Qua ratione celeriter instituta Christiana non modo in privatas domos, sed in castra, in curiam, in ipsam regiam invexere. "Hesterni sumus, et vestra omnia implevimus,
And thus Christian customs soon found their way, not only into private houses, but into the camp, the senate, and even the imperial palace. "We are of yesterday
urbes, insulas, castella, municipia, conciliabula, castra ipsa, tribus, decurias, palatium, senatum, forum," [391] ita ut fides Christiana, cum evangelium publice profiteri lege licuit, non in cunis vagiens, sed adulta et jam satis firma in magna civitatum parte apparuit. and we have filled all that you have, cities, great tenements, military stations, municipalities, councils, the very camps, the rank and file of the army, the officerships, the palace, the senate, the forum," [392] so that the Christian faith, as soon as it was lawful to profess the Gospel publicly, was manifest at once in a great part of the empire, no longer as a babe crying in its cradle, but grown up to robust manhood.
Jamvero his temporibus consentaneum est, hæc majorum exempla renovari.--Catholicos quidem, quotquot digni sunt eo nomine, primum omnium necesse est amantissimos Ecclesiæ filios et esse et videri velle: quæ res nequeant cum hac laude consistere, eas sine cunctatione respuere: institutis populorum, quantum honeste fieri potest, ad veritatis justitiæque patrocinium uti: elaborare, ut constitutum naturæ Deique lege modum libertas agendi ne transiliat: dare operam ut ad eam, quam diximus, Christianam similitudinem et formam omnis respublica traducatur.
Now in these times it is desirable to renew these examples of our forefathers. Catholics indeed, as many as are worthy of the name, must before all things be, and be willing to be seen to be, most loving sons of the Church; whatsoever is inconsistent with this good report, they must without hesitation reject; they must use popular institutions as far as honestly can be to the advantage of truth and justice; they must take care that liberty of action shall not transgress the bounds ordained by the law of nature and God; and so work that the whole of public life shall be transformed into what we have called a Christian image and likeness.
Harum rerum adipiscendarum ratio constitui uno certoque modo haud commode potest cum debeat singulis locis temporibusque, quæ
The means to these ends can scarcely be laid down upon one uniform plan, since they must suit places and times very different from
sunt multum inter se disparia, convenire. Nihilominus conservanda in primis est voluntatum concordia, quærendaque agendorum similitudo. Atque optime utrumque impetrabitur, si prescripta Sedis Apostolicæ legem vitæ singuli putent, atque Episcopis obtemperent, quos Spiritus Sanctus posuit regere Ecclesiam Dei. [393] each other. Nevertheless, in the first place, let concord of wills be preserved and unity of aim be maintained. And each will be best attained if all consider the admonitions of the Apostolic See a law of conduct, and obey the bishops whom "the Holy Spirit has placed to rule the Church of God." [394]
Defensio quidem Catholici nominis necessario postulat ut in profitendis doctrinis, quæ ab Ecclesia traduntur una sit omnium sententia, et summa constantia, et hac ex parte cavendum ne quis opinionibus falsis aut ullo modo conniveat, aut mollius resistat, quam veritas patiatur. De iis quæ sunt opinabilia, licebit cum moderatione studioque indagandæ veritatis disputare, procul tamen suspicionibus injuriosis, criminationibusque mutuis.--Quam ob rem ne animorum conjunctio criminandi temeritate dirimatur, sic intelligant universi: integritatem professionis Catholicæ consistere nequaquam posse cum opinionibus ad naturalismum vel rationalismum accedentibus, quarum summa est tollere funditus instituta Christiana, hominisque stabilire in societate principatum posthabito Deo.
