles is alive here and rules in his successors,[10] and that his office does not fail even in an unworthy heir.[11] Let them recall that Christ the Lord placed the impregnable foundation of his Church on this See of Peter[12] and gave to Peter himself the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.[13] Christ then prayed that his fait would not fail, and commanded Peter to strengthen his brothers in the faith.[14]Consequently the successor of Peter, the Roman Pontiff, holds a primacy over the whole world and is the true Vicar of Christ, head of the whole Church and father and teacher of all Christians.[15]

17. Indeed one simple way to keep men professing Catholic truth is to maintain their communion with and obedience to the Roman Pontiff. For it is impossible for a man ever to reject any portion of the Catholic faith without abandoning the authority of the Roman Church. In this authority, the unalterable teaching office of this faith lives on. It was set up by the divine Redeemer and, consequently, the tradition from the Apostles has always been preserved. So it has been a common characteristic both of the ancient heretics and of the more recent Protestants — whose disunity in all their other tenets is so great — to attack the authority of the Apostolic See. But never at any time were they able by any artifice or exertion to make this See tolerate even a single one of their errors. For this reason the enemies of God and human society at the present time are making every attempt to tear the Italian people from their allegiance to Us and to this Holy See. They think, no doubt, that then at last, they could have the good fortune of contaminating Italy itself with their impious teaching and the plague of their novel theories.

18. As regards this teaching and these theories, it is now generally known that the special goal of their proponents is to introduce to the people the pernicious fictions of Socialism and Communism by misapplying the terms “liberty” and “equality.” The final goal shared by these teachings, whether of Communism or Socialism, even if approached differently, is to excite by continuous disturbances workers and others, especially those of the lower class, whom they have deceived by their lies and deluded by the promise of a happier condition. They are preparing them for plundering, stealing, and usurping first the Church’s and then everyone’s property. After this they will profane all law, human and divine, to destroy divine worship and to subvert the entire ordering of civil societies. In this critical period for Italy, it is your duty, venerable brothers, to help the faithful realize that if they let themselves be deceived by such perverted doctrines and theories, these theories will cause their temporal and their eternal destruction.

19. Therefore, warn your faithful that the very nature of human society obligates its members to obey its lawfully established authority; nothing in the precepts of the Lord on this subject, which are proclaimed in holy scripture, can be altered. For it is written: “Be subject to every human institution for God’s sake, to the king as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish wrongdoers and to praise those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing right, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Be as free men, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but be as servants of God.”[16] And again: “Let ever soul be subject to the higher authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, he who resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur their own condemnation.”[17]

20. Let them furthermore know that it is likewise a mark of the natural, and so of the immutable, condition of human affairs that even among those who are not in higher authority, some surpass others in different endowments of mind or body or in riches and such external goods; therefore it can never be lawful under any pretext of liberty or equality to usurp or injure in any way the good or rights of other men. Divine precepts on this subject are clear and can be found throughout the holy scriptures. They forbid us strictly even to desire the goods of other men, much less seize them.[18]

21. In addition, let the poor and all the wretched recall their great debt to the Catholic religion which keeps the teaching of Christ unspoiled and preaches it publicly. For He proclaimed that whatever benefits are conferred on the poor and wretched are likewise conferred on Himself.[19] Furthermore, He wishes that all be informed of the special account He will take of these works of mercy on the Day of Judgment; that is, He will give the gift of eternal life to the faithful who engaged in works of mercy, and He will punish with eternal fire those who neglected them.[20]

22. This proclamation of Christ and His other stern warnings on the use of wealth and its dangers[21] have meant that the condition of the poor and wretched in Catholic nations is much less harsh than in any other nations. The poor would receive even greater aid if the many institutions which our pious ancestors established for their relief had not been closed down or plundered in the recent recurrent public demonstrations. Let Our poor recall the teaching of Christ Himself that they should not be sad at their condition, since their very poverty makes lighter their journey to salvation, provided that they bear their need with patience and are poor not alone in possessions, but in spirit too. For He says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”[22]

23. All the faithful should know too that the old kings of the pagan nations and other chiefs of state misused their power in more serious ways and more often. The faithful should reckon it to the credit of our most holy religion that princes in Christian times feared “the stern judgment in store for governors,” and the eternal punishment prepared for sinners, in which “the strong will suffer strong torments.”[23] Because of this fear, they have ruled the peoples subject to them more justly and clemently.

24. Finally, let the faithful recognize that Christian law protects true liberty and equality. God Almighty, who has made “the small and the great” and who “takes equal care of everyone,”[24] “will not withdraw from anyone nor fear anyone’s greatness.”[25] He has established a day “on which He will judge the world in justice”[26] in His Only-Begotten Son Christ Jesus, “who will come in the glory of His Father with His angels and will then make return to each man according to his works.”[27]

25. But if the faithful scorn both the fatherly warnings of their pastors and the commandments of the Christian Law recalled here, and if they let themselves be deceived by the present-day promoters of plots, deciding to work with them in their perverted theories of Socialism and Communism, let them know and earnestly consider what they are laying up for themselves. The Divine Judge will seek vengeance on the day of wrath. Until then no temporal benefit for the people will result from their conspiracy, but rather new increases of misery and disaster. For man is not empowered to establish new societies and unions which are opposed to the nature of mankind. If these conspiracies spread throughout Italy there can only be one result: if the present political arrangement is shaken violently and totally ruined by reciprocal attacks of citizens against citizens by their wrongful appropriations and slaughter, in the end some few, enriched by the plunder of many, will seize supreme control to the ruin of all.

26. Now the life and example of the clergy help keep the faithful safe from the snares of the impious in their profession of the Catholic religion and help stir them to the works of true virtue. But, alas! there have been in Italy some men of the Church, although they were few, who by deserting to the Church’s enemies, helped them greatly in deceiving the faithful. The lapse of these men doubtless incited you afresh, venerable brothers, to watch daily with keener zeal over the discipline of the clergy. And now since We desire to provide, as We should, for the future, We recommend what We emphasized in Our first encyclical letter to the bishops of the whole world:[28] that you should lay hands on no one in haste,[29] but show the greatest possible care in selecting soldiers for the Church’s army. Candidates for holy orders especially must be examined at thorough length to determine whether their learning, serious morals and zeal for divine worship indicate that they will by their life and work edify and bring spiritual benefit to your flock, like lanterns burning in the house of the Lord.

