IN
PLURIMIS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE
ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
To
the Bishops of Brazil.
Amid
the many and great demonstrations of affection which from almost all the
peoples of the earth have come to Us, and are still coming to Us, in congratulation
upon the happy attainment of the fiftieth anniversary of Our priesthood,
there is one which moves Us in a quite special way. We mean one which
comes from Brazil, where, upon the occasion of this happy event, large
numbers of those who in that vast empire groan beneath the yoke of slavery,
have been legally set free. And this work, so full of the spirit of Christian
mercy, has been offered up in cooperation with the clergy, by charitable
members of the laity of both sexes, to God, the Author and Giver of all
good things, in testimony of their gratitude for the favor of the health
and the years which have been granted to Us. But this was specially acceptable
and sweet to Us because it lent confirmation to the belief, which is so
welcome to Us, that the great majority of the people of Brazil desire
to see the cruelty of slavery ended, and rooted out from the land. This
popular feeling has been strongly seconded by the emperor and his august
daughter, and also by the ministers, by means of various laws which, with
this end in view, have been introduced and sanctioned. We told the Brazilian
ambassador last January what a consolation these things were to Us, and
We also assured him that We would address letters to the bishops of Brazil
in behalf of these unhappy slaves.
2. We,
indeed, to all men are the Vicar of Christ, the Son of God, who so loved
the human race that not only did He not refuse, taking our nature to Himself,
to live among men, but delighted in bearing the name of the Son of Man,
openly proclaiming that He had come upon earth "to preach deliverance
to the captives"(1) in order that, rescuing mankind from the worst
slavery, which is the slavery of sin, "he might re-establish all
things that are in heaven and on earth,"(2) and so bring back all
the children of Adam from the depths of the ruin of the common fall to
their original dignity. The words of St. Gregory the Great are very applicable
here: "Since our Redeemer, the Author of all life, deigned to take
human flesh, that by the power of His Godhood the chains by which we were
held in bondage being broken, He might restore us to our first state of
liberty, it is most fitting that men by the concession of manumission
should restore to the freedom in which they were born those whom nature
sent free into the world, but who have been condemned to the yoke of slavery
by the law of
nations."(3) It is right, therefore, and obviously in keeping with
Our apostolic office, that We should favor and advance by every means
in Our power whatever helps to secure for men, whether as individuals
or as communities, safeguards against the many miseries, which, like the
fruits of an evil tree, have sprung from the sin of our first parents;
and such safeguards, of whatever kind they may be, help not only to promote
civilization and the amenities of life, but lead on to that universal
restitution of all things which our Redeemer Jesus Christ contemplated
and desired.
3. In
the presence of so much suffering, the condition of slavery, in which
a considerable part of the great human family has been sunk in squalor
and affliction now for many centuries, is deeply to be deplored; for the
system is one which is wholly opposed to that which was originally ordained
by God and by nature. The Supreme Author of all things so decreed that
man should exercise a sort of royal dominion over beasts and cattle and
fish and fowl, but never that men should exercise a like dominion over
their fellow men. As St. Augustine puts it: "Having created man a
reasonable being, and after His own likeness, God wished that he should
rule only over the brute creation; that he should be the master, not of
men, but of beasts." From this it follows that "the state of
slavery is rightly regarded as a penalty upon the sinner; thus, the word
slave does not occur in the Bible until the just man Noe branded with
it the sin of his son. It was sin, therefore, which deserved this name;
it was not natural."(4)
4. From
the first sin came all evils, and specially this perversity that there
were men who, forgetful of the original brotherhood of the race, instead
of seeking, as they should naturally have done, to promote mutual kindness
and mutual respect, following their evil desires began to think of other
men as their inferiors, and to hold them as cattle born for the yoke.
