PAPAL ENCYCLICAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 October 1939, Page 7

PAPAL ENCYCLICAL

“DIVINE LAW FORGOTTEN” APPEAL FOR PEACE TREATIES [BY CABLE—PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] (Reed. October 28, 11.40 a.m.) VATICAN CITY, October 27. “The profound and ultimate root of the present evils is the refusal to accept a standard of universal morality for the life of the individual, for social life, and for international relations,’’ declared Pope Pius XII., in a 10,000-word Encyclical. “In other words, the present evils can be traced to a disregard and forgetfulness of the natural law, whose foundation is in God.

“After the denial of God comes a denial ol law. The result is religious and moral agnosticism, from which spring two pernicious errors, firstly, forgetfulness of human solidarity and charity, and secondly, the error of pretending to absolve the civil authority from dependence on God, thus establishing the State as the final end in life. This State autonomy is contrary to natural leason and Christian conscience, since it reduces everything to the level of utilitarian morality; but the rights of conscience are sacred and inviolable.”

Referring to the dictatorships, his Holiness said: “To considfer the State as something ultimate, subordinating everything, cannot but fail to harm the true and lasting prosperity of nations.” He added that “war alone would not lead to a decisive change in conditions, without peace treaties animated by justice and equity to all.

The Pope appealed for peace treaties to end the present war, and to avoid the sacrifices and suffering which, hitherto, had failed to bring lasting peace.

International law could not be torn from the anchor of Divine law, without abandoning it to the caprice of private interests and collective egoism, thus opening the door to domination

and force, giving legal standing to accomplished facts inconsistent with treaties, and destroying confidence among the nations. These conceptions had brought the world to the present horrible abyss. Since human expedients had miserably failed, salvation could come only from the Church. The Pope expressed sorrow, for Poland and • promised to do all in his power to hasten the restoration of peace.