PASTORALIS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON RELIGIOUS UNION
To
Our Beloved Sans, Joseph Sebastian, S.R.E. Cardinal Netto, Patriarch of
Lisbon, Americo S.R.E. Cardinal Dos Santos Silva, Bishop of Oporto; and
to Our Venerable Brethren Antony, Archbishop of Braga, and to the other
Archbishops and Bishops of Portugal.
Beloved
Sons, Venerable Brethren: Health and the Apostolic Benediction.
The noble
Congress lately held at Braga, the news of which a very welcome letter
on the part of those who were present conveyed to Us at its completion,
has given another proof of the Pastoral watchfulness wherewith you devote
your efforts to the preservation and strengthening of religion. In reading
that letter We were delighted both with the solicitous zeal of the Bishop
of the diocese where the Congress was received-one who was the chief founder
of the movement, and presided over it to successful issues-and with the
piety and energy of the Bishops who were associated with him or had sent
worthy representatives to the Congress, and with the notable gathering
of men chosen carefully from the clergy and laity, pre-eminent in learning,
virtue, and authority. "That Congress was the more gratifying to
Us on account of the admirable unanimity of principle in the determination
of such decisions as
would most powerfully work for the prosperity of the Church and the progress
of Catholicity. Nor will We conceal that, beside the resolutions which
were opportunely carried by unanimous consent as peculiarly appropriate
to the time and the place, those propositions which expressed the devoted
sentiment and zeal of the members towards the Apostolic See, to the effect
that due honour should ever be paid to its dignity, and that no title
of its majesty or its rights should be reft from it, brought to Us no
little comfort.
2. We
are indeed of good hope that the resolutions which were agreed upon at
that Congress, so long as they are observed with care and perseverance,
will effect a plentiful harvest of fruitfulness; but We find Ourselves
compelled to observe that a rich field still remains that demands your
labour and your industry. Wherefore, although quite recently We addressed
you by letter on the Catholic position and its needs in Portugal, and
of the course to be pursued for their most convenient accomplishment,
nevertheless We are induced to add to that letter some words which We
hold fitting to communicate to you, lest, since an occasion for writing
to you has occurred, We should seem to be wanting in duty.
3.
You must be aware, beloved sons,
Venerable Brethren, of the truth which was perfectly appreciated at the
Congress of Braga, that it has come to pass that the faith itself is among
many in danger, and that every effort must be made, that, through ignorance
or indifference, it should not fall and fail from souls, but rather that
it should take deep root in hearts and should bring forth in good works
and the practice of virtue a glad and plentiful sweetness of perfect fruits.
Strife must be made against the attempts of the enemies of truth, lest
the evil stain which drops from their bad example and their widely disseminated
teaching should spread more and more. Many wounds are to be healed which
the dishonest toil of such men, and the unhappiness of the times, have
struck in the flocks committed to your care, many ruins are to be built
up, many hardships still oppress the souls of the faithful, which-though
haply it is impossible to destroy them-may at least be lightened.
4.
These needs which, as We have said, demand your care and your industry,
will be more fully and more suitably attended to if day by day the concord
between the Bishops is strengthened, and if their work is made more co-operative
in remedying the needs of clergy and laity, in taking counsel and in making
such decisions as shall seem to align best with the common good, both
for the particular requirements of separate dioceses, and for those that
reach farther and rise higher, with which the prosperity and the weal
of the whole people are associated. The convenience of a stricter bond
of union between the Bishops did not escape the prudence of those who
met at Braga. Wherefore those resolutions of that great Congress were
the most gratifying to Us which recommended the founding of such a bond,
through which the faithful look for ampler and lasting benefits from those
rulers who are their directors and their guides.
5. Now
to achieve this permanent and perfect union nothing is more effective
than the custom already practised in other countries, that besides the
Congresses at which the laity assist (such as the Congress of Braga) there
should be every year special meetings of the Bishops, a custom which you
have at heart, and which We greatly desire to see introduced among you,
since the benefits accruing by its means to religion are made evident
by the manifold and constant testimony of experience. For from the habit
of such Congresses there first follows, as we have said,
a notable unanimity and compactness of strength, which of itself is potent
to bring great designs to successful issues; moreover, the hearts of the
Bishops are more keenly moved to action, confidence is confirmed, and
minds are enlightened by common counsel and the light of wisdom shining
from one to another. In addition to this, by these Conferences, the way
is in a manner prepared both for diocesan and for provincial Synods, and
for the meeting of the National Council, for the holding of which We rejoice
to know that you are anxious, since Our long experience of the advantage
to be gained therefrom strongly approves of it, and the prescriptions
of the sacred canons commend it in a marked manner. Moreover, from the
Annual Congresses of Bishops, of which We speak, this great benefit also
flows, that the laity, moved to greater zeal by new impulses, resolve
to walk in the paths set for them, themselves to hold meetings, to join
in council, and by a union of strength to strive for the common cause
of religion, and in obedience to their pastors to perform sedulously those
duties which they accept from their teachings and exhortations. Nor in
your annual assemblies will you find that there is lack of matter whereunto
to devote your zeal and your energy. For beyond the special business of
the separate dioceses, which can more easily be furthered under the light
of a shared experience, the ordering of those works which are most effective
for rousing the zeal of the priesthood already labouring in the Lord's
vineyard, and for the education of students who will one day have to shine
in the house of God with the light of solid wisdom, with the merit of
a true ecclesiastical spirit, with every sacerdotal virtue this will afford
a large field of work to your prudence and your common deliberations.
