APOSTOLIC LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS, POPE LEO XIII., ANNOUNCING A UNIVERSAL JUBILEE TO IMPLORE DIVINE ASSISTANCE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VI, Issue 313, 18 April 1879, Page 5

APOSTOLIC LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS, POPE LEO XIII., ANNOUNCING A UNIVERSAL JUBILEE TO IMPLORE DIVINE ASSISTANCE.

LEO. XIII. POPE. TO ALL THE FAITHFUL OP CHRIST. [Translated for the Nen York Freemans Journal} + The Sovereign Pontiffs, Our predecessors, following an old institution of the Roman Church have been accustomed, from the commencemente of the Apostolic Burden, with which they were charged, to open to the faithful, with paternal liberality, the treasures of heavenly gifts and to order throughout the Church common prayers, so as to afford the faithful the occasion of a spiritual and salutary advantage, and to excite them to bring upon themselves the aid of the Eternal Pastor by prayer, by pious works, and by the relief of the poor. It was, on the one hand, like an auspicious gift which the Supreme Heads of religion distributed from the outset of their Apostolic ministry to their children in Christ, as a holy token of that charity with which they surrounded the family of Christ ; on the other hand it was a solemn duty of Christian piety and virtue, offered to God, by the faithful united, with their pastors, to the visible Head of the Church, to the end that the Father of Mercies might regard favourably, custodire fcujnaretuv acpascere, not only His flock, to use the words of St. Leo, " but also the shepherd and his sheep." (Serm. iii., al. v., on the anniversary of his election.) Actuated by this design, and, on the approach of the anniversary of Our election, following the example of Our predecessors, We have resolved to proclaim to the whole Catholic world an indulgence in the form of a General Jubilee. We know perfectly well how necessary the fulness of Divine grace is to Our weakness in the difficult ministry intrusted to us ; We know by long experience the lamentable condition of the times we have come to, and the great storms by which the Church is assailed in our day ; finally the public affairs that are rushing forward to destruction, the fatal designs of impious men, and the threats of Divine wrath, which have already fallen severely upon some, make us fear the coming of evils which are daily growing worse. But, as the special benefit of a Jubilee tends to the expiation of the stains upon the soul, to the performance of works of penance and charity, to the multiplication of exercises of devotion ; as the sacrifices of justice and the prayers offered up by the unanimous zeal of the whole Church, are so fecund and pleasing to God, that they appear to do violence to divine mercy, we must have a firm confidence that our Heavenly Father will regard the humility of His people, and that

restoring things to a better condition, He will bring us the relief and the light desired from His mercies. For, "if," as the same Leo the Great says, " our spiritual enemies maybe conqnereA by the correction of morals which the grace of God granted to wt, the power afour corporal enemies will also fall, aud they shall be weakened by our converswn,who oppress us, not because of their merits, but became of our sins. (Serm i for Lent.) Hence it is that we earnestly exhort each and all the children of the Church, and we pray them, in our Lord, to unite their prayers to oure, together with all supplications and exercises of Christian discipline and piety ; We beg them, with God's help, with the greatest zeal, for the welfare of their souls and for the advantage of the Church, to avail themselves of the grace of the Jubilee extended to them, and of this time of heavenly mercies. nnnn £"' £?' £ 7 tb f I ? ercy of Almi g ht y God, and basing ourselves upon the authority of the Blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, in the name of the power of binding and loosing which God has confided to us, unworthy as we are— to each and all faithful Christians of both sexes residing m our venerable city, or coming to it, who, from the n*st Sunday in Lent, that is to say, from March 2nd to June Ist inclusively, Pentecost Sunday, shall have paid two visits to the Basilicas of St. John Lateran, of the Prince of the Apostles, and of St. Mary Major, and who there, shall, for a certain length of time, hare offered n£ti?ni O - ÜB r& ray l rS Q 2 d *J OT the P ros Perity "id exaltation of the Catholic Church and of this Apostolic See, for the extirpation of heresies, for the conversion of all who are in error, for concord amone Christian princes, for the peace and unity of all faithful people, and according to our intentions ; to these faithful who once daring the time above indicated, shall have fasted by using only fasting food, on days other than those included in the Lenten Regulations! or such other days as are consecrated by the precept of the Church as subject to the same fast of strict observance ; and who, having confessed their sins, shall have received the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist and who shall have given alms, either to the poor or to some pious object, such as the devotion of each shall suggest ;— as to others, who shall reside anywhere outside of Rome, and who, during the three months indicated above, shall have made two visits to three churches m the same city, or in the same place or vicinity as indicated by the Ordinanea of the places or their Vicars, or officials, or in their absence, and according to their instructions, by those who exercise the care of -souls (these visits shall be made three times where there are but two churches and six times where there is but one) and who shall have devoutly performed the other acts enumerated above— to all we give and grant the Plenary Indulgence of all their sins, which it is customary to grant to those who, in the year of Jubilee, visit the churches designated in and out of Rome. We grant also that this Indulgence may be made available, by means of suffrage, to the souls that have left this life in union of charity with God. Moreover, we grant to Ordinaries of places, the power, according to their wise judgement, to reduce the number of visits to a smaller number for Chapters and Congregations, Secular as well as Regular, for Associations, Confraternities, Universities and Colleges of all kinds, who shall visit processionally the churches herein mentioned. We grant to navigators and travellers, as soon as they shall have returned to their homes, or elsewhere, at some fixed station, the authority validly to obtain the same Indulgence, by performing the acts prescribed above, and by making six visits to the Cathedral or principal Church, or the parochial Church at their homes or at the station where they may be. For Rfigulars of both sexes, even those in perpetual cloister, and for other ecclesiastics.or laymen, secular or Regular, detained in prison or in captivity, or prevented bj any other obstacle, who may be unable to perform the aforesaid acts or any of them, we also grant, and permit all Confessors actually approved by the Ordinaries of the places, to change these acts for other acts of piety or to postpone them until the first opportunity, and to prescribe such as the penitents may be able to perform, likewise, to dispense from Communion all children who have not yet made their First Communion. Moreover, We grant the permission and the faculty to all faithful Christians, and to each one of them, lay as well as ecclesiastical secular as well as regular, of whatever orders or institute that it may even be necessary to specify particularly, to select for this purpose such Confessor as may be pleasing to them, secular or regular, among those approved (this applies even to nuns, novices and other women being in cloister, provided this Confessor is approved for nuns) with power and authority to hear the confessions of those who shall come to him with the intention of profiting by the present Jubilee, and of performing the other acts necessary to gain it," and within the period of time designated, to absolve them for this time, and in faro conscientlae at least, by imposing upon them a salutary penance and other lawful conditions (and this includes heresy, after having first made them abjure and retract, as of right, their errors), from excommunication, from suspension and other ecclesiastical sentences, from censures incurred, or pronounced or inflicted by law, or by man, for any cause whatsoever, even in cases reserved to Ordinaries, and to Ourself, or to the Apostolic See, even in those which are reserved to each of them, and to the Sovereign Pontiff and the Apostolic See, under a special form, and which may not otherwise be considered included in other concessions, however full they may be, (castitatis, religionis et obligationis, quae a tertio acceptata f uerint, seu in quibus agatur de praejudicio tertii semper exceptis, nee non pcenalibus, quse preservativa a peccato nuncupantur, nisi commutatis futura judicetur ejusmodi, ut non minus a peccato committendo refrenet, guam prior voti materia) and to dispense penitents of this class, engaged in holy orders, even regulars, from the exercise of these orders and the obtaining of the higher orders ; and from hidden irregularity incurred solely for violation of censures. In the meantime, we do not intend, by this Brief, to grant dispensation for any other irregularity, whether from fault or from defect; whether public or hidden, or known, or other unfitness or inaptitude in whatever way contracted, nor in the aforesaid cases to grant the faculty of giving these dispensations, or to restore the ability, or to reinstate the guilty in their former condition, even in foro conscientia, nor to derogate from the Constitution published with

