IAMPRIDEM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON
CATHOLICISM IN GERMANY
To the Archbishops and Bishops of Prussia.
It
has long been Our desire, venerable brothers, to speak to you about the
situation of Catholicism in Germany. We wanted to show you in a special
way how much paternal love and zeal We feel for you and your sons. At
the same time We wanted to congratulate you, venerable brothers, for your
truly enthusiastic apostolic care toward your flock. We understand particularly
your efforts to prevent the Catholics in your care from straying from
virtue, piety, and the way of salvation. We also wanted to express the
consolation and joy We perceive in the good will which makes all the Catholics
of Germany cling to you and renders them attentive to you. The discipline
and the harmony which increase daily among them confirm this.
2.
With this letter We want to do what We could not accomplish until now.
We hope that with the help of Divine Providence, the day may soon dawn
which will bring the joyous beginning of better times for religion and
for the Church in Germany.
God's Presence
in Trouble
3. You are aware,
venerable brothers, of how the
mutual understanding which reigned so long between the Apostolic See and
the kingdom of Prussia was thrown into sudden disorder by these laws,
placing Catholic citizens in such great danger and distress. But this
disaster which caused so much sorrow to Our predecessor Pius IX and to
Us has offered God an opportunity. Thus the virtue of the pastors and
faithful of Germany and their adherence to the faith of their fathers
shine forth all the more. This virtue, this loyalty is so much more worthy
of praise when strenuous efforts to protect the interests of the Church
have preserved the respect and submission due to the Prince and the proper
love of country. Catholics have thus shown their adversaries that they
acted not for political considerations but solely from religious duty,
which commands the preservation of the sacred and inviolate work of God.
Thus, God, the supreme author and rewarder of all merit, has bestowed
the fullest treasures of His goodness and grace on you, venerable brothers,
and on all the people of your dioceses. His helping hand was ever present,
while the new laws diminished daily the number of priests among the Prussian
faithful and left many parish churches without pastors. Those treacherous
men who call themselves "old Catholics"
spread new and perverse teachings and strove to attract to themselves
unfortunate disciples deceived by fraud. Nevertheless, We have seen with
joy Our dear sons, the Catholics of Germany, hold firmly and fully to
the faith of their fathers. The snares of the masters of deceit have never
prevailed against them, for with Christian courage they have triumphed
over danger. They attached themselves to the Church with a love so much
the greater as they saw it the object of harsher trials.
The Role of
the Papacy in Prussia
4.
Due to these events of great virtue and glory, the sorrow caused by these
laws has been lifted from Us. From the bottom of Our heart, We have given
praise and thanks to God, who has put such wonderful strength in the souls
of His children. And, given the occasion, We have publicly honoured your
strength and that of your people with well-deserved praises. But Our apostolic
ministry requires Us to preserve intact the state of the Church and to
dispel anything which might disturb the inner life of its people. We must
then use all Our authority and fervour to remove the difficulties of the
present time. That is why We have spared no effort and overlooked no duty
to abolish these laws which have caused the Church such long anguish and
you so many labours. The desire which We have had to reestablish harmony
and peace on a solid foundation is still great. We have thus informed
the rulers that We are ready to comply with their desires insofar as the
divine laws and the duty of conscience permit. Moreover, We have not hesitated
to give clear proof of this intention. It is Our firm purpose to do everything
which may contribute to reestablishing and strengthening harmony.
5.
However, in order to realize Our hope, We must take special care to purge
public law of all that is contrary to Catholic teaching in whatever pertains
closely to the piety of the faithful. Likewise, whatever hampers the proper
freedom of bishops in governing their churches by the divinely established
norms and in training seminarians according to the prescriptions of canon
law must be repealed. Though We are animated by a sincere desire for peace,
We still may not dare do anything contrary to what has been divinely established
and ordained. We are, if necessary, ready to endure the greatest hardships
according to the example of Our predecessors, to defend these things.
Powers of the
Bishops
6.
As for you, venerable brothers, you are aware of the true nature of the
Church, of the constitution which its divine founder gave it, and of the
rights and duties associated with it. Nobody can subtract from or destroy
these rights and duties. Certainly, the Church is a supernatural society
and perfect in its order, as we have recently declared in Our encyclical
Immortale Dei. As its purpose is to bring its children to eternal happiness,
it has received from God the means and aids to bring them into possession
of the heavenly goods. It begins on earth and in the struggles of this
life to construct an edifice which will have its final crowning and supreme
splendour only in heaven. It is solely the Church's duty to make rules
concerning its inner life, whose nature was determined by our Lord Jesus
Christ, the restorer of our salvation. Christ ordered that this free and
independent power belong to Peter and to his successors, and, under the
authority of Peter, to the bishops in their respective churches. This
episcopal power includes by its very nature clerical discipline regarding
the sacred ministry and the conduct of the priests, for the priests are
attached to the bishop like the strings of a lyre.(l)
7.