The defence of the Catholic name, indeed, of necessity demands that in the profession of doctrines which are handed down by the Church the opinion of all shall be one, and their constancy perfect, and under this head care must be taken that no one connives in any degree at false opinions or resists with less vigor than truth requires. Concerning those things which are matters of opinion, it will be lawful to hold different views with moderation and with a desire of investigating the truth, without injurious suspicions and mutual incriminations. For which purpose, lest unity of spirit be broken by temerity of accusation, let all understand that integrity of the Catholic profession can by no means be reconciled with any opinions approaching naturalism or rationalism, whose sum total is the uprooting of Christian institutions altogether, and the establishment of the
supremacy of man upon the dethronement of God.
Pariter non licere aliam officii formam privatim sequi, aliam publice, ita scilicet ut Ecclesiæ auctoritas in vita privata observetur, in publica respuatur. Hoc enim esset honesta et turpia conjungere, hominemque secum facere digladiantem, cum contra debeat sibi semper constare, neque ulla in re ullove in genere vitæ a virtute Christiana deficere.
Likewise it is unlawful to follow one line of duty in private and another in public, so that the authority of the Church shall be observed in private, and spurned in public. For this would be to join together things honest and disgraceful, and to make a man play a game of fence with himself, when on the contrary he ought always to be consistent, and never in any the least thing or any rank of life decline from Christian virtue.
Verum si quæratur de rationibus mere politicis, de optimo genere reipublicæ, de ordinandis alia vel alia ratione civitatibus, utique de his rebus potest honesta esse dissensio. Quorum igitur cognita ceteroqui pietas est, animusque decreta Sedis Apostolicæ obedienter accipero paratus, iis vitio verti dissentaneum de rebus, quas diximus sententiam, justitia non patitur: multoque est major injuria, si in crimen violatæ suspectæve fidei Catholicæ, quod non semel factum dolemus, adducantur.
But if it be a question of principles merely political, concerning the best form of government, of civil regulations of one kind or another, concerning these things, of course, there is room for disagreement without harm. Those whose piety, therefore, is known on other accounts, and whose minds are ready to accept the decrees of the Apostolic See, justice will not allow to be reproached because they differ on these subjects; and much greater is the injury if they are charged with having violated the Catholic faith, or being of doubtful orthodoxy--a thing we have had to deplore more than once.
Omninoque istud præceptum teneant qui cogitationes suas solent mandare litteris, maximeque ephemeridum
And let all hold this precept absolutely who are wont to commit their thoughts to writing, especially
auctores. In hac quidem de rebus maximis contentione nihil est intestinis concertationibus, vel partium studiis relinquendum loci, sed conspirantibus animis studiisque id debent universi contendere, quod est commune omnium propositum, religionem remque publicam conservare. Si quid igitur dissidiorum antea fuit, oportet voluntaria quadam oblivione conterere: si quid temere, si quid injuria actum, ad quoscumque demum ea culpa pertineat, compensandum est caritate mutua, et præcipuo quodam omnium in Apostolicam Sedem obsequio redimendum. journalists and writers for the press. In this contention for the highest things no room should be left for intestine conflicts or the greed of parties, but let all, uniting together, seek the common object of all, the preservation of religion and the commonwealth. If, therefore, there have been dissensions, let them be obliterated in willing forgetfulness; if there has been anything rash, anything injurious, to whomsoever this fault belongs let reparation be made by mutual charity, and especially by obedience to the Apostolic See.
Hac via duas res præclarissimas Catholici consecuturi sunt: alteram, ut adjutores sese impertiant Ecclesiæ in conservanda propagandaque sapientia Christiana: alteram ut beneficio maximo afficiant societatem civilem, cujus malarum doctrinarum cupiditatumque caussa, magnopere periclitatur salus.
In this way Catholics will obtain two things that are most excellent: one that they will make themselves helps to the Church in preserving and propagating Christian knowledge; the other that they will benefit civil society, whose safety is gravely compromised by evil doctrines and inordinate cupidity.
Hæc quidem, Venerabiles Fratres, habuimus, quæ universis Catholici orbis gentibus traderemus de civitatum constitutione Christiana, officiisque civium singulorum.
These then, Venerable Brethren, are the teachings that we have had to transmit to all nations of the Catholic world concerning the Christian constitution of States and the duties of individual citizens.
