MILITANTIS
ECCLESIAE
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON ST. PETER CANISIUS
To
the Archbishops and Bishops of Austria,
Germany, and Switzerland.
The interest
as well as the honor of the church militant demands that We celebrate
frequently with solemn ceremonies the memory of those whose eminent virtue
and piety have elevated them to a glorious rank in the church triumphant.
These public honors recall their holiness, and this ever-salutary recollection
is particularly beneficial in periods of hostility to virtue and faith.
This year, by the favor of divine providence, We are permitted to celebrate
the third centenary of the death of the great Saint Peter Canisius. Our
only desire is to see good men inspired by the same qualities which this
man devoted with so much success to the service of Christian society.
2. There
exist, in effect, certain analogies between our age and the period in
which Canisius lived: a period when the spirit of revolution and looseness
of doctrine resulted in a great loss of faith and decline in morals. To
deliver youth especially from this double scourge was the goal of this
man who, after Boniface, is the second apostle of Germany. He achieved
this purpose principally by establishing schools and publishing
good books as well as by effective sermons and penetrating debates.
Modern
Knowledge Serves the Faith
3. Following
his example, many of you have energetically used these same weapons against
your educated enemies by continually studying all the finest sciences
and enthusiastically cultivating the liberal arts in order to defend the
honor of religion. You were sustained in this by the desire and approval
of the popes whose constant preoccupation has always been to preserve
the ancient majesty of the arts and to promote the constant progress of
culture. You are aware that Our greatest desire has been to see to the
proper education of youth. We have everywhere made all possible provisions
to ensure it.
4. We
now gladly take advantage of this occasion to present the vigorous leader
Peter Canisius as a model to all who fight for Christ in the Church's
army. By realizing that they must ally the weapons of knowledge with the
weapons of justice, they will be able to defend the faith more vigorously
and effectively.
Results
of the Reformation in Germany
5. We
will easily understand how great was the
task undertaken by this strong defender of the Catholic faith in the interest
of the Church and of society if We consider the situation in Germany at
the beginning of the Lutheran revolt. Moral standards had changed and
as they continued to worsen, it was easy to fall into error-but this very
error hastened the final collapse of morals. The number of those leaving
the Catholic faith gradually increased. Soon the poison spread to most
of the provinces and infected all classes. Many considered the cause of
religion in that realm to be desperate and doubted that any remedy remained
to be tried. Indeed it is clear that all would have been lost if God had
not intervened with powerful aid.
6. In
Germany there still were men of solid faith, remarkable for their knowledge
and love of the faith. There were still the leaders of the house of Bavaria
and Austria and, at their head, the King of the Romans, Ferdinand I. These
men were resolved to preserve and to defend the Catholic faith with all
their might. But the greatest new help which God sent to Germany in this
period was the Society of Loyola which was formed during this troubled
period. Peter Canisius was the first German to enter this society.
Canisius
as Teacher
7. This
is not the place to recall in detail the life of this man, so eminent
in sanctity, the zeal with which he labored to restore harmony and union
to his country torn by dissension and revolt, the ardor of his public
debates with the teachers of error, his inspiring sermons, the persecutions
he suffered, the many countries he travelled through, and the difficult
missions he undertook in the interest of the faith. However, to return
to the weapons of knowledge which we have mentioned: how constantly, readily,
wisely, and fitly he employed them! Upon his return from Messana where
he went as a teacher of rhetoric, he committed himself to the teaching
of the sacred sciences in the academies of Cologne, Ingolstadt, and Vienna.
Here he followed the royal road of the most approved learned men of the
Christian school and revealed to the Germans the treasures of scholastic
philosophy. As this philosophy was shunned at that time by the enemies
of the faith because it was a great support of Catholic truth, he had
it taught publicly in the schools and colleges of the Society of Jesus
for whose establishment he had worked so hard.
8. He
did not hesitate to descend from the heights of wisdom to the basics of
writing. He undertook the instruction of children and even composed elementary
writing books and grammars for their use. Indeed just as he often came
back from preaching to the courts of kings to address the people, so,
after learned writings on dogma or morals, he used to compose pamphlets
destined either to strengthen the faith of the people or to arouse and
nourish their piety. He had wonderful success in preventing the inexperienced
from getting caught in the nets of error. The Summa which he published
for this purpose is a compact and tightly-knit work, written in beautiful
Latin and not unworthy of the Fathers of the Church. This remarkable work
was enthusiastically received by learned men in almost all the countries
of Europe. Less voluminous but no less useful were the two famous catechisms
which this blessed man wrote for less cultivated minds: one for the religious
instruction of children, the other for young men already involved in the
study of the arts. These two works had such a great success among Catholics
immediately upon publication that almost all professors charged with teaching
the basics of the faith had them in hand. They were used not only in the
schools as a spiritual milk for the children, but they were also explained
publicly in the churches to the benefit of all. Thus, during three centuries
Canisius has been regarded as the teacher of Catholics in Germany. In
popular speech "knowing Canisius" was synomymous with "preserving
the Christian faith."