27. Properly organized monasteries convey great honor and benefit for the Church of God, and the regular clergy also work to save souls. Therefore, first of all, inform the religious families in your dioceses that We lament the particular troubles which many of them suffered in the recent disasters. But We were inwardly consoled to observe their patient spirits and their steadfast pursuit of virtue and religion; some though forgot their profession and vilely played a double role, scandalizing good men and sorrowing Us and their brothers. Secondly, exhort the leaders and superior moderators of these families to ensure that where regular discipline is preserved, it continues to thrive and flourish, and that where it has faltered, it is completely revived and restored. Let those superiors insistently advise, convince and spur on the members of their families to seriously consider their vows so that they are eager to observe them and the rules of their organization carefully and fully. They should carry around in their body the mortification of Jesus and keep away from everything which is at variance with their particular vocation. They should be actively engaged in works which evince a love of God and neighbor in the pursuit of perfect virtue. Let these moderators of the Orders admit no one to a religious institution before they consider very carefully their former life, morals and character; then they should admit to religious profession only those who indicate that they are embracing the religious life for no reason except to live only for God and to obtain the salvation of themselves and others. But in addition, they should observe all the statutes and prescripts for the good of religious families which are contained in the Decrees of Our Congregation on the State of Regular Clergy published on January 25th last year and sanctioned by our Apostolic authority.

28. To turn now to the selection of the secular clergy, We wish chiefly to recommend that you instruct and educate young clerics, since most suitable ministers of the Church are those who from their earliest years have been duly molded for these sacred duties. Continue then your energetic efforts to recruit very young men for God’s holy army. Then nurture them in religion, modesty, innocence of life, and ecclesiastical spirit. At the same time teach them literature and the major and minor fields of study, especially the sacred ones. Their teachers should be carefully selected and should follow doctrine which is free from all danger of error.

29. It is unlikely that you will succeed in educating all young clerics in seminaries. The other young men in the lay state certainly pertain to your pastoral care also. Therefore be vigilant, with regard to all other schools, both public and private. Strive to ensure that their studies conform to the standard of Catholic teaching. Furthermore, see to it that the students are educated by suitable teachers. The students also must be taught to recognize the snares laid for them by the impious, to avoid their pernicious errors, and so to adorn and benefit themselves and the Christian and civil commonwealth.

30. In these matters, you have authority over professors of the sacred disciplines and all other matters which belong to religion or closely pertain to it. See to it that in the entire program of the schools and especially in the matters which belong to religion, books are provided which are free from the suspicion of every error. Advise those who care for souls to be your continuous helpers in matters concerning schools for the very young. Appoint respectable male and female teachers and provide only books approved by this Holy See. Ministers should themselves set an example by daily instructing boys in the rudiments of Christian doctrine. Furthermore, they should take this instruction seriously.[30] Advise these men, that when they are instructing, to keep in view the Roman Catechism, which was published by a decree of the Council of Trent and the order of St. Pius V Our Predecessor of immortal memory. Other supreme pontiffs, to name one, Clement XIII of happy memory, recommended this book as “a most suitable aid for removing the deceits of bad opinions and for spreading and establishing true and sound doctrine.”[31]

31. You will hardly be surprised, venerable brothers, that We have written on these subjects with a slightly too fluent pen. For you know that in these dangerous days, We must strive together with every effort and resolve, and must be vigilant in every matter which pertains to schools and the education of the young, both male and female. For you know that our enemies diabolically try to pervert young minds and hearts from their earliest years. And for this reason they try to remove schools completely from the authority of the Church and the watchfulness of its holy pastors.

32. In addition, We strongly hope that the political leaders of Italy will support you with their powerful protection in performing your duty more fruitfully in all these matters, and that they will also protect the Church and all its rights, both spiritual and temporal. This indeed would befit their religion and the piety of their ancestors, which obviously inspires them in an exemplary way. Furthermore, they realize that the evils that afflict us so grievously originate in the losses, which for a long time now, but especially since the rise of Protestantism, have been inflicted on religion and the Catholic Church. They see clearly that when the authority of bishops is oppressed and when increasing numbers of men infringe divine and ecclesiastical commandments without penalty, then the respect of the people for civil authority is likewise diminished. Similarly, the present enemies of public calm instigate revolts against the government more easily. They observe too that the frequent seizure, robbery and open sale of temporal goods which belong to the Church shows a decrease in the people’s respect for property consecrated to the use of religion. Consequently the men who rashly proclaim Socialism and Communism find many prepared to listen to them when they falsely claim that in other similar cases, the property of others can be taken and divided or in some other way turned to the use of everyone. They furthermore observe that the long-standing impediments preventing the pastors of the Church from exercising their sacred authority freely are now gradually affecting civil authority. Finally, they observe that there is no readier or more effective remedy for the disasters which harry us than to make religion and the Catholic Church flourish again throughout Italy; in the Church, there is no doubt that men will get immediate and appropriate aid in accordance with their condition and need.

33. For, to use the words of St. Augustine, “the Catholic Church attaches itself not only to God Himself but also to love and charity of one’s neighbor, so that it excels in healing all the diseases which men suffer for their sins. It trains and teaches boys in a boyish manner, young men strongly, old men calmly, in accordance with the individual’s bodily and spiritual age. It subjects wives to their husbands in chaste and faithful obedience, not for the gratification of lust but for the begetting of progeny and the society of the family; and it places husbands over their wives not in scorn of the weaker sex but under the law of pure love. It subordinates sons to their parents in a sort of free slavery and puts parents in charge of sons with a loving control. It binds brother to brother with the bond of religion, which is stronger and tighter than the bond of blood. It strengthens in reciprocal love all relationships of birth and marriage by preserving the ties of nature and of oaths. It teaches slaves to remain true to their masters, not as much from the compulsion of their state as from delight in duty, and makes masters kind to their slaves by the thought that the supreme God is their common Lord and more apt to advise than to compel them. By recalling our first parents, it unites citizen with citizen, nation to nation, and all humanity in society and brotherhood. It teaches kings to take care of their people, and people to submit to their kings. It teaches carefully who should have honor, who love, who reverence, who fear, who consolation, who warning, who exhortation, who discipline, who reprimand, who punishment, while showing how all things are not due to all men, but charity is due to all and harm to none.”[32]

34. Therefore, it is our mutual duty to spare no effort and to shrink from no problem in protecting the practice of the Catholic religion among the Italian people. It is also our duty to eagerly resist the attempts of the impious who are engaged in separating Italy from the bosom of the Church, as well as to vigorously recall to the way of salvation those degenerate sons of Italy who have already let themselves be won over by the artifices of their enemies.