In this way, through an absolute forgetfulness of our common nature, and
of human dignity, and the likeness of God stamped upon us all, it came
to pass that in the contentions and wars which then broke out, those who
were the stronger reduced the conquered into slavery; so that mankind,
though of the same race, became divided into two sections, the conquered
slaves and their victorious masters. The history of the ancient world
presents us with this miserable spectacle down to the time of the
coming of our Lord,
when the calamity of slavery had fallen heavily upon all the peoples,
and the number of freemen had become so reduced that the poet was able
to put this atrocious phrase into the mouth of Caesar: "The human
race exists for the sake of a few."(5)
5. The
system flourished even among the most civilized peoples, among the Greeks
and among the Romans, with whom the few imposed their will upon the many;
and this power was exercised so unjustly and with such haughtiness that
a crowd of slaves was regarded merely as so many chattels-not as persons,
but as things. They were held to be outside the sphere of law, and without
even the claim to retain and enjoy life. "Slaves are in the power
of their masters, and this power is derived from the law of nations; for
we find that among all nations masters have the power of life and death
over their slaves, and whatever a slave earns belongs to his master."(6)
Owing to this state of moral confusion it became lawful for men to sell
their slaves, to give them in exchange, to dispose of them by will, to
beat them, to kill them, to abuse them by forcing them to serve for the
gratification of evil passions and cruel superstitions; these things could
be done, legally, with impunity, and in the light of heaven. Even those
who were wisest in the pagan world, illustrious philosophers and learned
jurisconsults, outraging the common feeling of mankind, succeeded in persuading
themselves and others that slavery was simply a necessary condition of
nature. Nor did they hesitate to assert that the slave class was very
inferior to the freemen both in intelligence and perfection of bodily
development, and therefore that slaves, as things wanting in reason and
sense, ought in all things to be the instruments of the will, however
rash and unworthy, of their masters. Such inhuman and wicked doctrines
are to be specially detested; for, when once they are accepted, there
is no form of oppression so wicked but that it will defend itself beneath
some color of legality and justice. History is full of examples showing
what a seedbed of crime, what a pest and calamity, this system has been
for states. Hatreds are excited in the breasts of the slaves, and the
masters are kept in a state of suspicion and perpetual dread; the slaves
prepare to avenge themselves with the torches of the incendiary, and the
masters continue the task of oppression with greater cruelty. States are
disturbed alternately by the number of the slaves and by the violence
of the masters, and so are easily overthrown; hence, in a word, come riots
and seditions, pillage and fire.
6. The
greater part of humanity were toiling in this abyss of misery, and were
the more to be pitied because they were sunk in the darkness of superstition,
when in the fullness of time and by the designs of God, light shone down
upon the world, and the merits of Christ the Redeemer were poured out
upon mankind. By that means they were lifted out of the Slough and the
distress of slavery, and recalled and brought back from the terrible bondage
of sin to their high dignity as the sons of God. Thus, the Apostles, in
the early days of the Church, among other precepts for a devout life taught
and laid down the doctrine which more than once occurs in the Epistles
of St. Paul addressed to those newly baptized: "For you are all the
children of God by faith, in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have
been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew, nor
Greek; there is neither bond, nor free; there is neither male nor female.
For you are all one in Christ Jesus."(7) "Where there is neither
Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian,
bond nor free. But Christ is all and in all."(8) "For in one
Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether
bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink."(9)
Golden words, indeed, noble and wholesome lessons, whereby its old dignity
is given back and with increase to the human race, and men of whatever
land or tongue of class are bound together and joined in the strong bonds
of brotherly kinship. Those things St. Paul, with that Christian charity
with which he was filled, learned from the very heart of Him who, with
much surpassing goodness, gave Himself to be the brother of us all, and
in His own person, without omitting or excepting any one, so ennobled
men that they might become participators in the divine nature. Through
this Christian charity the various races of men were drawn together under
the divine guidance in such a wonderful way that they blossomed into a
new state of hope and public happiness; as with the progress of time and
events and the constant labor of the Church the various nations were able
to gather together, Christian and free, organized anew after the manner
of a family.