The priestly order, heir of such a sublime ministry, renews itself from
age to age without changing. Those who are called to this order must thus
follow by their sincerity of doctrine and innocence of life, in the footsteps
of the first Bowers of the faith, whom Christ Himself chose. The right
and duty to teach young people whom God calls to become His ministers
and the dispensers of His mysteries falls to the bishops alone. The people
are to take their religious training from those to whom it was said, "teach
all nations." If this is so, how much greater is the obligation imposed
on bishops to give the nourishment of sound doctrine as they see fit to
these ministers, who will be the salt of the earth and will take the place
of Jesus Christ among men? This duty is not the only one incumbent on
the bishops; in addition, they must look after the welfare of the seminarians.
They should initiate them quickly into the practices of a firm piety,
a piety whose absence would leave them unworthy of the priesthood and
incapable of fulfilling its duties.
Supervision
of Seminaries
8. You know very well
from theory and practice the difficulties and prolonged labours which
this instruction of seminarians requires. Those who have chosen God as
their inheritance should show themselves to the Christian people as living
models of virtue and self restraint, according to the teaching of the
Prince of the Apostles. Under the authority of the bishops and the instruction
of appointed teachers, they should learn to dominate their passions, to
despise the things of this world, and to seek heavenly goods. Fortified
by heavenly thoughts and inflamed by heavenly love, they will remain chaste
and pure amidst the corruption of this world. They must also become quickly
accustomed to constantly and fearlessly explaining and defending Catholic
truth, which the world despises and pursues with an implacable hatred.
The times demand a vigorous struggle to preserve the cause of the Church.
What could we expect, then, if our ministers were not prepared long in
advance by religious training and love to faithfully support their bishops,
to listen to their words, and to endure boldly the harshest difficulties
for the name of Jesus Christ? Seminaries and other institutions of sacred
learning give the seminarians, far from the bustle of daily concerns,
the qualities required to fulfill the apostolic ministry properly. Their
education also teaches them to endure joyously all the inconveniences
of life and all those types of work necessary to save souls. Under the
vigilance and protection of the bishops and the priests delegated by them
by virtue of their long experience in sacred studies, the students will
learn to equitably measure their strengths and to recognize what they
are capable of. The pastors can test the abilities and character of each
one, in order to judge wisely who is worthy of the honor of the priesthood
and to dissuade those who are unworthy. But what salutary fruits can be
obtained if the pastors do not have full liberty to remove obstacles and
to use the means appropriate to that end? On this subject, since your
nation counts among its distinctions the glory of the military, We can
draw an analogy. Would the heads of government permit young men placed
in military institutions to have any other teachers than those who excel
in this art? Do we not choose appropriate military men to teach army discipline,
the use of arms, and the military spirit?
9.
The Church's concern for its seminaries is therefore easy to understand.
From the earliest years of the Church, the popes and the Catholic bishops
took special care to establish centers for candidates
to the priesthood. Here, either by themselves or with the help of suitable
teachers (sometimes taken from the priests of the cathedral church), they
taught the humanities, theology, and above all the conduct suitable to
their vocation. The houses which the bishops and monks opened to receive
clerics are celebrated up to this day. Among them shines the memory of
the Lateran Patriarchate; from here, as from a fortress of wisdom and
virtue, illustrious popes and bishops appeared, men remarkable for their
holiness and for their teaching. The careful and diligent teaching of
clerics seemed very important and necessary even from the beginning of
the sixth century. The Council of Toledo, speaking about "those whom
their parents forced to enter the clerical state as children," commands
"that after having received tonsure or being ordained lector, they
must be educated in the Church under the vigilance of the bishop."
Thus we see why we must strive to organize and govern the seminaries of
your dioceses according to the rules established by the fathers of the
Council of Trent. That is also why in the previous agreements between
the popes and the secular authorities from different periods, the Apostolic
See-especially watched over the preservation of seminaries and reserved
to the bishops the right to govern them, to the exclusion of all other
powers. Among other documents, we have a clear example in the apostolic
letter beginning De salute animarum. Pius VII published this encyclical
on July 18, 1821, after reaching an agreement with the king of Prussia
concerning a new delimitation of dioceses.
10.
Therefore, may the bishops have the full and entire right to train in
the seminaries the peaceful army of Jesus Christ. May they be free to
choose officials according to their own judgment for the clerical hierarchy,
and may they place priests in various posts to fulfill their pastoral
duties without obstacles.