35. But since every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, let us ceaselessly supplicate and entreat the heavenly Father of lights and mercies, in public and private prayers, to turn His face from our sins and graciously illuminate the minds and hearts of all with the strength of His grace. May He gather to Himself the wills of rebels and enlarge His holy Church with new victories and triumphs, so that in all Italy and everywhere in the whole world, the people who serve Him may increase in merit as in number. Let us also call on the most blessed Mother of God, the Virgin Mary Immaculate, who by her powerful patronage with God obtains what she asks for and who cannot be denied. In addition let us call on Peter, the Prince of Apostles, on Paul, his fellow-apostle, and on all the heavenly saints to pray that the most clement Lord may take away the scourges of His anger from His faithful people and graciously give His grace to all who are accounted Christians; then they could reject all that is at variance with the Christian name and pursue what is in accord with it.

Finally, venerable brothers, receive Our Apostolic Blessing as an indication of Our eager benevolence towards you. With deep feeling We impart it lovingly to yourselves and to the clergy and faithful laity who are entrusted to your watchfulness.

Given at Naples in the Suburban Portico on the 8th day of December in the year 1849 in the fourth year of Our Pontificate.

ENDNOTES

1. Mt 16.26.
2. St. Leo the Great, epistle to Rusticus, Bishop of Narbonne .
3. Sess. 5, chap. 2 — session 24, chaps. 4 and 7 on Reformation .
4. This doctrine, received from Christ and emphasized by the Fathers and Councils, is also contained in the formulae of rhe profession of faith used by Latin, Greek, and Oriental Catholics.
5. Council of Trent, session 13, decree on the Sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, chap. 2.
6. Mt 18.
7. On this matter, apart from earlier decrees there is the encyclical letter of Gregory XVI Inter praecipuas machinationes (8 May 1844) whose sanctions We upheld in Our encyclical letter (9 November 1846).
8. See Rule 4 of the Rules drawn up by a committee of Council Fathers at Trent and approved by Pius IV in the constitution Dominici gregis (24 March 1564) and the addition made to it (17 June 1757) by the Congregation of the Index by authority of Benedict XIV. (This addition is usually placed in the front of the Index of Forbidden Books.)
9. Council of Trent, session 4, decree on the publication and use of the sacred books.
10. Council of Ephesus Acts 3 and St. Peter Chrysologus’ epistle to Eutyches.
11. Leo the Great, Sermon on anniversary of his elevation.
12. Mt 16.18.
13. Mt 16.19.
14. Lk 22.31-32.
15. Council of Florence, definition or decree on union.
16.I Pt 2.13f.
17.Rom 13:1f.
18. Ex 20.45, 17. Dt 5.19, 21.
19.Mt 18.15; 25.40-45.
20.Mt 25.34f.
21.Mt 19.23f — Lk 6.4; 18.22f — Jas 5.1f.
22. Mt 5.3.
23. Wis 6.6, 7.
24. Wis 6.8.
25. Ibid.
26. Acts 17.31.
27. Mt 16.27.
28. 9 November 1846.
29. I Tm 5.22.
30. Council of Trent, session 24, 4 — Benedict XIV, constitution Etsi minime, 7 February 1742.
31. In his encyclical epistle 14 June 1761.
32 St. Augustine, de Moribus Cathol. Ecclesiae, bk. 1.

Appealing for Peace

To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and Other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.

Venerable Brethren, Greeting and Apostolic Benediction.

1. Raised by the inscrutable counsel of Divine Providence without any merit of our own to the Chair of the Prince of the Apostles, we hearkened to those words of Christ Our Lord addressed to Peter, “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep” (John xxii. 15-17) as spoken to Ourselves, and at once with affectionate love we cast our eyes over the flock committed to our care-a numberless flock indeed, comprising in different ways the whole human race. For the whole of mankind was freed from the slavery of sin by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ as their ransom, and there is no one who is excluded from the benefit of this Redemption: hence the Divine Pastor has one part of the human race already happily sheltered within the fold, the others He declares He will lovingly urge to enter therein: “and other sheep I have, that are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice” (John x. 16).

2. We make no secret, Venerable Brethren, that the first sentiment we felt in our heart, prompted certainly by the goodness of God, was the inexpressible yearning of a loving desire for the salvation of all mankind, and in assuming the Pontificate our sincere wish was that of Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when about to die on the Cross: “Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, whom Thou hast given me” (John xvii. 11).

3. But as soon as we were able from the height of Apostolic dignity to survey at a glance the course of human affairs, our eyes were met by the sad conditions of human society, and we could not but be filled with bitter sorrow. For what could prevent the soul of the common Father of all being most deeply distressed by the spectacle presented by Europe, nay, by the whole world, perhaps the saddest and most mournful spectacle of which there is any record. Certainly those days would seem to have come upon us of which Christ Our Lord foretold: “You shall hear of wars and rumours of wars-for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt. xxiv, 6, 7). On every side the dread phantom of war holds sway: there is scarce room for another thought in the minds of men. The combatants are the greatest and wealthiest nations of the earth; what wonder, then, if, well provided with the most awful weapons modern military science has devised, they strive to destroy one another with refinements of horror. There is no limit to the measure of ruin and of slaughter; day by day the earth is drenched with newly-shed blood, and is covered with the bodies of the wounded and of the slain. Who would imagine as we see them thus filled with hatred of one another, that they are all of one common stock, all of the same nature, all members of the same human society? Who would recognize brothers, whose Father is in Heaven? Yet, while with numberless troops the furious battle is engaged, the sad cohorts of war, sorrow and distress swoop down upon every city and every home; day by day the mighty number of widows and orphans increases, and with the interruption of communications, trade is at a standstill; agriculture is abandoned; the arts are reduced to inactivity; the wealthy are in difficulties; the poor are reduced to abject misery; all are in distress.