The
Relations of Faith and Culture
9. These
details from the life of this great saint indicate clearly enough to all
good people the way which they must follow. We know that your nation is
particularly famous for the wise and fruitful way in which you dedicate
your talent and activity to promoting the greatness of your country and
ensuring both public and individual prosperity. But, above all, the wise
and virtuous among you should make vigorous efforts for the faith, and
they should dedicate all their insight and expressive energy to its glory
and defense. For the same purpose they should understand and utilize at
once every advance made in the arts and sciences.
10. If
there ever existed a period which demanded abundant science and knowledge
to defend the
Catholic faith, it is assuredly ours in which the rapid progress in all
branches of study often furnishes the enemies of the Christian faith with
an occasion for attacking it. We must therefore commit the same forces
to repel their attack. We must occupy the position first and snatch from
their hands the weapons with which they are trying to destroy all links
between God and man.
11. Catholics,
thus fortified and fittingly instructed, will clearly be able to show
that the faith, far from being hostile to human culture, constitutes in
fact its apex and summit; that even on points where there is seeming opposition
or contradiction, it can be so closely harmonized with philosophy that
each enlightens the other; that nature is not the enemy but the companion
and helper of religion; finally that the inspiration of religion not only
enriches all types of knowledge but also gives literature and the other
arts new strength and new life. The splendor and dignity which the sacred
sciences draw from the profane sciences derive from the fact that human
nature is more affected by teaching which is pleasingly presented. For
this reason among nations with a more refined civilization, hardly any
confidence is placed in a coarse wisdom, and learned men especially leave
aside all that is not imprinted with a certain beauty and charm. "We
are indebted to the wise men" no less than "the ignorant,"
so we should stand in the battle line with the wise and if the ignorant
falter, we should lift them up and strengthen them.
The
Church has a Long Tradition of Learning
12. This
area of activity in the Church has indeed been very wide. As soon as the
long slaughter ceased and the Church regained its strength, wise men devoted
their talent and their learning to glorifying the faith which had been
sealed in the blood of its heroes. First the Fathers worked together at
this task with their mighty strength. And in general their learned speech
was worthy of the attention of the Greeks and the Romans.
13. Aroused
by their teaching and their eloquence, many dedicated all their zeal to
sacred studies and amassed such a rich patrimony of Christian wisdom that
in every age Catholics have been able to draw weapons from it to destroy
ancient errors or to annihilate new myths invented
by heresy. No age has dissipated these treasures amassed by learned man,
not even the age which was exposed to the ravages of the barbarians, when
all lovely things were uncared for and forgotten. Consequently if the
ancient wonders produced by human mind and hand, if the things which were
once held in great esteem by the Greeks and the Romans have not entirely
perished, it must be attributed entirely to the zeal and effort of the
Church.
14. Even
though the study of the arts and learning sheds so much glory on religion,
those who dedicate themselves to these studies should use all their intellectual
power and all their efforts to ensure that their knowledge not be selfish
and sterile. Learned men should direct their studies to the profit of
the Christian community and dedicate their own free time to common pursuits
so that their knowledge may not seem an enterprise undertaken haphazardly
but one which has practical application. Now such an obligation is especially
clear in the instruction of youth, a work which is so important that it
requires the greatest part of one's cares and effort.
The
Importance of Catholic Schools
15. That
is why We strongly encourage you to keep the schools in the fullness of
the faith or to restore this fullness if necessary, and to bestow your
cares on old as well as new schools, not only on primary schools but also
on secondary schools and on colleges. As for the rest of the Catholics
in your country, they should strive to preserve safe and intact the rights
of the parents and those of the Church in the teaching of youth.
16. These
are the things to ensure on this point. First, Catholics should not choose
mixed schools but have their own schools especially for children. They
should choose excellent and reputable teachers for them. For an education
in which religion is altered or non-existent is a very dangerous education.
We often see both cases occurring in mixed schools. No one should be ready
to believe that instruction and piety can be separated with impunity.
In effect, if it is true that We cannot exempt ourselves from the duty
of religion at any period of life, in private or public affairs, so much
the less should this duty be omitted at any age which is thoughtless,
in which the spirit is ardent and exposed to so many inducements to evil.