7. From
the beginning the Church spared no pains to make the Christian people,
in a matter of
such high importance, accept and firmly hold the true teachings of Christ
and the Apostles. And now through the new Adam, who is Christ, there is
established a brotherly union between man and man, and people and people;
just as in the order of nature they all have a common origin, so in the
order which is above nature they all have one and the same origin in salvation
and faith; all alike are called to be the adopted sons of God and the
Father, who has paid the self same ransom for us all; we are all members
of the same body, all are allowed to partake of the same divine banquet,
and offered to us all are the blessings of divine grace and of eternal
life. Having established these principles as beginnings and foundations,
the Church, like a tender mother, went on to try to find some alleviation
for the sorrows and the disgrace of the life of the slave; with this end
in view she clearly defined and strongly enforced the rights and mutual
duties of masters and slaves as they are laid down in the letters of the
Apostles. It was in these words that the Princes of the Apostles admonished
the slaves they had admitted to the fold of Christ. "Servants, be
subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the froward."(10) "Servants, be obedient to them
that are your lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling in
the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ. Not serving to the eye, but
as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With
a good will serving as to the Lord, and nor to men. Knowing that whatsoever
good thing any man shall do, the same shall he receive from the Lord,
whether he be bond or free."(11) St. Paul says the same to Timothy:
"Whosoever are servants under the yoke, let them count their masters
worthy of all honor; lest the name of the Lord and his doctrine be blasphemed.
But they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because
they are brethren, but serve them the rather, because they are faithful
and beloved, who are partakers of the benefit. These things teach and
exhort."(12) In like manner he commanded Titus to teach servants
"to be obedient to their masters, in all things pleasing, not gainsaying.
Not defrauding, but in all things showing good fidelity, that they may
adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things."(13)
8. Those
first disciples of the Christian faith very well understood that this
brotherly equality of all men in Christ ought in no way to diminish
or detract from the
respect, honor, faithfulness, and other duties due to those placed above
them. From this many good results followed, so that duties became at once
more certain of being performed, and lighter and pleasanter to do, and
at the same time more fruitful in obtaining the glory of heaven. Thus,
they treated their masters with reverence and honor as men clothed in
the authority of Him from whom comes all power. Among these disciples
the motive of action was not the fear of punishment or any enlightened
prudence or the promptings of utility, but a consciousness of duty and
the force of charity. On the other hand, masters were wisely counseled
by the Apostle to treat their slaves with consideration in return for
their services: "And you, masters, do the same things unto them,
forbearing threatenings; knowing that the Lord both of them and you is
in heaven, and there is not respect of persons with Him."(14) They
were also told to remember that the slave had no reason to regret his
lot, seeing that he is "the freeman of the Lord," nor the freeman,
seeing that he is "the bondman of Christ,"(15) to feel proud,
and to give his commands with haughtiness. It was impressed upon masters
that they ought to recognize in their slaves their fellow men, and respect
them accordingly, recognizing that by nature they were not different from
themselves, that by religion and in relation to the majesty of their common
Lord all were equal. These precepts, so well calculated to introduce harmony
among the various parts of domestic society, were practised by the Apostles
themselves. Specially remarkable is the case of St. Paul when he exerted
himself in behalf of Onesimus, the fugitive of Philemon, with whom, when
he returned him to his master, he sent this loving recommendation: "And
do thou receive him as my own bowels, not now as a servant, but instead
of a servant a most dear brother. . . And if he have wronged thee in anything,
or is in thy debt, put that to my account."(16)
9. Whoever
compare the pagan and the Christian attitude toward slavery will easily
come to the conclusion that the one was marked by great cruelty and wickedness,
and the other by great gentleness and humanity, nor will it be possible
to deprive the Church of the credit due to her as the instrument of this
happy change. And this becomes still more apparent when we consider carefully
how tenderly and with what prudence
the Church has cut out and destroyed this dreadful curse of slavery. She
has deprecated any precipitate action in securing the manumission and
liberation of the slaves, because that would have entailed tumults and
wrought injury, as well to the slaves themselves as to the commonwealth,
but with singular wisdom she has seen that the minds of the slaves should
be instructed through her discipline in the Christian faith, and with
baptism should acquire habits suitable to the Christian life. Therefore,
when, amid the slave multitude whom she has numbered among her children,
some, led astray by some hope of liberty, have had recourse to violence
and sedition, the Church has always condemned these unlawful efforts and
opposed them, and through her ministers has applied the remedy of patience.