4. Moved by these great evils, we thought it our duty, at the very outset of our Supreme Pontificate, to recall the last words of our Predecessor of illustrious and holy memory, and by repeating them once more to begin our own Apostolic Ministry; and we implored Kings and rulers to consider the floods of tears and of blood already poured out, and to hasten to restore to the nations the blessings of peace. God grant by His mercy and blessing, that the glad tidings the Angels brought at the birth of the divine Redeemer of mankind may soon echo forth as we His Vicar enter upon His Work: “on earth peace to men of good will” (Luke ii. 14). We implore those in whose hands are placed the fortunes of nations to hearken to Our voice. Surely there are other ways and means whereby violated rights can be rectified. Let them be tried honestly and with good will, and let arms meanwhile be laid aside. It is impelled with love of them and of all mankind, without any personal interest whatever, that We utter these words. Let them not allow these words of a friend and of a father to be uttered in vain.

5. But it is not the present sanguinary strife alone that distresses the nations and fills Us with anxiety and care. There is another evil raging in the very inmost heart of human society, a source of dread to all who really think, inasmuch as it has already brought, and will bring, many misfortunes upon nations, and may rightly be considered to be the root cause of the present awful war. For ever since the precepts and practices of Christian wisdom ceased to be observed in the ruling of states, it followed that, as they contained the peace and stability of institutions, the very foundations of states necessarily began to be shaken. Such, moreover, has been the change in the ideas and the morals of men, that unless God comes soon to our help, the end of civilization would seem to be at hand. Thus we see the absence from the relation of men of mutual love with their fellow men; the authority of rulers is held in contempt; injustice reigns in relations between the classes of society; the striving for transient and perishable things is so keen, that men have lost sight of the other and more worthy goods they have to obtain. It is under these four headings that may be grouped, We consider, the causes of the serious unrest pervading the whole of human society. All then must combine to get rid of them by again bringing Christian principles into honour, if We have any real desire for the peace and harmony of human society.

6. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down from Heaven for the very purpose of restoring amongst men the Kingdom of Peace, which the envy of the devil had destroyed, and it was His will that it should rest on no other foundation than that of brotherly love. These are His own oft-repeated words: “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another (John xiv. 34); “This is my commandment that you love one another” (John xv. 12); “These things I command you, that you love one another” (John xv. 17); as though His one office and purpose was to bring men to mutual love. He used every kind of argument to bring about that effect. He bids us all look up to Heaven: “For one is your Father who is in Heaven” (Matt. xxiii 9); He teaches all men, without distinction of nationality or of language, or of ideas, to pray in the words: “Our Father, who are in Heaven” (Matt. vi. 9); nay, more, He tells us that our Heavenly Father in distributing the blessings of nature makes no distinction of our deserts: “Who maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust” (Matt. v. 45). He bids us be brothers one to another, and calls us His brethren: “All you are brethren” (Matt. xxiii. 8); “that He might be the first-born amongst many brethren” (Rom. vii. 29). In order the more to stimulate us to brotherly love, even towards those whom our natural pride despises, it is His will that we should recognize the dignity of His own very self in the meanest of men: “As long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me” (Matt. xxv. 40. At the close of His life did He not most earnestly beg of His Father, that as many as should believe in Him should all be one in the bond of charity? “As thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee” (John xvii. 21). And finally, as He was hanging from the cross, He poured out His blood over us all, whence being as it were compacted and fitly joined together in one body, we should love one another, with a love like that which one member bears to another in the same body.

7. Far different from this is the behaviour of men today. Never perhaps was there more talking about the brotherhood of men than there is today; in fact, men do not hesitate to proclaim that striving after brotherhood is one of the greatest gifts of modern civilization, ignoring the teaching of the Gospel, and setting aside the work of Christ and of His Church. But in reality never was there less brotherly activity amongst men than at the present moment. Race hatred has reached its climax; peoples are more divided by jealousies than by frontiers; within one and the same nation, within the same city there rages the burning envy of class against class; and amongst individuals it is self-love which is the supreme law overruling everything.

8. You see, Venerable Brethren, how necessary it is to strive in every possible way that the charity of Jesus Christ should once more rule supreme amongst men. That will ever be our own aim; that will be the keynote of Our Pontificate. And We exhort you to make that also the end of your endeavours. Let us never cease from reechoing in the ears of men and setting forth in our acts, that saying of St. John: “Let us love one another” (I John iii. 23). Noble, indeed, and praiseworthy are the manifold philanthropic institutions of our day: but it is when they contribute to stimulate true love of God and of our neighbours in the hearts of men, that they are found to confer a lasting advantage; if they do not do so, they are of no real value, for “he that loveth not, abideth in death.” (I John iii. 14).

9. The second cause of the general unrest we declare to be the absence of respect for the authority of those who exercise ruling powers. Ever since the source of human powers has been sought apart from God the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, in the free will of men, the bonds of duty, which should exist between superior and inferior, have been so weakened as almost to have ceased to exist. The unrestrained striving after independence, together with over-weening pride, has little by little found its way everywhere; it has not even spared the home, although the natural origin of the ruling power in the family is as clear as the noonday sun; nay, more deplorable still, it has not stopped at the steps of the sanctuary. Hence come contempt for laws, insubordination of the masses, wanton criticism of orders issued, hence innumerable ways of undermining authority; hence, too, the terrible crimes of men who, claiming to be bound by no laws, do not hesitate to attack the property or the lives of their fellow men.