the proper declarations by Our predecessor, Benedict XIV., of happy memory, commencing thus : Sacramentxumpasnltentice. Finally, this Brief cannot, nor should it be made available to those who, either by us and by the Apostolic See, or by any Prelate or Ecclesiastical judge, shall have been by name excommunicated, suspended, or interdicted or who shall have been publicly indicated or denounced as having incurred other judgements and censures, unless they have, during the period indicated, made satisfaction, and who have not placed themselves right, as far as required by their duty. But if they have been able, in the judgment of the Confessor, to satisfy, during the prescribed time, We permit them to be absolved in foro conscientice, and with the sole object of gaining the Indulgences of the Jubilee, by satisfying the obligation as soon as possible. Hence it is, that in virtue of a holy obedience, we formally enjoin and ordain by the tenor of this Brief, on each and all Ordinaries wheresoever they may be located, and on their Vicars and Officials, and, in their absence, on those who are in charge of souls, from the time they shall have received copies written or printed of this present Brief, to publish it, aud cause it to be published in their Churches and Dioceses, in the Provinces, cities, towns, lands and other regions, and to designate the church or churches to be visited, as set forth above, to their people, after having, as far as possible, properly prepared them by the preaching of the Word of God. And this, notwithstanding the Apostolic Constitutions and Ordinances, especially those in which the faculty of absolving, in certain express cases, is reserved to the reigning Sovereign Pontiff, so that similar or different concessions of Indulgences and faculties of the same kind may not be applied to any one, unless express mention or special exception to them be made ; notwithstanding, also, the rule relative to Indulgences that should not be granted ad instar; notwithstanding the statutes and usages established even by the oath of religious orders, whether Congregations or Institutes, by Apostolic confirmation, or by whatsoever other consecration, and the privileges, indults and Apostolic Letters granted, approved and renewed in any manner whatsoever to these Religious Orders, Congregations or Institutes, and to the members thereof. Of all these acts, and of each of them, although mention should be made of them, as well as of their tenor, in a special, specific, express and individual manner, and not in general terms tending to the same end, even when they ought to be expressed otherwise, or that some other requh-ed form should be observed in. this regard, we hold as included in the tenor and form of their usage as sufficiently observed by this Brief ; and for this time in particular and specifically, and solely in view of the aforesaid effects, we except it as well as all other things to the contrary. But that our present Brief, which cannot betaken to every place, may the more readily come to the knowledge of all, we desire that copies of this Brief, signed by the hand of some notary public, and furnished with the seal of some person having an ecclesiastical dignity* may be received in all places on earth, as readil) as these presents themselves, if they were presented or produced. Given at Rome, near St. Peter's, under the Fisherman's Ring, on the 15th day of February, 1879, and the first of our Pontificate. L. Card. Nina.