She taught the slaves to feel that, by virtue of the light of holy faith,
and the character they received from Christ, they enjoyed a dignity which
placed them above their heathen lords, but that they were bound the more
strictly by the Author and Founder of their faith Himself never to set
themselves against these, or even to be wanting in the reverence and obedience
due to them. Knowing themselves as the chosen ones of the Kingdom of God,
and endowed with the freedom of His children, and called to the good things
that are not of this life, they were able to work on without being cast
down by the sorrows and troubles of this passing world, but with eyes
and hearts turned to heaven were consoled and strengthened in their holy
resolutions. St. Peter was addressing himself specially to slaves when
he wrote: "For this is thanksworthy, if for conscience towards God
a man endure sorrows, suffering wrongfully. For unto this you are called;
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should
follow his steps."(17)
10. The
credit for this solicitude joined with moderation, which in such a wonderful
way adorns the divine powers of the Church, is increased by the marvellous
and unconquerable courage with which she was able to inspire and sustain
so many poor slaves. It was a wonderful sight to behold those who, in
their obedience and the patience with which they submitted to every task,
were such an example to their masters, refusing to let themselves be persuaded
to prefer the wicked commands of those above them to the holy law of God,
and even giving up their lives in the most cruel tortures with unconquered
hearts and unclouded
brows. The pages of Eusebius keep alive for us the memory of the unshaken
constancy of the virgin Potamiana, who, rather than consent to gratify
the lusts of her master, fearlessly accepted death, and sealed her faithfulness
to Jesus Christ with her blood. Many other admirable examples abound of
slaves, who, for their souls' sake and to keep their faith with God, have
resisted their masters to the death. History has no case to show of Christian
slaves for any other cause setting themselves in opposition to their masters
of joining in conspiracies against the State. Thence,
peace and quiet times having been restored to the Church, the holy Fathers
made a wise and admirable exposition of the apostolic precepts concerning
the fraternal unanimity which should exist between Christians, and with
a like charity extended it to the advantage of slaves, striving to point
out that the rights of masters extended lawfully indeed over the works
of their slaves, but that their power did not extend to using horrible
cruelties against their persons. St. Chrysostom stands pre-eminent among
the Greeks, who often treats of this subject, and affirms with exulting
mind and tongue that slavery, in the old meaning of the word, had at that
time disappeared through the beneficence of the Christian faith, so that
it both seemed, and was, a word without any meaning among the disciples
of the Lord. For Christ indeed (so he sums up his argument), when in His
great mercy to us He wiped away the sin contracted by our birth, at the
same time healed the manifold corruptions of human society; so that, as
death itself by His means has laid aside its terrors and become a peaceful
passing away to a happy life, so also has slavery been banished. Do not,
then, call any Christian man a slave, unless, indeed, he is in bondage
again to sin; they are altogether brethren who are born again and received
in Christ Jesus. Our advantages flow from the new birth and adoption into
the household of God, not from the eminence of our race; our dignity arises
from the praise of our truth, not of our blood. But in order that that
kind of evangelical brotherhood may have more fruit, it is necessary that
in the actions of our ordinary life there should appear a willing interchange
of kindnesses and good of fices, so that slaves should be esteemed of
nearly equal account with the rest of our household and friends, and that
the master of the house should supply them, not only with what is necessary
for their life
and food, but also all necessary safeguards of religious training. Finally,
from the marked address of Paul to Philemon, bidding grace and peace "to
the church which is in thy house,"(18) the precept should be held
in respect equally by Christian masters and servants, that they who have
an intercommunion of faith should also have an intercommunion of charity.(19)
11. Of
the Latin authors, we worthily and justly call to mind St. Ambrose, who
so earnestly inquired into all that was necessary in this cause, and so
clearly ascribes what is due to each kind of man according to the laws
of Christianity, that no one has ever achieved it better, whose sentiments,
it is unnecessary to say, fully and perfectly coincide with those of St.