10. In presence of such perversity of thought and of action, subversive of the very constitution of human society, it would not be right for Us, to whom is divinely committed the teaching of the truth, to keep silence: and We remind the peoples of the earth of that doctrine, which no human opinions can change: “There is no power but from God: and those that are, are ordained of God” (Rom. xiii 1). Whatever power then is exercised amongst men, whether that of the King or that of an inferior authority, it has its origin from God. Hence St. Paul lays down the obligation of obeying the commands of those in authority, not in any kind of way, but religiously, that is conscientiously-unless their commands are against the laws of God: “Wherefore be not subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience’ sake” (Rom. xiii. 5). In harmony with the words of St. Paul are the words of the Prince of the Apostles himself: “Be ye subject of every human creature for God’s sake: whether it be the King as excelling, or to governors as sent by him” (I Peter ii. 13-14). From which principle the Apostle of the Gentiles infers that he who contumaciously resists the legitimate exercise of human authority, resists God and is preparing for himself eternal punishment: “Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation” (Rom. xiii. 2).

11. Let the Princes and Rulers of peoples remember this truth, and let them consider whether it is a prudent and safe idea for governments or for states to separate themselves from the holy religion of Jesus Christ, from which their authority receives such strength and support. Let them consider again and again, whether it is a measure of political wisdom to seek to divorce the teaching of the Gospel and of the Church from the ruling of a country and from the public education of the young. Sad experience proves that human authority fails where religion is set aside. The fate of our first parent after the Fall is wont to come also upon nations. As in his case, no sooner had his will turned from God than his unchained passions rejected the sway of the will; so, too, when the rulers of nations despise divine authority, in their turn the people are wont to despise their human authority. There remains, of course, the expedient of using force to repress popular risings; but what is the result? Force can repress the body, but it cannot repress the souls of men.

12. When the twofold principle of cohesion of the whole body of society has been weakened, that is to say, the union of the members with one another by mutual charity and their union with their head by their dutiful recognition of authority, is it to be wondered at, Venerable Brethren, that human society should be seen to be divided as it were into two hostile armies bitterly and ceaselessly at strife? Drawn up against those who possess property, whether by inheritance or by industry, stand the proletariate and the workers, inflamed with hatred and envy, because, although they are by nature the same, they do not occupy the same position as the others. Once they have been imbued with the fallacies of the agitators, to whose behests they are most docile, who will ever make them see that it does not follow that because men are equal by their nature, they must all occupy an equal place in the community? And further, who will ever make them see that the position of each one is that which each by use of his natural gifts-unless prevented by force of circumstances-is able to make for himself? And so the poor who strive against the rich as though they had taken part of the goods of others, not merely act contrary to justice and charity, but also act irrationally, particularly as they themselves by honest industry can improve their fortunes if they choose. It is not necessary to enumerate the many consequences, not less disastrous for the individual than for the community, which follow from this class hatred. We all see and deplore the frequency of strikes, which suddenly interrupt the course of city and of national life in their most necessary functions, we see hostile gatherings and tumultous crowds, and it not unfrequently happens that weapons are used and human blood is spilled.

13. It is not our intention here to repeat the arguments which clearly expose the errors of Socialism and of similar doctrines. Our predecessor, Leo XIII, most wisely did so in truly memorable Encyclicals; and you, Venerable Brethren, will take the greatest care that those grave precepts are never forgotten, but that whenever circumstances call for it, they should be clearly expounded and inculcated in Catholic associations and congresses, in sermons and in the Catholic press. But more especially-and We do not hesitate to repeat it-by the help of every argument, supplied by the Gospels or by the nature of man himself, or by the consideration of the interests of the individual and of the community, let us strive to exhort all men, that in virtue of the divine law of charity they should love one another with brotherly love. Brotherly love is not calculated to get rid of the differences of conditions and therefore of classes-a result which is just as impossible as that in the living body all the members should have the same functions and dignity-but it will bring it to pass that those who occupy higher positions will in some way bring themselves down to those in a lower position, and treat them not only justly, for it is only right that they should, but kindly and in a friendly and patient spirit, and the poor on their side will rejoice in their prosperity and rely confidently on their help-even as the younger son of a family relies on the help and protection of his elder brother.

14. But there is still, Venerable Brethren, a deeper root of the evils we have hitherto been deploring, and unless the efforts of good men concentrate on its extirpation, that tranquil stability and peacefulness of human relations we so much desire, can never be attained. The apostle himself tells us what it is: “The desire of money is the root of all evils” (I. Tim vi. 10). If any one considers the evils under which human society is at present labouring, they will all be seen to spring from this root.

15. Once the plastic minds of children have been moulded by godless schools, and the ideas of the inexperienced masses have been formed by a bad daily or periodical press, and when by means of all the other influences which direct public opinion, there has been instilled into the minds of men that most pernicious error that man must not hope for a state of eternal happiness; but that it is here, here below, that he is to be happy in the enjoyment of wealth and honour and pleasure: what wonder that those men whose very nature was made for happiness should with all the energy which impels them to seek that very good, break down whatever delays or impedes their obtaining it. And as these goods are not equally divided amongst men, and as it is the duty of authority in the State to prevent the freedom enjoyed by the individual from going beyond its due limits and invading what belongs to another, it comes to pass that public authority is hated, and the envy of the unfortunate is inflamed against the more fortunate. Thus the struggle of one class of citizen against another bursts forth, the one trying by every means to obtain and to take what they want to have, the other endeavouring to hold and to increase what they possess.

16. Christ our Lord, foreseeing the present state of things, definitely stated in his sublime Sermon on the Mount, what are the real “beatitudes” of man in the world; and thereby He may be said to have laid down the foundations of Christian philosophy. Even in the eyes of the adversaries of the faith they are full of incomparable wisdom, and form a most complete religious and moral system; and certainly all would admit that before Christ, Who is the Very Truth, no such teaching in those matters had ever been uttered with such weight and dignity, or with such a depth of love.