Relationship
with Civil Authorities
11.
From what We have just said, venerable brothers, you see the truth and
justice in Our demands for ecclesiastical freedom. The Church lives and
acts by this freedom, in order to arrive at the happy and lasting agreement
so long and ardently desired by both powers. We are confident that the
secular authorities will be fair to Us and grant what We ask, based on
holy laws.
12. Our demands are
not the kind which will diminish
the dignity or power of the secular authorities. Rather there may result
some substantial and solid advantages for the public welfare. In effect,
venerable brothers, what you and your assistants teach concerning civil
responsibility comes down to this: every person should be subject to higher
powers "not only for fear of punishment, but also because of his
conscience."(2) We should bear public duties happily, abstaining
from plots and conspiracies. We should show fraternal love to each other
and fulfill faithfully our duties to society. If the number of your assistants
were to increase, at the same time the number of those who propagate these
useful teachings would increase. It would simultaneously become easier
to furnish good 'priests to parishes so long deprived of their pastors.
Catholics ask this with all their hearts.
13.
As you know, venerable brothers, there are many seeds of public disorder
in the midst of human society. They are like fires scattered here and
there, fires which threaten a terrible conflagration. First among them
is the worker question, which preoccupies civil authorities. They search
for ways to face the imminent dangers, to block the way for sectarians
who seek at every occasion to profit from public disorder. They also try
to block reforms which work for the great detriment of the state. It is
amazing how human society can profit from the work of the Church's ministers
in these cases. We have been able to observe this in the conflagrations
and catastrophes which have afflicted past times. In effect, the priests
have almost daily contact with the lower classes by virtue of their ministry.
They are accustomed to conversing familiarly and intimately with them
and know thoroughly the labours and the sorrows of the people from this
class. They see clearly their wounded hearts; drawing suitable aids and
arguments from religious sources, they are able to give consolation and
remedies to the weak in spirit. They thus lessen the present evils, revive
broken strength, and restrain minds hurtling toward seditious plots.
Missions
14.
No less serious or useful is the work which
Catholic missionaries, animated by the spirit which the Church inspires
in them, bring to distant, uncivilized countries. Several European rulers
have in our time begun to establish colonies there. The German government
also seeks to establish
colonies, increase its possessions, and open new avenues to commerce and
industry. What will make its reputation among the nations is its effort
to civilize the savage tribes. But to conciliate the minds and to win
the confidence of these uncivilized nations, they should teach them the
salutary precepts of religion right from the beginning. They should bring
them to understand the true notion of what is just and honest. Finally
they should explain what it means to be children of God, for they too
have been called to this, thanks to the merits of Our Saviour. This is
what the popes had in mind when they sent so many missionaries to barbarian
nations. This is certainly not the affair of armies, nor of civil magistrates,
nor of conquerors, although they may certainly reap abundant fruit for
it. Rather, as history attests, it is the task of those men who go forth
from the camp of the Church, embracing the labours and dangers of missionary
expeditions. These men do not fear to travel among barbarian nations as
messengers and interpreters of God, ready to pour out their blood and
their lives for the salvation of their brothers.
15.
Thinking about all these things, We hope that Our wishes will soon be
realized through the grace and favour of God. As for you, venerable brothers,
continue to ask God for this in ceaseless prayer. Since your minds are
far from human ambitions and thoughts, but are fired solely by zeal for
God's glory and love of the Church, you will with the grace of God obtain
the reward which your constancy merits.
Exhortation
to Labor
16.
Union of mind and heart has always been a great impetus to the success
of every enterprise. Maintain at all costs the holy bond of love among
yourselves. We also want to remind you, venerable brothers, that the troubles
which you endure are not peculiar to each diocese. Rather, they are matters
for the whole Church. As you know, these concerns were transferred to
this Apostolic See, for the supreme power to govern the Church and the
center of Catholic unity have been established here. Always turn your
eyes toward Rome. Be assured that We want to use all Our efforts to end
the struggles which flourish in your country, according to your wishes
and those of your faithful.
17.
Finally, We beseech the father of mercies to consider your labors and
sorrows and to grant all your wishes. With the deepest Christian love.
We give to you, venerable
brothers, to all your clergy, and to the faithful entrusted to your care,
Our apostolic blessing, as a witness of Our special love for you and as
a pledge of heavenly help and consolation.
Given
in Rome, at St. Peter's, on the sixth day of January, 1886, in the eighth
year of Our pontificate.
REFERENCES:
1.
Ignat. M., epistle to the Ephesians, chap. 15.
2. Rom 13.5.
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