Chrysostom.(20) These things were, as is evident, most justly and usefully
laid down; but more, the chief point is that they have been observed wholly
and religiously from the earliest times wherever the profession of the
Christian faith has flourished. Unless this had been the case, that excellent
defender of religion, Lactantius, could not have maintained it so confidently,
as though a witness of it. "Should any one say: Are there not among
you some poor, some rich, some slaves, some who are masters; is there
no difference between different persons? I answer: There is none, nor
is there any other cause why we call each other by the name of brother
than that we consider ourselves to be equals; first, when we measure all
human things, not by the body but by the spirit, although their corporal
condition may be different from ours, yet in spirit they are not slaves
to us, but we esteem and call them brethren, fellow workers in religion."(21)
12. The
care of the Church extended to the protection of slaves, and without interruption
tended carefully to one object, that they should finally be restored to
freedom, which would greatly conduce to their eternal welfare. That the
event happily responded to these efforts, the annals of sacred antiquity
afford abundant proof. Noble matrons, rendered illustrious by the praises
of St. Jerome, themselves afforded great aid in carrying this matter into
effect; so that as Salvian relates, in Christian families, even though
not very rich, it often happened that the slaves were freed by a generous
manumission. But, also, St. Clement long before praised that excellenet
work of charity by which some Christians became slaves, by an exchange
of persons, because they could
in no other way liberate those who were in bondage. Wherefore, in addition
to the fact that the act of manumission began to take place in churches
as an act of piety, the Church ordered it to be proposed to the faithful
when about to make their wills, as a work very pleasing to God and of
great merit and value with Him. Therefore, those precepts of manumission
to the heir were introduced with the words, "for the love of God,
for the welfare or benefit of my soul."(22) Neither was anything
grudged as the price of the captives, gifts dedicated to God were sold,
consecrated gold and silver melted down, the ornaments and gifts of the
basilicas alienated, as, indeed, was done more than once by Ambrose, Augustine,
Hilary, Eligius, Patrick, and many other holy men.
13. Moreover,
the Roman Pontiffs, who have always acted, as history truly relates, as
the protectors of the weak and helpers of the oppressed, have done their
best for slaves. St. Gregory himself set at liberty as many as possible,
and in the Roman Council of 597 desired those to receive their freedom
who were anxious to enter the monastic state. Hadrian I maintained that
slaves could freely enter into matrimony even without their masters' consent.
It was clearly ordered by Alexander III in the year 1167 to the Moorish
King of Valencia that he should not make a slave of any Christian, because
no one was a slave by the law of nature, all men having been made free
by God. Innocent III, in the year 1190, at the prayer of its founders,
John de Matha and Felix of Valois, approved and established the Order
of the Most Holy Trinity for Redeeming Christians who had fallen into
the power of the Turks. At a later date, Honorius III, and, afterwards,
Gregory IX, duly approved the Order of St. Mary of Help, founded for a
similar purpose, which Peter Nolasco had established, and which included
the severe rule that its religious should give themselves up as slaves
in the place of Christians taken captive by tyrants, if it should be necessary
in order to redeem them. The same St. Gregory passed a decree, which was
a far greater support of liberty, that it was unlawful to sell slaves
to the Church, and he further added an exhortation to the faithful that,
as a punishment for their faults, they should give their slaves to God
and His saints as an act of expiation.
14. There
are also many other good deeds of the Church in the same behalf. For she,
indeed, was
accustomed by severe penalties to defend slaves from the savage anger
and cruel injuries of their masters. To those upon whom the hand of violence
had rested, she was accustomed to open her sacred temples as places of
refuge to receive the free men into her good faith, and to restrain those
by censure who dared by evil inducements to lead a man back again into
slavery. In the same way she was still more favorable to the freedom of
the slaves whom, by any means she held as her own, according to times
and places; when she laid down either that those should be released by
the bishops from every bond of slavery who had shown themselves during
a certain time of trial of praiseworthy honesty of life, or when she easily
permitted the bishops of their own will to declare those belonging to
them free. It must also be ascribed to the compassion and virtue of the
Church that somewhat of the pressure of civil law upon slaves was remitted,
and, as far as it was brought about, that the milder alleviations of Gregory
the Great, having been incorporated in the written law of nations, became
of force. That, however, was done principally by the agency of Charlemagne,
who included them in his Capitularia, as Gratian afterwards did in his
Decretum.(23) Finally, monuments, laws, institutions, through a continuous
series of ages, teach and splendidly demonstrate the great love of the
Church toward slaves, whose miserable condition she never left destitute
of protection, and always to the best of her power alleviated. Therefore,
sufficient praise or thanks can never be returned to the Catholic Church,
the banisher of slavery and causer of true liberty, fraternity, and equality
among men, since she has merited it by the prosperity of nations, through
the very great beneficence of Christ our Redeemer.