17. Now, the whole secret of this divine philosophy is, that what are called the goods of this mortal life have indeed the appearance of good, but not the reality; and, therefore, that it is not in the enjoyment of them that man can be happy. In the divine plan, so far are riches and glory and pleasure from bringing happiness to man that if he really wishes to be happy, he must rather for God’s sake renounce them all: “Blessed are ye poor . . . Blessed are ye that weep now; . . . Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil” (Luke vi. 20-22). That is to say, that it is through the sorrows and sufferings and miseries of this life, patiently borne with, as it is right that they should be, that we shall enter into possession of those true and imperishable goods which “God hath prepared for them that love Him” (I. Cor. ii. 9). This most important teaching of our Faith is overlooked by many, and by not a few it has been completely forgotten.

18. Hence it is necessary, Venerable Brethren, to revive it once more in the minds of all, for in no other way can individuals and nations attain to peace. Let us, then, bid those who are undergoing distress of whatever kind, not to cast their eyes down to the earth in which we are as pilgrims, but to raise them to Heaven to which we are going: “For we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come” (Heb. xiii. 14). In the midst of the adversities whereby God tests their perseverance in His service, let them often think of the reward that is prepared for them if victorious in the trial: “For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory” (II Cor. iv. 17). We must strive by every possible means to revive amongst men faith in the supernatural truths, and at the same time the esteem, the desire and the hope of eternal goods. Your chief endeavours, Venerable Brethren, that of the Clergy, and of all good Catholics, in their various societies, should be to promote God’s glory and the true welfare of mankind. In proportion to the growth of this faith amongst men will be the decrease of that feverish striving after the empty goods of the world, and little by little, as brotherly love increases, social unrest and strife will cease.

19. Let us now turn our thoughts from human society to the immediate affairs of the Church, for it is necessary that Our soul, stricken with the evils of the times, should seek consolation in one direction at least. Over and above those luminous proofs of the divine power and indefectibility enjoyed by the Church, We find a source of no small consolation in the remarkable fruits of the active foresight of our Predecessor, Pope Pius X, who shed upon the Apostolic Chair the lustre of a most holy life. For We see as a result of his efforts a revival of religious spirit in the clergy throughout the whole world; the piety of the Christian people revived; activity and discipline stimulated in Catholic associations; the foundation and increase of episcopal sees; provision made for the education of ecclesiastical students in harmony with the canonical requirements and in so far as necessary with the needs of the times; the saving of the teaching of sacred science from the dangers of rash innovations; musical art brought to minister worthily to the dignity of sacred functions; the Faith spread far and wide by new missions of heralds of the Gospel.

20. Well, indeed, has Our Predecessor merited of the Church, and grateful posterity will preserve the memory of his deeds. As, however, by God’s permission, the field of “the good man of the house” is ever exposed to the evil practices of “the enemy,” it will never come to pass that no work will be necessary to prevent the growth of “the cockle” from damaging the good harvest; and applying to ourselves God’s words to the prophet: “Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to pull down . . . to build and to plant” (Jerem. i. 10), it will be Our constant and strenuous endeavour, as far as it is in Our power, to prevent evil of every kind and to promote whatever is good, until it shall please the Prince of Pastors to demand an account of Our discharge of Our office.

21. As We are now for the first time addressing you all, Venerable Brethren, it seems a fitting moment to mention certain important points to which We propose to give particular attention, so that by the prompt union of your efforts with Our own, the desired good results may be more quickly attained.

22. The success of every society of men, for whatever purpose it is formed, is bound up with the harmony of the members in the interests of the common cause. Hence We must devote Our earnest endeavours to appease dissension and strife, of whatever character, amongst Catholics, and to prevent new dissensions arising, so that there may be unity of ideas and of action amongst all. The enemies of God and of the Church are perfectly well aware that any internal quarrel amongst Catholics is a real victory for them. Hence it is their usual practice when they see Catholics strongly united, to endeavour by cleverly sowing the seeds of discord, to break up that union. And would that the result had not frequently justified their hopes, to the great detriment of the interests of religion! Hence, therefore, whenever legitimate authority has once given a clear command, let no one transgress that command, because it does not happen to commend itself to him; but let each one subject his own opinion to the authority of him who is his superior, and obey him as a matter of conscience. Again, let no private individual, whether in books or in the press, or in public speeches, take upon himself the position of an authoritative teacher in the Church. All know to whom the teaching authority of the Church has been given by God: he, then, possesses a perfect right to speak as he wishes and when he thinks it opportune. The duty of others is to hearken to him reverently when he speaks and to carry out what he says.

23. As regards matters in which without harm to faith or discipline-in the absence of any authoritative intervention of the Apostolic See- there is room for divergent opinions, it is clearly the right of everyone to express and defend his own opinion. But in such discussions no expressions should be used which might constitute serious breaches of charity; let each one freely defend his own opinion, but let it be done with due moderation, so that no one should consider himself entitled to affix on those who merely do not agree with his ideas the stigma of disloyalty to faith or to discipline.

24. It is, moreover, Our will that Catholics should abstain from certain appellations which have recently been brought into use to distinguish one group of Catholics from another. They are to be avoided not only as “profane novelties of words,” out of harmony with both truth and justice, but also because they give rise to great trouble and confusion among Catholics. Such is the nature of Catholicism that it does not admit of more or less, but must be held as a whole or as a whole rejected: “This is the Catholic faith, which unless a man believe faithfully and firmly; he cannot be saved” (Athanas. Creed). There is no need of adding any qualifying terms to the profession of Catholicism: it is quite enough for each one to proclaim “Christian is my name and Catholic my surname,” only let him endeavour to be in reality what he calls himself.