Another matter which will require your fatherly watchfulness will be the
diligent inquiry into the means of best filling the mind of the people
with the rudiments of faith, of directing their morals, of circulating
writings which sow the seed of true faith and make for virtue, of setting
a-foot works which shall pour out the benefits of charity and of securing
that those already founded shall be confirmed in new strength. Finally,
a very important subject of your debates will consist in the opportunity
afforded to you of founding and affiliating religious societies in Portugal,
the interests of which We rejoiced to see that all who met at Braga had
deeply at heart. For these sodalities not only
contribute as it were auxiliary forces to the clergy who follow in your
dioceses the sacred army of Christ, but also-this is of crucial importance-they
will supply apostolic men for the work of the holy missions in countries
subject to the dominion of Portugal in lands beyond the seas. The fulfilment
of this function will work both for the prosperity of Christ's kingdom
on earth, and for the glory and honour of the Portuguese name. In truth
your rulers and your ancestry have obtained a deathless glory in that
they carried to the vast regions discovered by them the light of gospel
truth, together with a higher civilisation, under the favour and assistance
of the Apostolic See. But that the strength and glory of these noble beginnings
may still remain and may never fail from that ancient stability and splendour,
there is need that they be upheld by the unwavering care and support of
eminent men, who filled with the Divine Spirit and ever vigilant against
the hostile attacks of heretics, shall devote all their zeal, all their
energy, that the benefits which have flowed out of Portugal into these
countries may, so far from waning, flourish with the infusion of a fresh
strength. It will be the duty of such men to effect that they who already
believe in God may be increased in faith; that they whose faith is strong
may practise the ideals of honourable living, religious worship, diligence
in duty's fulfilment; lastly, that they who still lie in darkness may
be brought to the knowledge of the true God and to the light of the Gospel.
6.
Now the religious associations whose members, in the judgment of prudent
men (to which the experience of all time testifies) have fulfilled this
ministry of salvation no less gladly than laboriously, will be able to
supply many men burning with holy zeal. For the rule and discipline of
the societies to which they belong, as well as the virtue of each trained
in constant exercise, is likeliest to produce men efficient before all
others for such work as this.
7. We
are indeed persuaded that the Portuguese Government lending a favourable
hearing to your counsels, and judging at their highest value those benefits
which come before all others, will of its own accord abolish all the obstacles
that block the way to the liberty of those societies, and will lend its
aid to further your endeavours which are directed to this end, that the
Catholic religion may flourish and grow strong with its ancestral
glory, in Portugal
and in all the lands subjected to her sway.
8. We
are the more easily persuaded of this, inasmuch as none can be ignorant,
since it is known fully to you, what are Our desires and prayers in this
matter. Moreover, while they are connected with the good of religion,
they no less work for the solid prosperity of the Portuguese nation. For
this gift, this possession, was granted to the Church by her Divine Founder,
that she should be in the common society of men a bond of peace and the
guardian of salvation. Wherefore the Church in no way weakens the power
of those who rule the State, rather she supports and strengthens it, in
conferring on the laws that spring from this power the sanction of religion,
in reckoning among the obligations laid upon mankind by God a due reverence
for authority, in warning citizens to refrain from sedition and all disturbance
in the State, in teaching all to practise virtue, and conscientiously
to fulfil the duties that belong to their condition in life. Therefore
is the Church the pinnacle of morality, and by her salutary discipline
she trains citizens to be upright, honourable, patriotic, faithful and
very steadfast to duty, to be such men in fine as stand for an immovable
foundation in the public ordering of the State, and as give to it an unconquerable
strength for the achievement of every noble and high ideal. Therefore
is it to the State's high advantage to leave to the Church that liberty
of action which she demands of right, and to prepare a friendly path where
she may be able to touch far lands with her beneficial powers, and to
employ all the gifts of her endowment for the common good.
9.
Now although this doctrine is applicable to all nations, most specially
does it affect the Portuguese, among whom the influence of the Catholic
religion in training the character and disposition of men, in fostering
the studies of science, letters, and arts, in kindling the soul to every
civic and military virtue, has been so great, even so that she seems as
it were the mother and nurse given from on High to bring forth and train
whatever gentleness, dignity, and glory shone out in that race.
10. On
this subject We have treated more fully in the recorded Encyclical letter
which lately We addressed to you; what is important to recall at present
is that the power of religion should suf fer no darkening, because those
doctrines which the
Church, under God, teaches, are restrained by no limits of time and place,
but are bound up with the salvation and comfort of all people. This is
the reason why those high benefits and strong safeguards, which she brought
of old time to your noble nation, she is still ready to bring for the
advancement of your prosperity and your fame. And particularly at this
unhappy time, when weakness of spirit so abounds that the highest principles
upon which the order and tranquillity of human society depend are boldly
attacked, nay are brought even to totter, none can be ignorant how necessary
is the observance of religion and those holy counsels and teachings which
religion enforces.
11. It
is the unanimous agreement of all principled and honourable men, that
there is no remedy more efficacious and potent against the evils by which
Our age is oppressed, and against the perils in store, than the Catholic
doctrine, if it be received whole and incorrupt, and if mankind walk in
that way of life which its practice demands.
12.
Wherefore We do not doubt, beloved sons, Venerable Brethren, that you
will, with your well-known pastoral zeal, hasten with
strength and constancy of spirit to set your hands to the work we have
commended to you. Thus will it be your high praise and just congratulation
that in your labours you were able to deserve most nobly of the religion
which you uphold so well, and of your country and your race, for whom
you, no less than Ourselves, greatly desire an unbroken tranquillity and
a lease of perfect prosperity.
13.
Meantime, praying God to fill you with His good gifts and graciously to
favour your designs, We grant lovingly in the Lord the Apostolic Benediction,
in witness of Our fatherly affection, to you and to the clergy and faithful
entrusted to your care.
Given
at Rome, at St. Peter's, June 25, 1891, in the 14th year of Our Pontificate.
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