15. Toward
the end of the fifteenth century, at which time the base stain of slavery
having been nearly blotted out from among Christian nations, States were
anxious to stand firmly in evangelical liberty, and also to increase their
empire, this apostolic see took the greatest care that the evil germs
of such depravity should nowhere revive. She therefore directed her provident
vigilance to the newly discovered regions of Africa, Asia, and America;
for a report had reached her that the leaders of those expeditions, Christians
though they were, were wickedly snaking use of their arms and ingenuity
for establishing and imposing slavery on these innocent nations.
Indeed, since the crude nature of the soil which they had to overcome,
nor less the wealth of metals which had to be extracted by digging, required
very hard work, unjust and inhuman plans were entered into. For a certain
traffic was begun, slaves being transported for that purpose from Ethiopia,
which, at that time, under the name of La tratta dei Negri, too much occupied
those colonies. An oppression of the indigenous inhabitants (who are collectively
called Indians), much the same as slavery, followed with a like maltreatment.
16. When
Pius II had become assured of these matters without delay, on October
7, 1462, he gave a letter to the bishop of the place in which he reproved
and condemned such wickedness. Some time afterwards, Leo X lent, as far
as he could, his good offices and authority to the kings of both Portugal
and Spain, who took care to radically extirpate that abuse, opposed alike
to religion, humanity, nd justice. Nevertheless, that evil having grown
strong, remained there, its impure cause, the unquenchable desire of gain,
remaining. Then Paul III, anxious with a fatherly love as to the condition
of the Indians and of the Moorish slaves, came to this last determination,
that in open day, and, as it were, in the sight of all nations, he declared
that they all had a just and natural right of a threefold character, namely,
that each one of them was master of his own person, that they could live
together under their own laws, and that they could acquire and hold property
for themselves. More than this, having sent letters to the Cardinal Archbishop
of Toledo, he prounounced an interdict and deprival of sacraments against
those who acted contrary to the aforesaid decree, reserving to the Roman
Pontiff the power of absolving them.(24)
17. With
the same forethought and constancy, other Pontiffs at a later period,
as Urban VIII, Benedict XIV, and Pius VII, showed themselves strong asserters
of liberty for the Indians and Moors and those who were even as yet not
instructed in the Christian faith. The last, moreover, at the Council
of the confederated Princes of Europe, held at Vienna, called their attention
in common to this point, that that traffic in Negroes, of which We have
spoken before, and which had now ceased in many places, should be thoroughly
rooted out. Gregory XVI also severely censured those neglecting the duties
of humanity and the laws, and restored the decrees and statutory
penalties of the apostolic see, and left no means untried that foreign
nations, also, following the kindliness of the Europeans, should cease
from and abhor the disgrace and brutality of slavery.(25) But it has turned
out most fortunately for Us that We have received the congratulations
of the chief princes and rulers of public affairs for having obtained,
thanks to Our constant pleadings, some satisfaction for the longcontinued
and most just complaints of nature and religion.
18. We
have, however, in Our mind, in a matter of the same kind, another care
which gives Us no light anxiety and presses upon Our solicitude. This
shameful trading in men has, indeed, ceased to take place by sea, but
on land is carried on to too great an extent and too barbarously, and
that especially in some parts of Africa. For, it having been perversely
laid down by the Mohammedans that Ethiopians and men of similar nations
are very little superior to brute beasts, it is easy to see and shudder
at the perfidy and cruelty of man. Suddenly, like plunderers making an
attack, they invade the tribes of Ethiopians, fearing no such thing; they
rush into their villages, houses, and huts; they lay waste, destroy, and
seize everything; they lead away from thence the men, women, and children,
easily captured and bound, so that they may drag them away by force for
their shameful traffic. These hateful expeditions are made into Egypt,
Zanzibar, and partly also into the Soudan, as though so many stations.