25. Besides, the Church demands from those who have devoted themselves to furthering her interests, something very different from the dwelling upon profitless questions; she demands that they should devote the whole of their energy to preserve the faith intact and unsullied by any breath of error, and follow most closely him whom Christ has appointed to be the guardian and interpreter of the truth. There are to be found today, and in no small numbers, men, of whom the Apostle says that: “having itching ears, they will not endure sound doctrine: but according to their own desires they will heap up to themselves teachers, and will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables” (II Tim. iv. 34). Infatuated and carried away by a lofty idea of the human intellect, by which God’s good gift has certainly made incredible progress in the study of nature, confident in their own judgment, and contemptuous of the authority of the Church, they have reached such a degree of rashness as not to hesitate to measure by the standard of their own mind even the hidden things of God and all that God has revealed to men. Hence arose the monstrous errors of “Modernism,” which Our Predecessor rightly declared to be “the synthesis of all heresies,” and solemnly condemned. We hereby renew that condemnation in all its fulness, Venerable Brethren, and as the plague is not yet entirely stamped out, but lurks here and there in hidden places, We exhort all to be carefully here and there in hidden places, We exhort all to be carefully on their guard against any contagion of the evil, to which we may apply the words Job used in other circumstances: “It is a fire that devoureth even to destruction, and rooteth up all things that spring” (Job xxxi. 12). Nor do We merely desire that Catholics should shrink from the errors of Modernism, but also from the tendencies or what is called the spirit of Modernism. Those who are infected by that spirit develop a keen dislike for all that savours of antiquity and become eager searchers after novelties in everything: in the way in which they carry out religious functions, in the ruling of Catholic institutions, and even in private exercises of piety. Therefore it is Our will that the law of our forefathers should still be held sacred: “Let there be no innovation; keep to what has been handed down.” In matters of faith that must be inviolably adhered to as the law; it may however also serve as a guide even in matters subject to change, but even in such cases the rule would hold: “Old things, but in a new way.”

26. As men are generally stimulated, Venerable Brethren, openly to profess their Catholic faith, and to harmonize their lives with its teaching, by brotherly exhortation and by the good example of their fellow men, we greatly rejoice as more and more Catholic associations are formed. Not only do We hope that they will increase, but it is Our wish that under Our patronage and encouragement they may ever flourish; and they certainly will flourish, if steadfastly and faithfully they abide by the directions which this Apostolic See has given or will give. Let all the members of societies which further the interests of God and His Church ever remember the words of Divine Wisdom: “An obedient man shall speak of victory” (Prov. xxi. 8), for unless they obey God by showing deference to the Head of the Church, vainly will they look for divine assistance, vainly, too, will they labour.

27. Now, in order that all these recommendations should have the results We hope for, you know, Venerable Brethren, how necessary is the prudent and assiduous work of those whom Christ our Lord sends as “labourers into His harvest,” that is to say the clergy. Remember, therefore, that your chief care must be to foster in the holiness which becomes them the clergy you already possess, and worthily to form your ecclesiastical students for so sacred an office by the very best available education and training. And although your carefulness in this respect calls for no stimulus, nevertheless We exhort and even implore you to give the matter your most careful attention. Nothing can be of greater importance for the good of the Church; but as Our Predecessors of happy memory, Leo XIII and Pius X, have definitely written on this subject, there is no need of further counsels from Us. We only beg of you that the writings of those wise pontiffs, and especially Pius X’s “Exhortation to the Clergy,” should, thanks to your insistent admonitions, not be forgotten, but ever attended to carefully.

28. There remains one matter which must not be passed over in silence, and that is, to remind the priests of the whole world, as Our most dear sons, how absolutely necessary it is, for their own salvation, and for the fruitfulness of their sacred ministry, that they should be most closely united with their Bishop and most loyal to him. The spirit of insubordination and independence, so characteristic of our times, has, as We deplored above, not entirely spared the ministers of the Sanctuary. It is not rare for pastors of the Church to find sorrow and contradiction where they had a right to look for comfort and help. Let those who have so unfortunately failed in their duty, recall to their minds again and again, that the authority of those whom “the Holy Spirit hath placed as Bishops to rule the Church of God” (Acts xx. 28) is a divine authority. Let them remember that if, as we have seen, those who resist any legitimate authority, resist God, much more impiously do they act who refuse to obey the Bishop, whom God has consecrated with a special character by the exercise of His power. “Since charity,” wrote St. Ignatius Martyr, “doth not suffer me to be silent concerning you, therefore was I forward to exhort you, that you run in harmony with the mind of God: for Jesus Christ also, our inseparable life, is the mind of the Father, even as the bishops that are settled in the farthest parts of the earth are in the mind of Jesus Christ. So then it becometh you to run in harmony with the mind of the bishop” (Ep. ad Ephes. iii.). These words of the illustrious Martyr are re-echoed throughout the ages by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church.

29. Moreover, bishops have a very heavy burden in consequence of the difficulties of the times; and heavier still is their anxiety for the salvation of the flock committed to their care: “For they watch as being to render an account of your souls” (Heb. xiii. 17). Are not, then, they to be termed cruel who, by the refusal of the obedience which is due, increase that burden and its bitterness? “For this is not expedient for you” (Heb. xiii. 17), the Apostle would say to them, and that, because “the Church is a people united to its bishop, a flock which adheres to its pastor” (St. Cyprian: Ep. 66 [al. 69]), whence it follows that he is not with the Church who is not with the bishop.

30. And now, Venerable Brethren, at the end of this Letter, our mind turns spontaneously to the subject with which we began; and we implore with our most earnest prayers the end of this most disastrous war for the sake of human society and for the sake of the Church; for human society, so that when peace shall have been concluded, it may go forward in every form of true progress; for the Church of Jesus Christ, that freed at length from all impediments it may go forth and bring comfort and salvation even to the most remote parts of the earth.

31. For a long time past the Church has not enjoyed that full freedom which it needs-never since the Sovereign Pontiff, its Head, was deprived of that protection which by divine Providence had in the course of ages been set up to defend that freedom. Once that safeguard was removed, there followed, as was inevitable, considerable trouble amongst Catholics: all, from far and near, who profess themselves sons of the Roman Pontiff, rightly demand a guarantee that the common Father of all should be, and should be seen to be, perfectly free from all human power in the administration of his apostolic office. And so while earnestly desiring that peace should soon be concluded amongst the nations, it is also Our desire that there should be an end to the abnormal position of the Head of the Church, a position in many ways very harmful to the very peace of nations. We hereby renew, and for the same reasons, the many protests Our Predecessors have made against such a state of things, moved thereto not by human interest, but by the sacredness of our office, in order to defend the rights and dignity of the Apostolic See.

