THE POPE’S ENCYCLICAL'S LETTER

New Zealand Tablet, 11 February 1915, Page 23

THE POPE’S ENCYCLICAL'S LETTER

(Official Translation.)

The Work of Pius X.

Let us now turn our thoughts from human society to the immediate affairs of the Church, for it is neces3ary 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. 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.

The Union of Catholics

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. 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 endeavors 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 Cathodes is a real victory for them. Hence it is their usual practice when they see Catholics strongly united, to endeavor 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. As regards matters in which without harm to faith or discipline—in the absence of any authoritative intervention of the Apostolic Sec—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.

The Integrity of Faith

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 endeavor to be in reality what he calls himself.

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 to-day, 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’ (11. Tim. iv. 3-4). Infatuated and carried away by a lofty idea of the human intellect, oy 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 ,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 of what is called the spirit of Modernism. Those who are infected by that spirit develop a keen dislike for all that savors 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.’

As men are generally stimulated, Venerable Brethren, openly to profes? their Catholic faith, and to harmonise 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 : 1 An obedient man shall speak of victory’ (Prov. xxi. 8), for unless they obey God b}' showing deference to the Head of the Church, vainly will they look for divine assistance, vainly, too, will they labor.

Loyalty to the Bishops.

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 ‘ laborers 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 tor 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.

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.

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 [a?. 69]), whence it follows that he is not with the Church who is not with the bishop.

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 mostearnest prayers the end of this most disastrous war for the sake of human society and for the sake of the Church ; for human societv, 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.

The Freedom of the Church

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 bo, 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. 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. 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, Pome, on the. Feast of All Faints, the first day of November, one f hoy sand nine hundred and fourteen, the first year of our Pontificate.

BENEDICT XV., POPE.