Men, bound with chains are forced to take long journeys, ill supplied
with food, under the frequent use of the lash; those who are too weak
to undergo this are killed; those who are strong enough go like a flock
with a crowd of others to be sold and to be passed over to a brutal and
shameless purchaser. But whoever is thus sold and given up is exposed
to what is a miserable rending asunder of wives, children, and parents,
and is driven by him into whose power he falls into a hard and indescribable
slavery; nor can he refuse to conform to the religious rites of Mahomet.
These things We have received not long since with the greatest bitterness
of feeling from some who have been eyewitnesses, though tearful ones,
of that kind of infamy and misery; with these, moreover, what has been
related lately by the explorers in equatorial Africa entirely coincides.
It is indeed manifest, by their testimony and word, that each year 400,000
Africans are usually
thus sold like cattle, about half of whom, wearied out by the roughness
of the tracks, fall down and perish there, so that, sad to relate, those
traveling through such places see the pathway strewn with the remains
of bones.
19. Who
would not be moved by the thought of such miseries. We, indeed, who are
holding the place of Christ, the loving Liberator and Redeemer of all
mankind, and who so rejoice in the many and glorious good deeds of the
Church to all who are afflicted, can scarcely express how great is Our
commiseration for those unhappy nations, with what fullness of charity
We open Our arms to them, how ardently We desire to be able to afford
them every alleviation and support, with the hope, that, having cast off
the slavery of superstition as well as the slavery of man, they may at
length serve the one true God under the gentle yoke of Christ, partakers
with Us of the divine inheritance. Would that all who hold high positions
in authority and power, or who desire the rights of nations and of humanity
to be held sacred, or who earnestly devote themselves to the interests
of the Catholic religion, would all, everywhere acting on Our exhortations
and wishes, strive together to repress, forbid, and put an end to that
kind of traffic, than which nothing is more base and wicked.
20. In
the meantime, while by a more strenuous application of ingenuity and labor
new roads are being made, and new commercial enterprises undertaken in
the lands of Africa, let apostolic men endeavor to find out how they can
best secure the safety and liberty of slaves. They will obtain success
in this matter in no other way than if, strengthened by divine grace,
they give themselves up to spreading our most holy faith and daily caring
for it, whose distinguishing fruit is that it wonderfully flavors and
develops the liberty "with which Christ made us free."(26) We
therefore advise them to look, as if into a mirror of apostolic virtue,
at the life and works of St. Peter Claver, to whom We have lately added
a crown of glory.(27) Let them look at him who for fully forty years gave
himself up to minister with the greatest constancy in his labors, to a
most miserable assembly of Moorish slaves; truly he ought to be called
the apostle of those whose constant servant he professed himself and gave
himself up to be. If they endeavor to take to themselves and reflect the
charity and patience of such a man, they will shine indeed as worthy ministers
of salvation, authors
of consolation, messengers of peace, who, by God's help, may turn solicitude,
desolation, and fierceness into the most joyful fertility of religion
and civilization.
21. And
now, venerable brethren, Our thoughts and letters desire to turn to you
that We may again announce to you and again share with you the exceeding
joy which We feel on account of the determinations which have been publicly
entered into in that empire with regard to slavery. If, indeed, it seemed
to Us a good, happy, and propitious event, that it was provided and insisted
upon by law that whoever were still in the condition of slaves ought to
be admitted to the status and rights of free men, so also it conforms
and increases Our hope of future acts which will be the cause of joy,
both in civil and religious matters. Thus the name of the Empire of Brazil
will be justly held in honor and praise among the most civilized nations,
and the name of its august emperor will likewise be esteemed, whose excellent
speech is on record, that he desired nothing more ardently than that every
vestige of slavery should be speedily obliterated from his territories.
But, truly, until those precepts of the laws are carried into effect,
earnestly endeavor, We beseech you, by all means, and press on as much
as possible the accomplishment of this affair, which no light difficulties
hinder. Through your means let it be brought to pass that masters and
slaves may mutually agree with the highest goodwill and best good faith,
nor let there be any transgression of clemency or justice, but, whatever
things have to be carried out, let all be done lawfully, temperately,
and in a Christian manner. Is is, however, chiefly to be wished that this
may be prosperously accomplished, which all desire, that slavery may be
banished and blotted out without any injury to divine or human rights,
with no political agitation, and so with the solid benefit of the slaves
themselves, for whose sake it is undertaken.