Ceterum implorare summis precibus
But it behooves us to implore
oportet cæleste presidium, orandusque Deus, ut hæc, quæ ad ipsius gloriam communemque humani generis salutem cupimus et conamur, optatos ad exitus idem ipse perducat, cujus est illustrare hominum mentes, permovere voluntates. Divinorum autem beneficiorum auspicium, et paternæ benevolentiæ Nostræ testem vobis, Venerabiles Fratres, et clero populoque universo vestræ fidei vigilantiæque commisso apostolicam benedictionem peramanter in Domino impertimus. with most earnest prayers the protection of Heaven, and to beseech almighty God, whose alone it is to enlighten the minds of men and move their wills, himself to bring these our longing and efforts for his glory and for man's salvation to the issue that we hope for. As a pledge of the divine favors, and in witness of our paternal benevolence to you, Venerable Brethren, to the clergy, and to all the people committed to your faith and vigilance, we lovingly bestow in the Lord the apostolic benediction.
Datum Romæ apud S. Petrum die 1 novembris anno MDCCCLXXXV, pontificatus nostri anno octavo.
Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, on the first day of November, in the year of our Lord MDCCCLXXXV, of our pontificate the eight. LEO PP. XIII. LEO PP. XIII.
NOTE.
The Encyclical of 1888.
In a more recent Encyclical, "Libertas præstantissimum naturæ donum," issued June 20, 1888, Leo XIII.--one of the wisest, most moderate, and most liberal popes of modern times--reiterates the same doctrine on civil government, liberty, and the relation of Church and State, even more strongly than in the bull of 1885. He begins by praising liberty as the most excellent gift of nature, which belongs only to intellectual or rational beings, but he makes true liberty to consist in submission to the will of God, as expressed in an infallible Church with an infallible head. He severely condemns what he calls the modern liberties (1) of worship, (2) of speech and of the press, (3) of teaching, and (4) of conscience, because they tacitly assume the absence of truth as the law of our reason, and of authority as the law of our will. He first misstates the liberal theory, which he seems to know only in the form of infidel radicalism, and then denounces it.
In the same document the pope incidentally calls the separation of Church and State "a pernicious maxim." [395] And he concludes: "From what has been said, it follows that it is in no way lawful to demand to defend, or to grant, promiscuous freedom of thought, of speech, of writing, or of religion, as if they were so many rights which nature had given to man."
Cardinal Manning, in a preface to the English translation of this Encyclical, [396] fully approves of its sentiments, and predicts that "the pontificate of Leo XIII. will be known in history as the time when, upon a world torn and tossed by anti-Christian and anti-social revolutions, the abundant seeds of divine truths sown broadcast revived the conscience of Christendom." He also predicts that the two Encyclical letters of 1885 and 1888 "will be recorded as the pronouncements which have vindicated the political order of society from confusion, and the liberty of men from the license of liberalism."
But we venture to say that Pope Pius IX. (by the Syllabus of 1864) and Pope Leo XIII. (by these two Encyclicals) have seriously injured the cause of the Roman Church by placing her in open antagonism to the irresistible progress of history, which is a progress of liberty. By declaring the separation of Church and State "a pernicious maxim," Leo XIII. has unwisely as well as unjustly condemned the Constitution of the United States, which makes such separation the law of the land, not from indifference or hostility to religion, but from respect for religion, and which secures to the Roman Catholic Church a greater amount of liberty and prosperity than she enjoys in Italy or Spain or Austria or France or Mexico or Brazil. American Roman Catholics generally are well satisfied with the freedom they enjoy. The highest American dignitary of that Church, Cardinal Gibbons, of Baltimore, who attended the centennial celebration of the Constitution at Philadelphia, September, 1887, said in his letter of acceptance: "The Constitution of the United States is worthy of being written in letters of gold. It is a charter by which the liberties of sixty millions of people are secured, and by which, under Providence, the temporal happiness of countless millions yet unborn will be perpetuated."