17. To
organize teaching in such a way as to remove
it from all contact with religion is therefore to currupt the very seeds
of beauty and honor in the soul. It is to prepare, not defenders of the
nation, but a plague and a scourge for the human race. Once God is suppressed,
what can keep young people dutiful or recall them when they have strayed
from the path of virtue and fall into the abyss of vice?
Piety
and Learning
18. Secondly,
it is necessary to teach religion to children, but not only at specified
times. All their teaching should occur in an atmosphere of Christian piety.
If it is otherwise, if this sacred inspiration does not penetrate the
spirits of the teachers and of the students, the instruction will produce
only little fruit and will often even have seriously harmful consequences.
Every discipline has its own dangers and the young people will not know
how to avoid them unless certain divine restraints are imposed on their
intelligence and their heart. So We must beware that the essential thing,
the practice of justice and piety, not be relegated to second place; that
youth, restricted to those things alone which are visible, not crush the
strength of virtue; that while the teachers carefully spell out the basics
and the intricacies of some tiring discipline, they have no concern for
the true wisdom whose "beginning is the fear of the Lord" and
whose precepts should govern the whole of life. The knowledge of many
subjects should always go hand in hand with the care of the spirit. Religion
should give shape and direction to all branches of knowledge. Its majesty
and sweetness should strike home and inspire the souls of the young.
19. Since
the intention of the Church has always been that all types of studies
be concerned with the religious formation of youth, it is necessary that
this part of teaching not only have its own place-and a principal place
at that-but also that nobody should exercise such a serious office without
having been judged suitable and authorized to perform it by the Church.
Catholic
Higher Education
20. But
it is not only in the education of children that religion claims her rights.
There was a time when the government of every university (especially the
University of Paris) subordinated all branches of study to theology to
the extent that nobody was considered to have reached the heights
of knowledge unless he had obtained a doctorate in theology. The restorer
of the Augustan age, Leo X and after him the other popes, wanted the Roman
Athenaeum and the other universities to be like strong fortresses at a
period when impious wars raged against the church. Here, under the guidance
and the inspiration of Christian wisdom, youth would receive its education.
This system of studies which put God and religion in first place produced
excellent results. Certainly it ensured that the youth thus educated remained
more faithful to their duties. These happy results will be repeated among
you if you strive energetically to have the rights of religion respected
in your secondary schools, gymnasia, lycaea, and academies.
Avoid
Disunity
21. But
never forget that disunity of spirit and lack of harmony in action render
vain the best intentions and useless all efforts. What can the divided
forces of people accomplish against the united attack of our enemies?
What good is individual bravery if there is no common tactic?
22. That
is why We exhort you to abandon all stubborn controversy, every partisan
contention, for these are causes of disunity. Thus everyone should act
in harmony to define the Church. They should concentrate their forces
and direct them toward the same goal, with the same intention "concerned
with preserving unity of spirit in the bond of peace."(1)
Imitate
Canisius
23. The
memory of a great saint has persuaded Us to give this advice. May his
illustrious example remain fixed in your minds and arouse the love of
wisdom which he himself possessed. May this same wisdom always work for
the salvation of man and for the defense of the Church's authority.
24. We
are confident, venerable brothers, since this matter is your special concern,
that you will find among learned men many helpers to share in the glory
of this work. Those to whom Providence has given the noble duty of educating
youth will be of most assistance on account of the nature of their work.
25. If
they remember the saying of the ancients, that knowledge merits the name
of cleverness rather than wisdom when it is separated from justice, or
better yet if they meditate
on the words of Scripture: "They are vain, those men in whom there
is no knowledge of God,"(2) they will learn to use the weapons of
knowledge less for their personal gain than for the general good. They
can expect their efforts to produce the same fruits as Peter Canisius
long ago obtained in his colleges and institutions: obedient young people
who are eager to learn and are virgorous, who detest the example of the
impious, and are equally attracted to knowledge and virtue. When their
piety has grown deep, there will practically be no need to fear that their
souls will be affected by error or turned away from virtue. It is on them
that the Church, on them that society base their fondest hope. They will
be the eminent citizens of the future on whose wisdom, prudence, and knowledge
will depend both the salvation of the social order and the tranquility
of domestic life.
26. In
conclusion, let Us offer Our prayers to God who is the Lord of Knowledge
and to his Virgin Mother, called the Seat of Wisdom through the intercession
of Peter Canisius who served the Church so well by his teaching. May
He see fit to answer
Our prayers for the growth of the Church and the good of youth. Filled
with this hope, We impart to each one of you, venerable brothers, to your
clergy and to all your people our apostolic blessing as a pledge of heavenly
favors and a testimony of Our paternal good wishes.
Given
in Rome at St. Peter's the first day of August, 1897, the twentieth year
of Our Pontificate.
REFERENCES:
1.
Eph 4.3.
2. Wis 13.1.
|