22. To
each one of these, whether they have already been made free or are about
to become so, We address with a pastoral intention and fatherly mind a
few salutary cautions culled from the words of the great Apostle of the
Gentiles. Let them, then, endeavor piously and constantly to retain grateful
memory and feeling towards those by whose council and exertion they were
set at liberty. Let them never show themselves unworthy of so great a
gift nor ever confound liberty with
licence; but let them use it as becomes well ordered citizens for the
industry of an active life, for the benefit and advantage both of their
family and of the State. To respect and increase the dignity of their
princes, to obey the magistrates, to be obedient to the laws, these and
similar duties let them diligently fulfill, under the influence, not so
much of fear as of religion; let them also restrain and keep in subjection
envy of another's wealth or position, which unfortunately daily distresses
so many of those in inferior positions, and present so many incitements
of rebellion against security of order and peace. Content with their state
and lot, let them think nothing dearer, let them desire nothing more ardently
than the good things of the heavenly kingdom by whose grace they have
been brought to the light and redeemed by Christ; let them feel piously
towards God who is their Lord and Liberator; let them love Him, with all
their power; let them keep His commandments with all their might; let
them rejoice in being sons of His spouse, the Holy Church; let them labor
to be as good as possible, and as much as they can let them carefully
return His love. Do
you also, Venerable Brethren, be constant in showing and urging on the
freedmen these same doctrines; that, that which is Our chief prayer, and
at the same time ought to be yours and that of all good people, religion,
amongst the first, may ever feel that she has gained the most ample fruits
of that liberty which has been obtained wherever that empire extends.
23. But
that that may happily take place, We beg and implore the full grace of
God and motherly aid of the Immaculate Virgin. As a foretaste of heavenly
gifts and witness of Our fatherly good will towards you, Venerable Brethren,
your clergy, and all your people, We lovingly impart the apostolic blessing.
Given
at St. Peter's, in Rome, the fifth day of May, 1888, the eleventh of Our
pontificate.
REFERENCES:
1. Isa.
61:1; Luke 4:19.
2. Eph. 1:10.
3. Epist., lib. 6, ep. 12 (PL 77, 803C-804A). 102
4. De civ. Dei, 19, 15 (PL 41, 643).
5. Lucan, Phars. 5, 343.
6. Justinian, Inst., lib. 1, tit. 8, n. 1; in Corpus jurs civilis (4th
ed., Berlin, Weidmann,
1886) Vol. 1, p. 3.
7. Ga1.3:26-28.
8. Col. 3:11.
9. 1 Cor. 12:13.
10. I Peter 2:18.
11. Eph.6:5-8.
12. I Tim. 6:1-Z.
13. Titus 2:9-10.
14. Eph. 6:9.
15. I Cor. 7:22.
16. Philemon 12, 18.
17. I Peter 2:19-21.
18. Philemon 2.
19. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Lazar. (PG 58, 1039); Hom.
xix in ep. 1 ad Cor. (PG 61,157-158); Hom. I in ep. ad Phil.
(PG 62, 705).
20. De Jacob et de vita beata, cap. 3 (PL 14, 633A-636A); De patr.
Joseph, cap. 4 (PL 16, 680C-682B); Exhort. Virgin., cap.
1. (PL 16, 351A-352B).
21. Divin. Instil., lib. 5, cap. 16 (PL 6, 599A-600A).
22. Clement of Rome, I Ep. ad Cor., cap. 55 (PG 1, 319A).
23. Gratian, Decretum, Part I, dirt. 54; ed. E. Friedberg, Vol.
I, cols. 206-214.
24. Paul III (1534-49), Veritas ipsa (June 2, 1559).
25. Gregory XVI (18316), In Supremo Apostolatus Fastigio (Dec.
3, 1837).
26. Gal. 4:31.
27. St. Peeer Claver (1551-1654), joined the Society of Jesus
in 1602; in 1610, he went to Cartagena, then the main
slave market of the New World, and for forty-four years
devoted himself to missionary work. He had declared his
intention to remain "the slave of the Negroes" for his entire
life and, in point of fact, is said to have baptized over
300,000 of them. He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on
January 15, 1888.
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