32. It remains for Us, Venerable Brethren, since in God’s hands are the wills of princes and of those who are able to put an end to the suffering and destruction of which We have spoken, to raise Our voice in supplication to God, and in the name of the whole human race, to cry out: “Grant, O Lord, peace, in our day.” May He who said of himself: “I am the Lord . . . I make peace” (Isaias xli. 6-7) appeased by our prayers, quickly still the storm in which civil society and religious society are being tossed; and may the Blessed Virgin, who brought forth “the Prince of Peace,” be propitious towards us; and may she take under her maternal care and protection Our own humble person, Our Pontificate, the Church and the souls of all men, redeemed by the divine blood of her Son.

33 We most lovingly grant to you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy and to your people, the Apostolic Benediction, as a harbinger of heavenly gifts and as a pledge of our affection.

Given at St. Peter’s, Rome, on the Feast of All Saints the first day of November, one thousand nine hundred and fourteen the first year of our Pontificate.

Ego N. firma fide credo et profiteor omnia et singula, quae continentur in Symbolo, quo Sancta Romana ecclesia utitur, videlicet:	I, N, with a firm faith believe and profess each and everything which is contained in the Creed which the Holy Roman Church maketh use of. To wit:
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est, et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas, et ascendit in caelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos et mortuos, cuius regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.	I believe in one God, The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father. By whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. He was also crucified for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, and who spoke through the prophets. And one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Apostolicas et Ecclesiasticas traditiones reliquasque eiusdem ecclesiae observationes et constitutiones firmissime admitto et amplector.	The Apostolic and Ecclesiastical traditions and all other observances and constitutions of that same Church I firmly admit to and embrace.
Item sacram Scripturam iuxta eum sensum, quem tenuit et tenet sancta Mater Ecclesia, cuius est iudicare de vero sensu et interpretatione sacrarum Scripturarum, admitto; nec eam umquam nisi iuxta unanimem consensum Patrum, accipiam et interpretabor.	I also accept the Holy Scripture according to that sense which holy mother the Church hath held, and doth hold, and to whom it belongeth to judge the true sense and interpretations of the Scriptures. Neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
Profiteor quoque septem esse vere et proprie Sacramenta novae legis a Iesu Christo Domino nostro instituta, atque ad salutem humani generis, licet non omnia singulis, necessaria: scilicet Baptismum, Confirmationem, Eucharistiam, Paenitentiam, Extremam Unctionem, Ordinem et Matrimonium; illaque gratiam conferre; et ex his Baptismum, Confirmationem et Ordinem sine sacrilegio reiterari non posse. Receptos quoque et approbatos Ecclesiae catholicae ritus in supradictorum omnium Sacramentorum solemni administratione recipio et admitto.	I also profess that there are truly and properly Seven Sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all are necessary for everyone; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and that they confer grace; and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders cannot be repeated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the accepted and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments.
Omnia et singula, quae de peccato originali et de iustificatione in sacrosancta Tridentina Synodo definita et declarata fuerunt, amplector et recipio.	I embrace and accept each and everything which has been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning original sin and justification.
Profiteor pariter, in Missa offerri Deo verum, proprium et propitiatorium sacrificium pro vivis et defunctis. Atque in sanctissimo Eucharistiae Sacramento esse vere, realiter et substantialiter Corpus et Sanguinem, una cum anima et divinitate Domini nostri Iesu Christi, fierique conversionem totius substantiae panis in Corpus ac totius substantiae vini in Sanguinem, quam conversionem Ecclesia catholica transubstantiationem appellat. Fateor etiam sub altera tantum specie totum atque integrum Christum verumque Sacramentum sumi.	I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the Body and Blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that a conversion takes place of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I also confess that under either species alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament.
Constanter teneo, Purgatorium esse, animasque ibi detentas fidelium suffragiis iuvari. Similiter et Sanctos, una cum Christo regnantes, venerandos atque invocandos esse, eosque orationes Deo pro nobis offerre, atque eorum reliquias esse venerandas. Firmiter² assero, imagines Christi ac Deiparae semper Virginis, necnon aliorum Sanctorum habendas et retinendas esse, atque eis debitum honorem et venerationem impertiendam.	I steadfastly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are to be honored and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated. I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other Saints, ought to be kept and retained, and that due honor and veneration is to be given them.
Indulgentiarum etiam potestatem a Christo in Ecclesia relictam fuisse, illarumque usum Christiano populo maxime salutarem esse affirmo.	I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.
Sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Romanam Ecclesiam omnium ecclesiarum matrem et magistram agnosco, Romanoque Pontifici, beati Petri Apostolorum principis successori, ac Iesu Christi Vicario, veram oboedientiam spondeo ac iuro.	I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church as the mother and teacher of all churches; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.
Cetera item omnia a sacris canonibus et oecumenicis Conciliis, ac praecipue a sacrosancta Tridentina Synodo, et ab oecumenico Concilio Vaticano tradita, definita et declarata, praesertim de Romani Pontificis Primatu et infallibili Magisterio, indubitanter recipio ac profiteor; simulque contraria omnia, atque haereses quascumque ab Ecclesia damnatas et reiectas et anathematizatas ego pariter damno, reicio, et anathematizo.	I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and general Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent, and by the ecumenical Council of the Vatican, particularly concerning the primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his infallible teaching. I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the Church hath condemned, rejected, and anathematized.
Hanc veram Catholicam Fidem, extra quam nemo salvus esse potest, quam in praesenti sponte profiteor et veraciter teneo, eandem integram, et immaculatam usque ad extremum vitae spiritum, constantissime, Deo adiuvante, retinere et confiteri, atque a meis subditis, vel illis, quorum cura ad me in munere meo spectabit, teneri, doceri et praedicari, quantum in me erit, curaturum, ego idem N. spondeo, voveo ac iuro. Sic me Deus adiuvet et haec sancta Dei Evangelia.	This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and to which I truly adhere, I do so profess and swear to maintain inviolate and with firm constancy with the help of God until the last breath of life. And I shall strive, as far as possible, that this same faith shall be held, taught, and professed by all those over whom I have charge. I N. do so pledge, promise, and swear, so help me God and these Holy Gospels of God.

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